THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019
WHY VOTING MATTERS, TRUDY KLASSEN: PAGE 9 CONDORS FOOTBALL FLIES AGAIN: PAGE 15
RE-ELECT
Bob
PRINCE GEORGE
ZIMMER
R0011747289
PRINCE GEORGE-PEACE RIVER-NORTHERN ROCKIES
THURSDAY October 17, 2019
Authorized by the official agent for Bob Zimmer
Your community newspaper since 1916
PGCITIZEN.CA
PRINCEGEORGECITIZEN
HOUSE FIRE KILLS ONE Citizen staff
A 40-year-old man has died from injuries sustained in an explosion house fire Saturday on Chilako.
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
THANKSGIVING MEAL Volunteers load up plates of food for guests at Sacred Heart auditorium on Sunday during the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Employment cause for optimism MARK NIELSEN CITIZEN STAFF mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
The city’s unemployment rate stood at 5.7 per cent in September, according to Statistics Canada labour market survey numbers issued last week. That’s up from 4.9 per cent year over year, but CNC economics instructor Al Idiens sees some silver linings in the supporting numbers. Not only is the number of people holding down jobs up, standing at 49,900 compared to 49,000 in September 2018, but so is the number seeking work, at 3,000 compared to 2,500 the year before. “In some respects, I would’ve expected fewer people seeking work because in September a lot of the students will leave the workforce and return back to school,” he said. Idiens said the rise could be a function of a number of construction projects winding down, forcing people to look for
other work. But he also said people could simply be more optimistic about their job prospects, “because you’re not going to go looking for work if you’re convinced that there’s no work out there.” Countering Idien’s first theory is that the value of building permits issued by city hall in August reached $28 million, spread over 61 projects, more than double the value reached over the same month last year, although spread over the same number of projects. “That may well have spread some of the working, keeping the unemployment rate from going higher,” he said. Idiens also suggested the rise of the number of people seeking work could also be a function of a rise in the number of people of working age in the city, which stood at 52,900 compared to 51,500. “I don’t see loads and loads of moving vans heading south or anything like that around here,” Idiens said. “People seem to be staying. The housing market seems
to be reasonably active... nothing stays for sale too long.” On the ailing forest industry, Idiens said sawmill workers collecting Employment Insurance often aren’t seeking work because they expect to be back on the job before the benefits run out. The provincial government has also committed $40 million over two years towards bridging older sawmill workers to retirement. In September, the number of people of working age not seeking a job was 20,200, down from 21,300 a year previous. Idiens said the unemployment rate remains low for this area. “For a city like Vancouver, it would be high because you can usually find something in that region that fits into the kinds of skills you have, whereas here there aren’t as many businesses and there isn’t as much variety in the workplace, so it tends to be harder to find work,” he said. “Usually, you can find an unemployment rate of about seven per cent.”
Police say four adult males were transported to hospital for treatment of injuries sustained during the incident. The other three men are expected to survive. A dog also did not survive. Frontline officers arrived minutes after getting the report at about 9:15 p.m. Saturday to find the home engulfed in flames. Officers provided emergency care to the injured and evacuated nearby residences. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and the site has been secured. Witnesses and video evidence show the occupants of the house were handling large quantities of gasoline. On Tuesday morning, RCMP fire investigators were on the scene with members of the RCMP’s forensic identification section to gather evidence to determine whether the incident is of a criminal nature. The residence is well known to police and has been the subject of police investigations in the past. Larry Furmanczyk lives on Chilako Street and had just gone to bed when he heard the first of several explosions. Furmanczyk said the house is notorious in the neighbourhood and is known to police, who have visited the occupants several times in the time he’s lived there. “I just heard a big boom and I recognized a flash of light and it subsided before the house was totally engulfed in flames,” said Furmanczyk. “The cops know about that place for a number of years. It’s been going on for a little while. I think all the people in the neighbourhood were hoping the last time would be it, and whoever the owner is they would have made sure nobody nefarious was coming into the neighbourhood.” Maria Branco was at her home a few houses away when the fire erupted. “My dog barked and I went to the window and I saw the flames coming up,” said Branco. “After it started burning I heard some bangs. I did go outside but I wasn’t allowed to go down that way. “The neighbours all called it the drug house or the crack house. There was a lot of activity went on around there. It was not a safe place. This area is a nice place to live and I think right now that’s a good clean-up.”
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