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City to reopen RMCA ARTHUR WILLIAMS Citizen staff
City council voted Monday night to reopen Rolling Mix Concrete Arena in time for the Prince George Spruce Kings to play in the B.C. Hockey League’s 2020-21 season.
her husband is still classed as a part-time paramedic and isn’t entitled to sick time or holiday pay, she said. “There’s been times when he’s been sick, but has said, ‘I guess I have to go to work,’ because he doesn’t have sick time,” Cloarec said. “It’s shameful.” For her husband to apply for a full-time position, he would have to commit to working in Vancouver or a small, rural community for a minimum of six months, with no guarantee of returning to his home community, she said.
Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes and business operations manager Kyle Anderson told city council the team might not survive if forced to miss a season. Outside city hall, several dozen fans held a rally to show their support. “We’re excited. It’s certainly a step in the right direction,” Hawes said following the 8-1 vote in favour of reopening the team’s home rink. “We’re happy to be able to provide a season to our players, to our fans and to the community.” Hawes thanked the city staff and city council that worked on bringing the issue before council on Monday. The team considered other options, like the option of sharing CN Centre with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, but they just weren’t workable. “The biggest hurdle is the branding. The BCHL will not support a broadcast (of our games) with WHL branding on the ice. They would not support us playing in that facility,” he said.
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CITIZEN STAFF PHOTO
BC Ambulance paramedics load a stabbing victim into an ambulance in September 2015.
Paramedic shortage leading to ambulance service gaps ARTHUR WILLIAMS Citizen staff
The Prince George region is facing a shortage of paramedics resulting in chronic gaps in ambulance service and long hours for the city’s remaining Emergency Health Services employees. That’s something University Hospital of Northern B.C. emergency room nurse Cherrie Cloarec knows all to well. Her husband has been a paramedic in the city for nine years. Cloarec said her husband, who she
declined to name, isn’t allowed to speak out about the problems, but said she felt people in the city need to know what is happening. “It’s very concerning when our community has only two ambulances available,” Cloarec said. “There is just legit no paramedics. For the month of September, in Prince George alone, there (were) 71 shift vacancies, because (BC Emergency Health Services) will not hire local, experienced paramedics into full-time vacancies in their own communities.” Despite working full-time hours for years,