Prince George Citizen Thursday August 21, 2025

THURSDAY,

City preparing to close Moccasin Flats

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

A BC Supreme Court justice has approved the City of Prince George’s application to close the encampment on Lower Patricia Boulevard, better known as Moccasin Flats.

Justice Bruce Elwood ruled on Thursday, Aug. 14 that the city can close the area to everyone except 20 people who have been camping there since July 2.

Elwood heard arguments from both the city and some of the encampment’s remaining inhabitants over three days in early July.

This successful application comes after failed attempts to secure judicial permission to close the encampment in 2021 and 2022.

Those 20 people will be offered housing by BC Housing, including at the nearby transitional housing site on Third Avenue, and then have seven days to leave Moccasin Flats.

However, they will be allowed to apply to the court for an exception to the order if they feel the offered housing is not suitable to them.

The city, Elwood ruled, is allowed to enclose the entire area with a fence, remediate the land and prevent anyone from entering the area except for the

remaining occupants mentioned above until they have been offered housing.

In early May, the city installed gates at either end of Moccasin Flats aimed at blocking vehicles but not restricting cyclists or pedestrians.

People are now prohibited from camping on the site and must remove their personal property from it.

Once the last remaining person has been removed, the city has permission to dismantle and remove any structures, tents, shelters, vehicles, bicycles, shopping carts and any other personal objects in the area.

The defendants in the case are ordered not to obstruct the city in its work.

“In the coming weeks, the city will begin the work of closing and remediating the (Lower Patricia Boulevard encampment), in accordance with “phased approach” set out in the order of Justice Elwood,” the city’s release stated.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Bel Johnny, a longtime resident of Moccasin Flats, rests in his shelter on Monday, Aug. 18. Like the other people still living there, he now has to move out.

Next step: City to deal with safety, health issues at Flats

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“The city will continue to support and cooperate with BC Housing in its work to ensure that encampment occupants are informed and supported as they transition into indoor shelter.”

In the same release, city manager Walter Babicz said the decision will allow the city to “move forward in addressing significant safety, health, and operational challenges at the encampment site, which have had real impacts on the neighbouring residents, businesses and the entire community.”

Mayor Simon Yu stated in the release that he appreciated the work of the city’s staff and lawyers on the file.

“It has been a long road and there is much more work to be done to address homelessness in our community,” Yu said. “As mayor I remain committed to cooperating and working closely with the province and our local social agencies to resolve homelessness in Prince George.”

In his ruling, Elwood found that the Third Avenue BC Housing facility satisfies part of an earlier ruling on Moccasin Flats that found that alternative housing was not available to inhabitants.

“Much has changed since the city failed to persuade the Chief Justice and Coval J. that there was sufficient available housing in 2021,” he wrote.

“The HEART & HEARTH initiative, the memorandum of understanding between the province and the city and the construction of the Third Avenue Site all reflect tangible progress and concerted efforts by government to address the needs of the occupants of the encampment.

“The relief that the city now seeks is better tailored to address the availability issue. The current proposal, based on a purpose-built facility and commitments from BC Housing, is more reliable than the general statements in the City’s evidence in 2021 about the projected availability of housing units.”

Elwood acknowledges that there are fewer units available at the Third Avenue facility than there are residents of the Flats and as such “the injunction

A Prince George RCMP officer investigates bullet holes in a trailer after a shooting at Moccasin Flats in Prince George on Wednesday, May 14.

will not take effect with respect to the current occupants until they are offered a space at the Third Avenue Site.”

Additionally, Elwood said that BC Housing will prioritize Moccasin Flats residents for consideration of units at the site when they come available.

However, the justice acknowledged that the available housing might not be suitable to certain people experiencing homelessness due to factors like mental illness, past trauma and accessibility needs.

“On the other hand, it must be remembered that the combined effect of the city’s bylaws is that, once the injunction takes effect, there will be nowhere in Prince George where a homeless person can lawfully erect shelter from the elements, store their possessions or even rest during the day,” Elwood wrote.

Because of these factors, the justice ruled that there must be a process through which occupants of Moccasin Flats “who truly cannot access the Third Avenue Site to be exempted from the order.”

“However, for the reasons discussed, any such exemption must be limited to exceptional circumstances.”

While guests are not allowed at the

“A previous court decision said that folks could be sheltered on the green strip at the end of Lower Patricia and that stretches about a kilometre long,” Depenau said. “We’re looking to make that a much smaller footprint based on the real needs of what we’ve witnesses over these years of having the site.”

Newcomers to the site who aren’t one of the 20 individuals named in the ruling will have their use of the space regulated under the city’s parks and open spaces bylaw going forward.

He said the 20 people identified in the ruling is lower than the 44 people who lived at the flats around the same time last year.

While the exact number of supportive housing spaces in the city is in flux, Depenau said that there have been about 555 additional spaces made available since the original court decision.

Third Avenue facility, Elwood said there is no rule against couples being placed there or residents being invited into each other’s rooms. There is also work being done, he said, to place couples into adjoining rooms.

Regarding pets, Elwood said that the facility’s rule that they will be considered on a case-by-case basis for residents is a reasonable policy and not a barrier to accessible housing.

While one of the defendants is concerned that allowed open drug use at the facility could cause him to relapse, Elwood found that while it is a valid concern, it must be weighed against making the facility accessible to as many people as possible.

“No facility can fully address the needs of every potential resident. For those who struggle with addiction, the Third Avenue Site offers better security, access to services and harm reduction than the encampment,” Elwood wrote.

At a 1:30 p.m. press conference at city hall on Aug. 15, director of administrative services Eric Depenau said that while permanent encampments will not be allowed at the site going forward, people will still be allowed to camp overnight at the part of the site at 498 Ottawa St. from 7 p.m. until 9 a.m.

“Something that I recognize, I think that others recognize, is today’s decision doesn’t solve homelessness,” Depenau said.

“We have done good work to strengthen the system, whether that’s extreme weather sheltering options, whether it’s additional drop-in spaces or these rooms that we’re talking about. But we know that more needs to be done and we’re very pleased to see that we’re on a good trajectory as confirmed by the court and to continue strengthening this network of supports.”

Asked about what the city would do to improve the availability of daytime shelter spots, Depenau said he’s thankful for a strong network of supports in the community providing some of those services.

He also said there’s a weather response plan in the case of extreme heat or cold.

As for the exceptions that the 20 residents can apply for, Depenau said he wasn’t worried about them.

“We’ll respect the rule of law if folks choose to partake in those processes and work to understand how we can best support them,” Depenau said. “Ultimately, this is about a thoughtful and compassionate transition.”

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

‘The

problem

ain’t going away,’ says longtme resident

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The city now has the court ruling it needs to close the Moccasin Flats encampment.

Barring a constitutional challenge, that means permanent eviction for all residents of the camp — including Bel Johnny, who has made the Flats his home on the eastern fringe of downtown Prince George since the summer of 2021.

Bel, as he will be referred to in this story, has been there since the start, when the pandemic closed normally accessible shelter spaces and dozens of people without homes decided living outdoors under a makeshift shelter — exposed to the elements — beat waiting in line for a spot in a shelter.

The 60-year-old native of Dease Lake says while it appears the troubled history of Moccasin Flats is nearing its end, closing the camp is not going to fix the problem.

In fact, he says a permanent closure will only make it worse for the city. He predicts crime will increase, illicit drug use will continue unchecked, and street people will be more at risk of dying of exposure.

“This problem ain’t going away, the city can ignore it as long as they want,” said Bel. “There’s more young people being on the street and I think there will

be a lot more deaths because a lot of people are not equipped to be on the street, with their stuff being stolen and taken every other day. They’re down to tennis shoes in the wintertime and that’s pretty tough to try to make it on the street.

“One is too many and I know of two people who froze to death downtown last year because they didn’t have a place to go. That breaks my heart when I hear stuff like that. Nobody should have to go through that at a young age, particularly in our time. It’s never recorded, really, they’re just swept under the rug like they never existed. They’re human beings like everybody else.”

On Friday, Aug. 15, the City of Prince George announced the BC Supreme Court has approved its application to

permanently close down Moccasin Flats, also known as the Lower Patricia Boulevard encampment.

In his decision made the day before, Justice Bruce Elwood ruled the city has the right to close the encampment to all but 20 residents who were living there as of July 2. That came after failed attempts by the city to close the area to permanent occupancy in 2021 and 2022.

On Feb. 27, the city served Bel and four other Moccasin Flats residents with an eviction notice — and that led to a three-day hearing in Prince George court, July 2–4, with Bel named as the defendant.

Elwood determined the city is entitled to close Moccasin Flats to full-time sheltering — however, the 20 long-term residents subject to the injunction can apply to the court for a

constitutional exemption to remain at the encampment.

Once the city has the authority it needs to prevent permanent sheltering, overnight campers will be forced to dismantle their tents each morning from the designated overnight spots and move off the property. If they refuse, they face being issued a ticket by a bylaw officer — and Bel says that will only complicate the issue.

“It makes people out to be criminals when they have to move on,” he said. “A lot of people can’t afford a ticket and when they can’t pay that they become a criminal in the eyes of the law. Where are they supposed to go?

“For people to have to set up and dismantle a camp every day, that’s not good for anyone’s spirit. It’s a sense of belonging is what they need.”

He’s convinced an outdoor space like Moccasin Flats could work if it was operated by the authorities as a campground facility — with hydro power, running water, toilets and basic amenities.

“Folks wouldn’t have to go into town to be harassed or be a nuisance,” he said. “People just want to have a peaceful place to be, away from the street talk and the street life. I still get people come down to visit, away from the street, so they can have a breather.”

Failing to address the problems that stem from homelessness and increasing poverty will carry dire consequences that Bel says will become noticeable in the city — especially in the downtown core. CONTINUED ON

CITIZEN PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

City bylaw officers speak to Moccasin Flats resident Bel Johnny while standing at the entrance to his shelter at the downtown Prince George encampment on Monday, Aug. 18.

Bel plans to keep fghtng for homeless people’s rights

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

“The homeless population is getting younger and they’re getting more violent as far as banding together and doing the survival thing at the expense of other people, just to get by,” said Bel.

“If the city is willing to actually deal with it right now that would help the city and definitely keep the crime down. It’s kind of sad because (with the encampment closed) people won’t have a place to go, so they’ll do whatever they can to get out of the cold and if that means break and enter, they’ll do it. If they’re alone and cold on the streets they’ll do what they have to.

“The majority of these folks hit the streets without a record, but give them at least four to six months and they’ll all have a record — and then the eyes of the law treat them a lot different.”

The court documents of Elwood’s judgement allege Bel has been operating a chop shop at his shelter space where stolen bicycles are stripped down and altered so they can’t be traced, but he says he’s no thief.

He’s collected bikes others threw in dumpsters or left behind at other sites because the tires went flat — and denied there was anything criminal behind his motive to store those bikes and parts at his camp.

Bel learned BC Housing expects to have a place for him to rent in the next two weeks, and he was told by a city bylaw officer Monday morning if he accepts that offer he would then have seven days to remove his belongings from his campsite at Moccasin Flats.

“They asked me what it would take to vacate and I told them if they can find a rented home — piece of property — I’ll gladly move and go there,” he said. “I’ll still do what I can, because it’s going to get bad.

“Even as couples, people are having a hard time trying to make their rent, they’re living from one paycheque to another.”

In the fall of 2021, the city applied to have the encampments at Moccasin Flats and Millennium Park at First

A shack burns at Moccasin Flats on Thursday, March 20. It was one of many fires at the encampment over the past few years.

Avenue and George Street closed. The closure application for Moccasin Flats was dismissed by BC Supreme Court Justice Christopher Hinkson, who ruled the city did not have other suitable housing and daytime facilities for the encampment residents — and they were allowed to stay in a judgment which became known as the Stewart Order (Stewart Conditions).

Bel has turned down previous offers of supportive housing and has remained at the site, where he’s helped dozens of newcomers, providing them what they need to set up their own temporary shelters.

Moccasin Flats occupies a stretch of land at the base of the hill at Lower Patricia Boulevard that starts at 498 Ottawa St. and continues eastward to the end of Third Avenue.

Bel was one of the original inhabitants of the property and has lived there since the spring of 2021.

The encampment had more than 100 residents at its height in the summer of 2023, and it became a trouble spot for

land along Patricia Boulevard where he now lives.

If he does leave, he says he won’t miss the violence and frequent shelter fires that plagued Moccasin Flats — especially when there were dozens of occupants. But wherever he does end up living, he vows to continue advocating for the homeless community.

He knows he could have left Moccasin Flats long ago but decided he needed to be there to help those who needed it most — and he’s long been considered the go-to person for new arrivals to the camp. He’s been there to save them from freezing to death, whether that’s at his campfire or when he’s on his bike pulling a wagon with a propane heater to warm someone lying on a concrete slab.

During his five years at the Flats, Bel has been shot at with a bow and arrow and pellet gun from the top of the hill — and he says people sometimes throw rocks from the berm that land on the roof of his tent.

RCMP, Prince George Fire Rescue and city bylaw officers.

Shelter fires, opioid overdoses and violent crime incidents — one of which resulted in the shooting death of a man in the adjacent warming centre on Jan. 1, 2024 — drew frequent visits from frontline first responders and social services workers.

Originally from Dease Lake, Bel moved to Prince George for a construction job after working in Quesnel building the West Fraser Centre arena. He had steady employment and was renting an apartment until 2021, when he lost his job as a handyman in Prince George during the lockdowns — when tenant concerns about the second wave of COVID-19 infections stopped him from doing his work.

With no income and the price of rent mostly unaffordable, Bel set up camp on the north side of the Nechako River until he was forced to move the following spring on the order of a bylaw enforcement officer, who suggested he could move to the strip of city-owned

Once his own living situation is settled, Bel plans to go back to construction work for at least a couple more years until he retires — and he says he’ll renew his ticket that allows him to be paid a journeyman’s wage.

Bel was meeting with Vancouver lawyer Casey St. Germain through a virtual conference Monday afternoon to discuss his options.

He’s prepared to take that fight for the rights of the homeless as far as he can — even if their appeal requires the involvement of a federal court. All he wants is a permanent solution that works for everybody.

“I’m not going to give up the fight, I just have to find the right people to help me do that,” Bel said. “I always told myself I’ll be in it for the long haul. I’m just trying to do the proper thing for folks who don’t know how to do it.

“This is all new waters, nobody’s really done this before so there’s no script to follow, no general direction. As far as I’m concerned, everybody needs to get involved because we’re all Canadian citizens — and for us not to live up to the reputation Canada does have, that’s just being a hypocrite, really.”

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Council has a long talk about vacant downtown stores

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George city council tabled discussion on a proposed pilot program aimed at utilizing vacant downtown storefronts after more than an hour of discussion at its Monday, Aug. 18 meeting.

Coun. Trudy Klassen gave notice of the motion called “Vacancy to Vitality: launching a temporary use pilot for empty storefronts in C1 zone downtown” at the July 28 council meeting.

In the documents she provided, Klassen asked council to direct city staff to investigate the creation of a one-year temporary occupancy pilot program for parts of the downtown core zoned for commercial use and report back to council by the end of the year.

She proposed that vacant groundfloor commercial spaces be permitted to be used for “community-enhancing uses” like art studios, small retail, entrepreneurial enterprises, cultural spaces, food service, community services, creative manufacturing and other purposes suggested by partners like Downtown Prince George, the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures Prince George and Indigenous communities.

Discussing her rationale, Klassen’s report states that parts of the C1 zone have vacancy rates of up to 25 per cent, with vacant storefronts fuelling perceptions of stagnation that are worsened by homelessness and economic transition.

Partners like Downtown PG, she said, support a pilot program to utilize vacant storefronts and that it could help artists and entrepreneurs overcome barriers like complex permits and high start-up costs.

Klassen pointed to a similar motion passed by Coun. Mike Klassen of Vancouver city council for the Downtown Eastside, where storefront vacancy rates approached 32 per cent. The other Klassen’s motion passed Vancouver council unanimously.

The PG councillor also pointed to a newsletter written by Darrin Rigo in July lamenting all the businesses and

amenities the downtown has lost in recent years like The Makerie, Birch and Boar, Millennium Park, Pastry Chef and more.

On top of the pilot program development, Klassen also asked her council colleagues to direct staff to report back on the success of the program by the fourth quarter of 2026, explore special event permits for short-term activations in the downtown core and create a list of recommendations for infrastructure maintenance, reports and other issues needed in the C1 zone.

Speaking at the meeting, Klassen said her key focus was making it easier for small and pop-up businesses to utilize vacant downtown storefronts. She added that she didn’t think the program had to unfold exactly as she proposed, but she thought it should form a part of the city’s downtown strategy.

The city’s role in this, she said, should be to reduce barriers as much as possible.

Coun. Susan Scott said she supported the initiative.

Coun. Brian Skakun asked if Klassen would be willing to delay her initiative until after an ongoing zoning bylaw review, review of the Official Community Plan and arts plan are complete.

Coun. Cori Ramsay said she wanted more information on what this project

address that.

Coun. Tim Bennett said he liked the idea of encouraging more business downtown as the more people who come downtown on a regular basis, the easier it will be to deal with issues facing the area.

Coun. Kyle Sampson said that he wasn’t understanding which barriers Klassen wanted to help businesses overcome.

Klassen said she assumed city staff would know some of the hiccup points experienced by local businesses and how to make it easier for them to set up operations.

Sampson said that from his personal experience, it was easy in the past to get a business license. He asked director of planning and buildings Deanna Wasnik whether things had changed recently.

would mean for city staff. She said she had spoken with Vancouver councillors, who said their project had been about expediting occupancy permits in vacant storefronts.

With a ton of ongoing construction and limited resources for development services, Ramsay said she wanted to know the impact if there was an expedited process just for the downtown.

“I think it’s a great idea, I’d love to see more storefront utilized downtown for temporary or trial-type businesses to see if it works,” Ramsay said. “But also, I think considering a motion to connect with Vancouver administration to find out how they’re implementing this (is warranted).”

Responding, Klassen said she didn’t include the word “expedited” in her motion. She said she was looking to reduce barriers small businesses face with paperwork and making the permitting and licensing process as simple as possible.

Ramsay responded that “expediting” was a term used by Vancouver’s program. For Prince George, she was looking for more clarity on how the local program would work.

She said that in the case of Vancouver, that city’s charter does not allow for temporary use permits and the pilot program was brought forward to help

Wasnik said the licensing process hasn’t really changed, but sometimes there are reviews or reports a business needs to have completed like a building code review before applying. She said she also wanted to know what some of the hurdles Klassen was looking to overcome.

In particular, Klassen said, because the vacancy rate is so high, she thought there must be some problem downtown.

Coun. Garth Frizzell asked how much extra work Klassen’s motion would make for them in developing the downtown strategy.

Wasnik clarified that the downtown strategy is led by Downtown Prince George and assisted by partners like the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. She said while it would be a big deal for the city, she’s not sure of the impact the project would have on the partner groups.

Later in the meeting, she said it wasn’t her understanding that businesses were having difficulty obtaining occupancy permits downtown.

Frizzell said that if Vancouver has already established a program, it might not take as many resources to create a scaled-down version for Prince George. SEE ‘CONVERSATION’ ON NEXT PAGE

CITIZEN STAFF PHOTO

A council discussion about vacant downtown storefronts on Monday, Aug. 18, ran long and was tabled to another meeting.

Slight dip in July building permits over last year

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George saw a small decrease in the number of building permits and the value of those permits between July 2024 and July 2025, according to documents presented to city council on Monday, Aug. 18.

In July 2024, the city issued 46 building permits worth $37,449,330. This July, the city issued 43 permits worth $30,653,812.

A report from city staff said that in the commercial, industrial and institutional development category, three commercial building alteration permits worth $928,160 were issued in July, along with one industrial building alteration worth $1 million and one institutional building alternation worth $3,366,005.

Under the residential development category, these permits were issued:

• Nine new garage/carport permits worth $344,176

• Seven new secondary suites in

single-family dwellings worth $449,407

• Six new single-family dwellings worth $3,388,440

• Seven new multi-family permits totalling 53 dwelling units worth $19,751,072

Development permits were issued for these projects in July:

• 137 row houses at 620 Ospika Blvd.

• Facade improvement for an apartment building at 3033 Ospika Blvd.

• Facade improvement for a commercial building at 1820 Third Ave.

However, when it comes to single-family dwellings, Prince George saw a lower number of permits but a higher total value.

There were 31 single-family dwelling permits worth $3,792,617 in July 2024. In July 2025, Prince George issued 28 single-family dwelling permits worth $4,471,319.

Conversaton called ‘emblematc of dysfuncton’ on city council

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Klassen said that if the wording of her motion isn’t quite right, she’s happy to have staff come back and propose alternative solutions to help address downtown storefront vacancies. She criticized her colleagues for not asking her any questions in the weeks since she gave notice of her motion at the last meeting.

Coun. Ron Polillo said he likes the idea, but it needs to be fleshed out before it can be considered. He agreed with Skakun that a postponement was warranted.

Mayor Simon Yu said he was hesitant to always refer things to staff as they have limited time to devote to projects like this.

Sampson chimed back in to say that he didn’t like that downtown was referred to as empty and boring during the discussion, saying that was offensive to business owners in the area.

Skakun said the conversation was emblematic of dysfunction within council, saying they were going nowhere after an hour of discussion.

Ramsay proposed amending the motion to have staff look at a strategy within the existing downtown strategy to deal with vacant storefronts.

After more than an hour of discussion with councillors still finding issues with the proposed plan, the discussion was postponed until the Sept. 3 council meeting.

25083BH0

OPINION

As Moccasin Flats emptes out, what comes next?

KENNEDY GORDON Citizen Managing Editor

After four years of conflict, crime, fires and fear at Moccasin Flats, this chapter of downtown Prince George’s story has ended.

On Aug. 14, Justice Bruce Elwood of the BC Supreme Court ruled in favour of the City of Prince George’s application to close the encampment.

The city has been seeking to close this encampment since 2021, with an additional request in 2022.

The ruling allows the city to enclose the encampment with fencing to prevent anyone from entering the area, with the exception of the remaining residents, and to begin remediating the land.

Originally, the Supreme Court allowed the Lower Patricia Boulevard encampment to exist, citing a lack of available housing options.

The facts presented to the court lay out clearly the work that has already been done. Since the original ruling, approximately 555 additional housing units have been provided by the province.

While this has reduced the number of residents in the encampment, 20 people remain permanent residents of Moccasin Flats.

These remaining residents will be offered transitional housing, at which point they will have seven days to leave the encampment.

The province, through BC Housing,

Moccasin Flats, the encampment on Lower Patricia Boulevard, has gradually emptied out over the course of the year, but there are still some people living there.

offers shelters, including the new Third Avenue site, which has private rooms, two meals a day, laundry, mental health support and access to naloxone.

For many people experiencing homelessness, the new housing opportunities are not only adequate, but a significant improvement over life in a tent. For many, but not for all.

Whether due to trauma, addiction, a deep distrust of institutions or other challenges, there are individuals who are unable to transition to the current housing opportunities available.

Recognizing this, Elwood included a provision in his ruling that allows the 20 current residents of Moccasin Flats to pursue a constitutional exemption through the courts. The exemption would be based on demonstrating that due to serious mental illness or other relevant factors, they truly cannot live in even the low-barrier, supportive environments available.

The Moccasin Flats story illustrates the need for compassion with boundaries. The court recognized the work done by the province to house the

homeless and endorsed enforcement — but added a safeguard for the truly vulnerable. This is how our system is supposed to work: with laws, but also with conscience

Elwood’s ruling confirmed that permanent encampments on public land are not a sustainable or safe solution to homelessness.

Violating municipal bylaws is not a solution to homelessness. Cities cannot function if bylaws are ignored simply because enforcement is too hard or unpopular.

So, the city may close Moccasin Flats, the residents have been given somewhere to go — but what really happens next?

The danger now comes from “out of sight, out of mind.”

Although the people who previously lived at Moccasin Flats and at Millenium Park now have housing options, that has not changed the fact that many still suffer from addiction and/or mental health challenges.

In May, the city installed gates on the Flats with the intention of blocking

vehicles — and another derelict trailer made its way in.

For many reasons, there will always be people who reject rules, structure and authority. But “not wanting to live with rules” is not a justification for living outside the law — not for the housed, and not for the unhoused.

Closing this encampment doesn’t solve that problem.

City officials, the provincial government, police, and social service agencies must be prepared. Enforcement without support will only lead to more conflict.

Health Minister Josie Osborne needs to step up and provide long-term local treatment options for women and children. The province needs to step up and provide better long-term supports for those with mental health challenges. Every effort must be made to ensure that those willing to accept help can access it quickly, and that those refusing it are still monitored and encouraged to engage.

The city must be empowered to protect parks, sidewalks, and neighbourhoods from turning into new encampments.

Elwood’s ruling offers a path forward. It’s rooted in legal clarity, human dignity, and community safety. But it’s only the start of the next chapter. What happens after Moccasin Flats will determine if the province has learned anything from all this.

Have your say with a letter to the editor: editor@pgcitizen.ca.

We acknowledge the fnancial support of the government of Canada.

Nous reconnaissons l’appui fnancier du gouvernement du Canada.

Cameron Stolz Owner / Publisher

Terresa Randall-Stolz Owner

Kennedy Gordon Managing Editor

OFFICE (8:30a - 4:30p)

505 Fourth Avenue

Prince George, B.C. V2L 3H2

FRONT DESK AND CLASSIFIED frontdesk@pgcitzen.ca 250-562-2441

NEWS AND SPORTS news@pgcitzen.ca

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR editor@pgcitzen.ca

OWNER / PUBLISHER owner@pgcitzen.ca

Letters to the editor are welcome. The maximum length is 300 words. Letters may be subject to editing for length, clarity, grammar, spelling and legalities prior to publication. Please include your daytime contact information.

CITIZEN STAFF PHOTO

Spruce budworm making an unwelcome comeback

Take a road trip across BC and chances are you will see our forests in freefall.

From Lilloet through to Whistler, I was shocked to see valleys of red, as a western spruce budworm, a type of moth, rips through the conifer forests of almost all species. Hemlock, Douglas Fir, spruce, and the true firs are all being impacted, on a massive, catastrophic level.

Unlike the Mountain Pine Beetle, which prioritized the old pine, the budworm seems to go for the younger trees. I saw entire plantations of young monocultures, the textbook product of modern forest management, with near complete infestation. The only trees that were still green was the cottonwoods and, ironically, the odd lodgepole pine tree.

I’m not sure how we will log ourselves out of this one.

It’s hard to say what the mortality will be. Hopefully a lot of them will recover next year. But lots will die, and it’s not just limited to the Duffy Lake Road. I’m hearing reports of massive outbreaks down the Fraser Canyon, and to the east towards Kamloops and Kelowna.

It’s probably just a matter of time before the budworm shows up again in Prince George.

After all, we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars spraying our forests with herbicides and hitting them with brush saws to create perfect conditions of monocrop budworm food for these outbreaks to prosper in.

But the government put out a Forest Health Bulletin back in January letting us know it’s all under control, with our forests being sprayed with the indiscriminate moth and butterfly-killing BtK bacteria.

Contrary to the claims this is

harmless, research shows these insecticidde treatments can knock back uncommon moth and butterfly species to the point they didn’t recover during the study period.

There is no mention of diversifying our forests away from monocrop conifer plantation forestry towards more deciduous diversity.

Like the BC Wildfire service, the Forest Health Team just responds to the problems in an isolated silo with the only tools they have: in the case of forest health, with their chemicals and biological agents.

They have no control over the monoculture-obsessed incompetence in the Office of the Chief Forester or 30-year old Forest Minister Ravi Parmar, who is apparently more interested in hard-hat photo-ops than showing the true leadership and knowledge needed to turn the boat around.

And recent research from the University of Guelph is showing just how wrong-headed our decades-old war on

our broadleaf tree species has been.

We’ve known for decades a major natural predator of these budworms is parasitic wasps. When budworm attacks occur, these parasitic wasps can rapidly multiply. But they don’t come from thin air.

These wasps need to be hanging out in our forests on standby, and to do that, they need other things to eat when the budworms aren’t active. Forests with lots of deciduous trees, this report says, sustain more of these parasitic wasps, ready to multiply when the spruce budworm rears its head.

Structural diversity also seems to help wasps and other potential budworm predators maintain their populations. But to do that you need to start doing more selective logging, not clearcuts.

Our provincial forest health experts will strongly argue this Eastern and European research isn’t applicable to BC.

But in the absence of budworm research in Western Canada, it would

be foolish to ignore the lessons that many researchers in Eastern Canada are discovering: monocrop conifer plantations improve budworm growth and worsen budworm predator populations.

You’d think the growing body of evidence showing that the war on deciduous is setting up our forests for these massive budworm attacks would convince Parmar of the immediate need to change our policies. You’d be wrong.

Not even new research showing how deciduous trees can impede fire more effectively than conifer regardless of how worse the fire weather gets, matters to these guys.

Our leadership will do whatever it takes to turn our province into a massive disease-ridden chemical-dependent firetrap conifer tree farm.

If that’s what it takes to benefit the billionaires and the big corporate interests, regardless of the public and environmental harm, that’s what is going to happen.

James Steidle is a Prince George writer.

JEFFREY J. WITCOSKY, USDA FOREST SERVICE

Although it resembles a worm or caterpillar in its earlier stages, the adult western spruce budworm looks more like a moth.

JAMES STEIDLE

Back Story

OPINION

City looking to develop business case for Civic Core Plan

Few parking spots. I still think the replacement for Kopar arena may be better situated in the lands around CN Centre and the Kin Centres. Centralized resources for arena staff and equipment and ample parking.

Always thought 18th Avenue should have been four lanes between Ospika and Foothills to accommodate traffic flows from pool, soccer, exhibition grounds and arenas. Downtown can still be made nicer without the arena.

D B A

Todd Whitcombe: We are always at risk of wild res, no matter the weather

Although I like most of what Todd has stated and definitely support his contention that we have got expenditures backwards, I believe that we should be looking at what other countries have done to rid themselves of wildfires.

Finland comes to mind.

For the past approximately 20 years, they have avoided serious wildfires through an active program of intentionally setting fires to the undergrowth in a controlled manner.

This may not be the solution for BC but it and many other potential solutions need to be looked into.

Fighting wildfires does not seem like the solution to me.

Ed A Dylke

City looking to develop business case for Civic

Core Plan

First thing that I would like to say is I like the mayor’s vision of the core the most. I think it shows intellectual vision which will impress business investors and people considering relocating to another city.

I believe the plan is what is needed to grow the business and residential tax base sooner than later.

I also believe that any new arena should be designed with the fact in mind that PG brings in entertainment fans from an area of 340,000, not just the city’s own population.

That number in mind we now need an arena with at least 12,000 seats. This would bring in a lot more A-list concerts and other A-list entertainment that would easily sell out.

Why CN Centre was not built with the big picture in mind is a testament to short sighted “blinders on” thinking.

Glenn Miller

Brink Group feels the effects of the escalating trade war

“…reduce the bureaucracy. We have the highest cost of lumber manufacturing and access to fibre in the world, virtually.”

The bureaucracy only increases in Canada, and especially so in BC.

Enviro-religionism has ruled the minds of the policymakers here for a decade…

They have quite literally gone insane with this nonsense … when can we finally move on from this enviro-fever dream and go back to reality?

DD22

City looking to develop business case for Civic Core Plan

Great to see the Civic Core Plan moving to the business case stage. When you only get one chance, it’s important to get it right.

Prince George should create a strong central civic hub that creates an entertainment district that seamlessly connects with Third, Fourth and George streets.

Maybe the new stadium could host the PG Cougars downtown, with the Spruce Kings moving to CN Centre. I’d also love to see a large music venue or theatre that isn’t the CN Centre — sometimes that space feels a bit hollow for concerts.

As someone with many years ahead in Prince George, I’m excited to see what’s coming!

S Goods

Brink Group feels the effects of the escalating trade war

We often hear about “bureaucracy” or “red tape” in forestry, but rarely with specifics. Processes like environmental review, safety standards, and trade compliance exist for good reasons — if there’s a problem, let’s identify exactly where it is.

I agree that innovation is key. With Canada needing 500,000 new homes annually over the next decade, the forestry sector should be finding ways to better support local homebuilders. The Kootenays are leading in wood innovation — mass timber, prefabrication, and integrated design — yet Prince George has the UNBC Master of Engineering in Integrated Wood Design program and hasn’t matched that progress.

We have the expertise, materials, and market; now we need the will to connect the dots.

S Goods

Caribou Road rezoning bylaw passes frst three readings

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George city council took the first step towards approval a rezoning application that would pave the way for a Vanway-area property to be subdivided into two lots at its Monday, Aug. 18 meeting.

Jasdeep Singh Sran and Pamela Virk are applying to have 7346 Caribou Rd. rezoned from RS1m: Suburban Residential to RS2m: Single Residential.

The first three readings of a bylaw implementing that rezoning were approved unanimously by council.

Documents attached to the meeting agenda stated that back in April, the property owners applied to have the property subdivided into two lots.

That application is on hold while the rezoning application is under consideration.

City staff wrote in a report that the owners intend to build a single-family residence on the new lot and then replace an existing modular home on the other lot with another single-family residence.

The RS1m and RS2m zones are almost identical, except that the minimum lot area and site coverage are smaller in RS2m zones. The rezoning application would allow for the subdivided lots to meet the minimum lot area requirement.

Staff are recommending that the rezoning be approved.

“A similar zoning change from RS1m to RS3 has been supported by council (Bylaw No. 9393, 2023) within the surrounding area,” the report said.

“Smaller lot sizes are seen to be supportable in this area due to the proximity and availability of city services (water and sanitary sewer) for residential uses. Additionally, the housing form and density proposed for this application is not expected to generate negative land use impacts within the neighbourhood.”

The city is not legally required to hold a public hearing for this application, but residents were able to send their thoughts on the proposal to council.

One letter from a nearby resident, Rhonda Karvali of 7315 Caribou Rd., was attached to the meeting agenda.

I am writing to disagree with anything more than a single-family dwelling going on that lot,” Karvali wrote. “I live kitty corner and I don’t want to look out my living room and have up to two threestory homes right there.”

After the meeting adjourned, three residents from Caribou Road spoke up to complain about the proposed subdivision project, saying there are already issues with infrastructure like sewer backups without adding another home to the street.

The residents complained that they were not given notice of the council discussion and were unhappy they were not given a chance to speak. Under BC’s small-scale multi-unit housing legislation, the city will not be required to hold a public hearing for the rezoning.

Mayor Simon Yu, city manager Walter Babicz and Coun. Ron Polillo went to speak with the residents about their concerns.

Council gives OK to temporary use for medical business

Prince George city council approved a temporary use permit allowing a company to host medical businesses out of its Fourth Avenue building at its Monday meeting.

LSV Progress Management wanted a three-year permit for the building at 944952 Fourth Ave. so that a mental health counsellor, a holistic health business and a massage business be allowed to operate there.

The property is currently zoned M4: Transition Industrial, which city staff said in a report does not allow for “health service, minor” or “service, massage therapy” land uses.

A letter from the management company’s Luke Veeken to the city dated May 24 states that all three tenants are “owner-operators who work by appointment only, seeing one client at a time.”

“There is no excessive noise, environmental impact, or increase in traffic beyond that of a typical office or educational space, both of which

are currently permitted under the M4 zoning,” Veeken wrote.

“These proposed uses are consistent in scale and intensity with existing zoning allowances and do not pose a risk related to contaminants, food production, cannabis or other disruptive activity.”

Veeken said he has owned the building since 2019 and has seen frequent tenant turnover due to external factors affecting downtown Prince George.

“Many businesses express hesitation about relocating to the core because of challenges including homelessness, trespassing and waste around entrance ways — such as garbage, feces and used needles,” he said.

“These issues have created safety concerns for tenants’ staff members and discouraged long-term tenancy, contributing to relatively low rental rates in the downtown area.”

Despite those issues, he said, he has been able to attract the new tenants,

who will contribute positively to downtown revitalization.

City staff’s report said that they support granting the temporary use permit so that they can better understand allowing those land uses at the property ahead of it potentially being rezoned.

No correspondence either in favour or opposition to the application was received by the city.

Residential rezoning approved for Hart property

A rezoning application by a Hart property owner was given final approval by Prince George city council at its Monday meeting.

Garry Gatzke was looking to have 4225 Turner Rd., near both Heather Park Elementary School and the Elksentre, rezoned from RS2m: Single Residential to RM1: Multiple Residential to allow for two additional dwelling units to be built on the property.

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH AVE MARIA

It’s never too early to get ready for back to school with Ave Maria Specialties. We have everything you need from Children’s multi vitamins and supplements to school supplies and everything in between we’ve got you covered. We even have lunchboxes and books to help get your kids excited to go back to their day to day learning.

Mayor’s travel spending already more than 2024 total

Council also reviews staff travel spending, votes to keep report private going forward

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Mayor Simon Yu claimed more expenses in the first half of 2025 than he did in the entirety of 2024, according to documents attached to the agenda for the Monday, Aug. 18 meeting of Prince George City Council.

Included with the meeting agenda are expense reports for each member of city council, one for the first quarter of 2025 and another for the second quarter.

Combined, council claimed $37,321.62 in reimbursed expenses or prepared expenses incurred by the City of Prince George on their behalf.

The mayor listed $6,783.90 in expenses for the first quarter of 2025 and $6,079.18 for the second quarter for a total of $12,863.08.

In the city’s Statement of Financial Information for 2024, compensation for each member of council is listed, including salaries, expenses and benefits.

According to the statement, Yu claimed $12,779.01 in expenses for the entirety of 2024.

However, the statement does note that the listed figures do include a GST rebate where applicable.

Unlike councillors, the mayor’s expense limit isn’t set in a bylaw. Instead, it’s set as a line item in each year’s budget.

In 2025, that line item was set at $22,800, meaning Yu has about $10,000 left to spend in the second half of this year.

Here’s what the other eight members of council spent, in order of most to least expenses claimed:

• Coun. Kyle Sampson: $6,785.55 ($2,901.99 in Q1 and $3,883.56 in Q2),

• Coun. Cori Ramsay: $5,151.23 ($175 in Q1 and $4,976.23 in Q2),

• Coun. Ron Polillo: $4,172.32

($1,671.16 in Q1 and $2,501.16 in Q2),

• Coun. Trudy Klassen: $3,884.90 ($1,377.10 in Q1 and $2,507.80 in Q2)

• Coun. Garth Frizzell: $2,505.52 ($100 in Q1 and $2,405.52 in Q2)

• Coun. Brian Skakun: $1,018.15 ($805 in Q1 and $213.15 in Q2)

• Coun. Susan Scott: $137 ($0 in Q1 and $137 in Q2)

In previous years, councillors had a maximum expense limit of $8,000. For the 2025 budget, council voted to reduce its budget for economic development advocacy by $20,000 and increase their expense limit to $20,000.

The mayor had his expense limit go up by $4,000.

According to the 2024 SOFI, only Coun. Trudy Klassen exceeded her expense limit that year, racking up $8,247.48 that year.

It should be noted that the first and second quarter expense reports may not provide a full picture of council’s spending.

For example, Scott’s second-quarter expense summary references the fact that she participated in an advocacy trip to Victoria in late April and early May, but there are no expenses listed for accommodations or air fare.

Frizzell and Sampson were also part of the delegation and listed travel and accommodation expenses.

Another thing to note is that some councillors pre-pay for an event in one quarter but the trip itself happens in another quarter.

The mayor noted in his first-quarter summary that he had pre-paid or pre-registered for events taking place in both the second and third quarters of the year, as one example.

Also included with the meeting agAlso included with the meeting agenda were individual expense reports for the first half of 2025 for a select few staff members.

City manager Walter Babicz had the city cover $7,615.52 worth of expenses, including some related to attending the Victoria delegation, attending the

Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ 2025 annual general meeting in Ottawa, paying Law Society of BC membership fees and more.

Director of planning and buildings Deanna Wasnik had $3,977.01 in expenses covered, including the cost of a Planning Institute of BC webinar, a membership fee for the North Central Local Government Management Association and travel to Ottawa to attend the 2025 FCM AGM in Ottawa.

The city’s manager of legislative services, Ethan Anderson, had $1,692.25 in expenses covered by the city, which included items relating to membership in the North Central Local Government Management Association, training costs and membership in the Local Government Management Association.

Deputy corporate officer Leslie Kellett had $1,384 in expenses covered, including LGMA membership, Civic Info BC membership and three training courses on privacy.

Director of administrative services Eric Depenau had $1,059 in expenses covered, including course fees from the Justice Institute of BC paid for by the city’s professional growth program and membership charges for the LGMA.

Director of civic operations Blake McIntosh had $384.36 in expenses covered, including attendance at a human resources seminar and membership in the BC Fleet Operators Management Group.

Manager of civic facilities Andy Beesley and director of finance and IT services Kris Dalio each had their $25 membership fee for the NCLGMA covered by the city.

Ramsay noted that this was the first time this kind of report had been produced.

She moved for this report to be presented to council by the city manager in closed sessions going forward, as the spending reported by staff has already been approved by council during the budget process and the public’s scrutiny of staff could be a potential issue when it comes to recruitment and retention later going forward.

Scott said she agreed with Ramsay,

City council reviewed the spending of mayor, council and senior staff on Monday, Aug. 18.

saying that while the report was requested in good faith, there’s a better way of handling it.

Polillo said the transparency provided by expense reports is warranted for elected officials but not city staff.

Skakun said he thought the attempt to put the report behind closed doors is trying to circumvent council’s earlier motion ordering the report and said taxpayers deserve the transparency for both elected officials and staff.

Klassen agreed with Skakun, saying he thought it was a step backwards.

Frizzell said that while he thought the report was asked for with good intent, there wasn’t much in the report that council can base future decisions from and he didn’t think there was a need for it going forward.

Bennett asked staff how much time it took to develop the report. Director of finance and IT services Kris Dalio said there hadn’t been a process in place when the report was ordered and staff had to take some time to revise their expenses from the first half of the year.

Going forward, Dalio said, he thought it wouldn’t take as long to develop. He said his concern about the report is less about the time it takes and more about the effect on staff, as some employees said they were hesitant to take advantage of certain programs because of reporting requirements.

No other municipality in BC produces a report like this, Dalio said.

Ramsay’s motion passed, with Skakun, Klassen, Yu and Bennett voting against.

Northern Health warns of possible measles at UHNBC

There was potential exposure in an elevator on Aug. 12

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Northern Health is warning members of the public in the Prince George area about a possible measles exposure that occurred at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC).

In a Facebook post, the healthcare provider warned that there was a potential measles exposure at the UHNBC patient elevators on Tuesday, Aug. 12 between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Northern Health medical health officer Dr. Jen Zuo spoke with The Citizen about what led to the exposure at UHNBC.

“It was a patient with a probable measles case who was transferred for care from Northeast BC to UHNBC for

treatment,” said Zuo. “Later on, their test came back and confirmed that this patient was positive for measles and unfortunately, during the transfer, a short lapse in infection control measures occurred inside the elevator, thus creating this exposure risk for other patients.”

Zuo explained that this exposure warning went out due to the difficulty in keeping track of who may have been exposed during the 4-5:30 p.m. timeline.

“The team will transfer the patient and will try their best to keep infection prevention control measures,” said Zuo. “It depends on who went into the elevator, if they are susceptible to measles, if they’re immunized, then there’s low risk for them but it’s hard to know who went into the elevator during this period. It is best to notify the public and for anyone worried, to consult either a physician or also to call public health.”

However, the patient with the active

On the right track

case is no longer at UHNBC and Zuo notes that they have not seen any active cases due to the recent exposure yet. “There are currently no measles cases in Prince George at the moment,” said Zuo. “The transferred case has already recovered and is no longer in the hospital. What we would say to people who are worried about the spread is that the best protection is prevention, which is making sure that everyone who is susceptible to measles gets their two doses of vaccination.”

Northern Health warns that if you believe you were exposed or were in the area of exposure during this period that you should monitor for symptoms. Symptoms of measles include red blotchy rashes, fever, cough, runny nose and inflamed eyes, among others.

If you have any of these symptoms, consult with a healthcare provider; however, do not visit your doctor or a hospital, as you may risk exposure to others.

However, if you develop serious complications as a result of exposure, including difficulty breathing, confusion, persistent high fever of above 39.5 C, or dehydration, it is advised that you seek urgent medical attention.

It is advised that if you do need to seek treatment that you call before seeking medical assistance so staff can limit the potential exposure to others ahead of your treatment, Northern Health states.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, there have been 187 confirmed cases of measles in the past year.

Of those, 134 were reported in the Northern Health region, making it the health-care region with the most exposure by a wide margin, the CDC states.

As of an Aug. 14 report to the BC CDC, there are a total of four active cases, all in the Northern Health region.

For more information about measles, visit www.bccdc.ca

for guided tours, special events, and shopping in the General Store.

Upcoming Events

CN worker removes old railroad ties while carrying out track maintenance along First Avenue on Wednesday, Aug. 13. The project included the use of several types of heavy equipment to break up the old track and pull the aging ties.

Inside job: Retail employee pleads guilty to stealing

He took power tools from Home Depot and sold them on Facebook

Marketplace

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Provincial Court judge in Prince George reserved a sentencing decision Aug. 14 in the case of a fired Home Depot employee who pleaded guilty to stealing DeWalt and Milwaukee power tools and advertising them at a discount on Facebook Marketplace almost two years ago.

Crown prosecutor Anne Baines told Judge Cassandra Malfair that a loss prevention officer at Home Depot found David Tschritter, 24, stole $14,321.38 “or more” of goods and listed them online under a pseudonym.

Tschritter was fired from the job on Sept. 19, 2023 and charged with theft over $5,000 and possession of stolen property over $5,000.

In court, he pleaded guilty to the theft charge.

“That’s only a small portion of what we say Mr. Tschritter stole,” Baines said. “It’s just the only amount that we could prove.”

Baines asked Malfair to send

Tschritter to jail for nine to 12 months. If Malfair prefers a conditional sentence in the community instead, then Baines wants 18 months to two years less a day.

“He was able to steal items in a very deceitful way, not just walking out the door, but actually hiding them and transporting them to his vehicle and transporting them home,” Baines said.

Tschritter’s lawyer, Shora Amini, argued for a conditional discharge, which would leave her client without

a conviction if he successfully fulfils probation conditions. Amini pointed to Tschritter’s circumstances, lack of criminal record, confession to police and guilty plea.

Amini said he was 22 at the time and had “lost connection to his church and his faith. He felt he was spiralling out of control at the time of the offence.”

Amini said Tschritter’s wife suffered serious complications after the birth of the couple’s second child, putting Tschritter under financial stress.

She argued that a conditional discharge is not contrary to the public interest and suggested Malfair put Tschritter on probation with stringent conditions, counselling and lengthy community work service.

“He committed the offence, which was not a minor offence, while in a period of personal and mental turmoil, while struggling to tend to his newborn child and ill wife,” Amini said. “He was not in the right state of mind.”

Court heard that Tschritter not only admitted to the theft, but consented to the Prince George RCMP search of his residence for the stolen items.

He told police that he would put the items in cardboard boxes, take them out of the store and place them in his vehicle.

Then he would take them home at the end of a shift and then advertise them on Facebook Marketplace.

“He does not remember how many items he has sold,” Baines said. “He does not know how many items he stole, and he had some of the stolen items in his apartment.”

At the end of the hearing, Malfair asked Baines and Amini to seek a 30-minute time slot from court schedulers, sometime in mid-September or later, so that she could deliver the verdict.

Suspended sentence, probaton for serial shoplifer

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A man who pleaded guilty to a 2024 shoplifting spree was sentenced Aug. 13 in Prince George Provincial Court to one year on probation.

In agreeing to the proposed suspended sentence, Judge Judith Doulis also ordered Stephen Mark Gillis, 45, to pay restitution to the retailers and stay away from specific Prince George stores.

Gillis admitted that, between March 5 and Aug. 1, 2024, he stole: $808.90 of batteries and tools from KMS Tools;

a $269.51 security camera from London Drugs; $406.91 of steaks and chicken breasts from Real Canadian Superstore; $771 of tools from Home Depot; and $460.34 of groceries from Save-on-Foods.

When he was arrested at the Superstore on May 7, 2024, the meat was returned to the store, but had to be thrown out due to company food safety policies.

Gillis’s defence lawyer, Airi Cipelletti, said he has obeyed the law since the spate of offences, after a “time period which was very difficult for him.”

A pre-sentence report said Gillis was

affected by several personal tragedies in the space of about two months: the deaths of his grandmother, biological father, his brother and a friend.

“This unfortunately exacerbated his pre-existing substance use issues to the point where he was no longer functioning,” Cipelletti said.

“He was beginning to damage what he described as his excellent reputation, as a safe and reliable employee. He left his job, and he’s been unemployed since.”

The report said that it was the first time in 25 years working in the forest industry that he had been without

full-time work, but he is now looking ahead to a September contract. Cipelletti said her client’s guilty pleas on every file show remorse and that he is eager to move forward.

“This is an isolated patch of time in his record and he says, very poignantly, stealing is not for me,” Cipelletti said.

Gillis briefly told Doulis that he is sorry for his actions. But Doulis warned him that a breach of any condition of the probation would require a return to court and, potentially, jail time.

Doulis set Feb. 13, 2027 as the deadline for Gillis to pay restitution.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

A former store worker admitted he took tools and sold them. He’ll return to court at a later date or sentencing.

Suspended sentence for man who assaulted woman

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A 48-year-old man will not serve additional jail time after he pleaded guilty in Prince George Provincial Court Aug. 12 to assault with a weapon and failure to comply with a no contact undertaking.

Judge Peter McDermick sentenced 48-year-old Scott Donovan to 11 days time served and 12 months probation after the joint sentencing proposal by Crown and defence lawyers. McDermick said the charges against Donovan “quite correctly call out for a jail sentence,” however there were mitigating factors: Donovan’s guilty pleas, his lack of criminal record, the joint sentencing proposal and the victim’s wishes for Donovan to undergo rehabilitation.

Crown prosecutor Lisa Sukkau said the victim called the Prince George RCMP on April 26 to report that Donovan had broken a glass over her head.

A sheriff’s prisoner transport vehicle waits at the back of the Prince George Courthouse.

While she was on the phone with police, “there was banging on the bathroom door,” Sukkau said. Police arrived and found her hiding in a bathroom. Donovan was found inside the house and arrested for assault around 2:30 a.m.

Conditions of Donovan’s release from

Accused pleads guilty to sexual interference with young relatve

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Prince George man pleaded guilty Aug. 13 in Provincial Court to sexual interference of a relative over the span of three years.

The man was also charged with sexually assaulting the girl. Information that could identify the victim is banned from publication.

The guilty man admitted to Judge Judith Doulis at the scheduled arraignment hearing that he touched the girl for a sexual purpose while she slept in his bed, between Aug. 19, 2021 and Sept. 8, 2024.

The girl, who is under 16, told her mother, and later Prince George RCMP, that, when she visited the man’s house, he pulled down her pajama pants and pushed himself against her rear end.

Doulis ordered the man undergo

a pre-sentencing report and forensic psychiatric risk assessment for sexual violence against children.

She also scheduled Oct. 22 as the next court date.

Sexual interference is an offence involving touching a person under 16 years of age, directly or indirectly, with any body part or object, for a sexual purpose.

Consent is not a defence, as those under 16 cannot legally consent to sexual activity.

A key distinction from sexual assault is that sexual interference specifically addresses victims under 16, while sexual assault can apply to individuals of any age and focuses on the nature of the contact.

A conviction for sexual interference can carry a sentence of up to 14 years in prison and requires mandatory registration as a sex offender.

killing you, I will [expletive] destroy you and burn that place to the ground with your parents in it.”

RCMP officers arrested Donovan again at his own residence.

Defence lawyer David Jenkins said alcohol played a large part in the incident for his Saskatchewan-born, Alberta-raised client, but denied he is an alcoholic.

Donovan’s probation order includes no possession of alcohol or drugs and an order not to contact or communicate with the victim. McDermick also banned Donovan from possessing any firearm, crossbow or restricted or prohibited weapon, ammunition or explosives for three years.

custody included not to communicate directly or indirectly with the victim. But, almost eight hours later, a man called the RCMP to say that Donovan had been texting the victim and threatened the victim and her family.

One message read, in part: “I will die

McDermick acknowledged the sentence could be considered light, but focuses on rehabilitation in keeping with the complainant’s request.

“A trial would have been very difficult for her and something that the Crown wanted to avoid,” McDermick said.

NOTICE OF

Public

Consultation Meeting

Temporary Use Permit No. 292

Subject property: 304 Cruise Road, Electoral Area E (Woodpecker-Hixon)

Purpose: to permit Campground and Tourist Accommodation uses on the subject property for a three-year period

Next steps: there is a public consultation meeting Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at 7 pm at the Hixon Community Hall, 502 Hixon Subdivision Road, Hixon, BC

For more details visit rdffg.ca/landuseapps

Probaton for man who assaulted hospital security guard

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Prince George Provincial Court judge ordered a conditional discharge for a man who pleaded guilty Aug. 13 to assaulting a security guard at University Hospital of Northern BC.

Shamil Shaman-Ka-Tex Azizov, born in 2001, was charged with assault after the Sept. 8, 2024 incident.

Court heard that Azizov was escorted from the hospital by three security

guards who tried to calm him. He punched one of the officers on the side of the head while standing in the parking lot.

Azizov was self-represented in court. Crown proposed the conditional discharge. Judge Michael Brecknell accepted the proposal, which means Azizov will not have a criminal record of the case if he fulfils the conditions of a 12-month probation order.

Brecknell proceeded to tell Azizov that such behaviour in a hospital is not

tolerated.

“I have to say it on the record, sir, that is becoming more and more prevalent in British Columbia, and perhaps elsewhere in the country, that people who work in hospitals get attacked,” Brecknell said.

“They’re there to help people that can’t leave. Their job is to take care of people, and in the case of these security guards, to make sure that order is maintained in the emergency room.”

Brecknell said he accepted that

Azizov was “in a bad space as a result of a car accident.”

That did not excuse the man’s behaviour, but Brecknell said it provided context for it.

Azizov’s probation includes an order to not be within 100 metres of the hospital or the three security guards, unless he has a scheduled appointment or is in need of urgent medical care.

Brecknell also ordered Azizov to write a letter of apology to his victim by the end of October.

Suspect found hiding in senior’s outbuilding pleads guilty

Second man caught with him allegedly kicked a police dog in the mouth

BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

One of two men arrested last October after hiding in an outbuilding at a senior citizen’s residence was sentenced to a year on probation Aug. 15.

Andrew Marvin Matte, 34, had been charged with break and enter

Gunn Road fre damage: $160K

A building on Gunn Road sustained about $160,000 in damages in a fire on Thursday, Aug. 14. Crews from four Prince George Fire Rescue halls headed to the site at about 2 a.m., putting the flames out quickly. There were no injuries.

with intent to commit an offence, but pleaded guilty to the lesser included charge of obstructing, interrupting or interfering with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property.

Before noon on Oct. 27, 2024, the woman, who was living alone and recovering from eye surgery, and her neighbour called Prince George RCMP to report two males walking through her garden.

After they were found in an outbuilding, officers ordered them to come out with their hands up. Matte did, but the other man did not. A police dog

intervened.

That man, who allegedly possessed a machete, is accused of kicking the police dog in the mouth and breaking a tooth.

Benjamin Eugene Wilson, born in 1991, is in custody and scheduled to appear at a pre-trial conference on Aug. 25.

Matte, a carpenter by trade, is unemployed and on social assistance, but close to achieving red seal certification. His lawyer, David Jenkins Jr., told the court that Matte has struggled with addiction.

“He has, though, done some work on himself to get himself back on track here,” Jenkins said. “He has essentially gone cold turkey from utilizing any illicit substances.”

Judge Martin Nadon suspended passing of a sentence and ordered 12 months probation, encouraging Matte to stay on the path of recovery.

“You’ve got some skills. It looks like you sort of fell down for a while, but the test in life is not whether you fall down, it’s how you get back up again. So it looks like you’re in the process of doing that,” Nadon said.

SUV hits parked car, rolls over

Prince George Fire Rescue and BC paramedics help a woman climb out after a vehicle rollover on Central Street East on Friday, Aug. 15. Three people had to be extricated from the SUV after it collided with a parked car on Central Street East round noon. Prince George Fire Rescue firefighters, BC Paramedics and RCMP officers worked to help a woman climb out through the passenger window, then used a ladder to help her get down to the ground. A man was taken out of the crashed vehicle through its rear liftgate. The two were taken away on stretchers and transported to hospital. The third person in the vehicle, a woman, climbed out on her own.

Police seek tps afer collision involving unmarked RCMP vehicle

CITIZEN STAFF

Prince George RCMP are looking for any information from witnesses after a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Monterey Road and Highway 97 North on Monday, Aug. 11 just after 1 p.m.

Police arrived and confirmed that an unmarked RCMP vehicle was struck from behind by a grey pickup truck while stopped at a red light. The investigation at the scene led officers to suspect the driver of the truck was impaired by alcohol.

The driver of the unmarked RCMP vehicle was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“Police made a roadside demand for a breath sample, which resulted in a fail reading on the approved screening device. The driver was detained and further provided two breath samples that

registered as more than three times the legal limit. The driver was released from police custody — on an appearance notice — to an individual able to care for the driver,” said Const. Jenna Moore, media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP, in a press release.

RCMP are looking for witnesses or anyone with dash camera footage from the area of Monterey Road and Highway 97 North between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 11 who may have captured the motor vehicle incident.

If you have any information about this or any other criminal offence, please contact the Prince George RCMP at 250561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.northernbccrimestoppers.ca (English only).

Tips that lead to an arrest or recovery of stolen property could lead to a cash reward.

Thef of copper wire knocking out local Telus service

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

A recent increase in copper thefts in Prince George and the surrounding area has left communications giant Telus concerned.

Telus has experienced a 68 per cent increase in copper cable thefts across Canada from January to the end of July this year.

Compared to the same period last year, there were 11 copper thefts in BC; however, in the past couple of weeks alone, Prince George and the surrounding area have had four copper thefts in total.

These four thefts resulted in 169 wireless devices being affected and 110 landlines losing service in Prince George and the surrounding area.

Two of these incidents occurred in the Fraser-Fort George area, with two happening in Prince George proper. These are also problematic due to the complexity of the repairs and the cost associated with doing so.

Anne Martin, vice-president of network engineering and operations at Telus, spoke to The Citizen about the possible dangers of thefts like these.

“In the cases of the copper theft that we’re seeing with our telecom specifically, you can leave people with the inability to call 911,” said Martin. “You can imagine seniors living alone, they’re in care homes, they can’t reach their loved ones just through their phone line that’s been disconnected.

“They can’t reach their families. They can’t reach emergency responders. Sometimes businesses can’t process their payments. They can’t fulfill online orders. Students can’t do their classes. It can disrupt services like hospital systems and alarm lines. It’s pretty dramatic when thieves take advantage of the copper. Sometimes, depending on the complexity of that theft, the repair times can be quite extended into the night, leaving people stranded for long periods.”

She noted that another significant issue is often the prosecution for these crimes when criminals are caught, as

often these thefts result in losses under $5,000, leading to reduced sentences.

“In Canada, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Copper, it’s often like being charged with theft under $5,000, which is like stealing a bicycle … the punishment is not very severe. And the impact is huge,” she said.

She explained that she has seen thieves go to extreme lengths to steal copper cable from Telus locations, including dressing in work clothing and putting themselves in close contact with dangerous and possibly fatal electrical wires.

In order to protect these installations, Martin is planning on increasing security and collaborating with local officials.

“We spend a lot of time trying to reinforce our infrastructure,” said Martin. “We’ll install alarms, we’ll go up and we’ll put up special light fencing, security cameras, etc., anything to mitigate these thefts. We work with the police to investigate all the thefts. We urge the public to stay vigilant … The biggest thing is, we need broader collaboration for enforcement and deterrence — collective collaboration on that as well — and we’ve had a lot of success with the

recyclers to participate in the RAPID program, which is a computer program that monitors and tracks all that stuff. One of the things that we’re planning to do with the City of Prince George is to do checks and compliance checks with these various places. But in fairness, if somebody comes in with copper, it’s pretty hard to prove where it came from. It might help us identify suspects and other things, but ultimately that’s something that we’re working with the City of Prince George to do.”

MacNeill, in a statement, elaborated on the situation and the role the bylaw division plays in it.

public seeing and reporting if they see something to the police or even through anonymous tips or Crime Stoppers.”

Prince George RCMP are also concerned with this recent rise in copper thefts, and Sgt. Craig Douglass emphasized that these crimes tend to emerge in patterns.

“It’s not unheard of, it’s certainly been an issue and it goes up and down,” said Douglass. “We get spikes of it from time to time, where we’ll get a bunch of copper hits, and then either we put the people in jail, or they just cool off and move on to something else, and then we get dips again. Then it cycles back up — just like some other crimes.”

This recent spike is not the first the city has seen this year, as in February, copper thefts resulted in a total loss of $25,000 in repair costs. However, these thieves were primarily targeting streetlights and pulling out underground wiring.

Douglass noted a few ways that the RCMP can track down this stolen copper.

“We are working with a new bylaw manager down at the city, Kent MacNeill,” said Douglass. “There’s a bylaw in place for pawn shops and metal

“The City of Prince George does not have a bylaw regulating metal buying/ selling. That said, the bylaw division does enforce business licences and works with the RCMP on licensing, should police find a dealer operating in contravention of the Metal Recyclers Act or without a proper business licence,” he said.

The city has stated that copper thefts from light poles have been down since the thefts in February, thanks to the city’s utilities team installing tamper-resistant bolts and other security measures in problem areas and on all newly installed streetlights — which has hampered tampering and brought down the number of lights damaged in the city.

Douglass emphasized that often these thieves are desperate, as it takes a lot of work and effort to obtain usable and sellable material.

“It’s desperate people doing desperate things,” said Douglass. “If they can profit from it, they will. There’s a lot of effort that has to take place to steal copper, and especially if it’s insulated, then they have to remove the insulation, do all that, which is a lot of work. But if they can get something from it, then it will be worth it for them.”

If you have any information about recent copper thefts or see any suspicious activity, please contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

ALEX TEPETIDIS/PEXELS PHOTO

Copper wiring is often the target of thieves. A recent string of thefts has had an effect on Telus customers, the company reports.

Mackenzie gives OK to housing for Enbridge workers

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

District of Mackenzie council unanimously approved a motion voicing support for temporary workforce accommodations to be built near the community to allow for proposed work relating to an Enbridge natural gas pipeline expansion at its Monday, Aug. 11 meeting.

As previously reported by The Citizen, Enbridge is proposing an expansion to the branch of the Westcoast Energy pipeline that carries natural gas from near Chetwynd to the Canada-U.S. border at Huntingdon/Sumas in the Fraser Valley.

In May, Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and McLeod Lake Indian Band were announced to be part of a consortium made up of 36 First Nations purchasing a 12.5 per cent minority stake in the pipeline for $715 million. When the deal closed in July, the number of

participating First Nations had risen to 38 and the purchase price had gone up to $736 million, an Enbridge spokesperson said in an email.

As part of that work, Enbridge would install new compressor stations and pipeline loops, including near Mackenzie and Hixon.

In the Mackenzie area, two new pipeline loops and a compressor station would be installed. To accommodate workers during construction, Enbridge is proposing to build temporary accommodations for up to 700 people.

Another proposed temporary accommodation site would house up to 150 workers near Powder King in the Pine Pass.

At a Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors meeting in Mackenzie on June 19, Enbridge representatives said that workers on the Hixon leg of the project would likely stay at already-existing accommodations rather than a temporary site.

BC Court of Appeal won’t bite on Prince George dentst’s case

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The BC Court of Appeal has dismissed a dentist’s bid to overturn a competitor’s injunction against him.

Dr. Jasdip Minhas, Dr. Jasdip Minhas Dental Corp., his family trust and six numbered companies sought a stay of last November’s BC Supreme Court court order that restrained Minhas from operating dental clinics in Pine Centre Mall in Prince George and in Powell River.

In an Aug. 12 ruling, Justice Karen Horsman found it was “not in the interests of justice” to hear the appeal and she refused to grant the stay.

Dentalcorp Health Services Ltd. and Dr. Larry Podolsky bought five of Minhas’s Family Dental Care Clinics in Prince George in 2017 and Minhas remained in a managerial role. He received $11 million in cash and shares

An Enbridge report attached to the agenda for the Aug. 11 Mackenzie council meeting summarized feedback the company received during a July 15 open house held in the community.

Enbridge said residents attending the open house expressed support for the economic development and employment opportunities the project could represents, but also expressed concern about the potential strain the project could have on local services and infrastructure like available housing or the hospital.

In response to these concerns, the company wrote that it assigned Seanna McDonald as a community liaison to engage directly with the community.

Conversations are also being had with Northern Health to discuss health concerns and Enbridge said it would strictly enforce a code of conduct and after-hours respect policy for workers.

To prevent strain on local services, Enbridge said it would hire independent

medical providers to serve the workforce, improve or restore road infrastructure as required and have the provider of the accommodation hire a caterer to feed the workforce.

At the Aug. 11 Mackenzie council meeting, Coun. Jesse Wright brought up the health-care issue and asked McDonald whether pharmaceuticals or prescriptions would be included in the company’s plan.

He said that other communities where similar work had occurred has said that access to prescriptions had been an issue.

Mayor Joan Atkinson noted that Mackenzie has nine doctors and one pharmacist.

“It’s important that they arrive in Mackenzie with all of the prescription drugs that they need while they’re in the community,” Atkinson said. McDonald said she didn’t have an immediate answer, but it was on a list of items to be addressed.

as part of a complex set of agreements.

Branch ruled that Dentalcorp made a strong preliminary case that Minhas breached restrictive covenants and issued the injunction pending a trial.

Minhas and Dentalcorp worked together from 2018 to 2022 to seek clinics in Prince George, Quesnel, Ladner, North Vancouver and Vancouver. Minhas also started his own dental franchise company called Smili, which prompted Dentalcorp to cancel their agreement in June 2024.

“There is limited evidence before me as to what steps the parties have taken in the trial court,” Horsman wrote. “It is fair to observe that the proceeding is at the early stages, and pleadings have only recently closed. There is no scheduled trial date. Nevertheless, an appeal will, at the very least, distract the parties from their focus on proceeding to trial expeditiously.”

Quesnel mayor fned $1,000 for illegal donaton in 2022

Ron Paull went over the limit when he gave $10K to himself

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Elections BC has fined the Mayor of Quesnel $1,000 for donating $10,000 to his own 2022 campaign.

A July 29 letter to Ron Paull from deputy elections officer Kerry Pridmore said Elections BC’s electoral finance team contacted Paull three weeks after his January 2023 disclosure showed the $10,000 self-donation.

They explained that $2,500 was the

contribution limit for unendorsed candidates.

Between Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, 2023, Paull and Elections BC communicated about how to return the contribution so he would be in compliance.

Paull submitted an amended disclosure statement on Feb. 16, 2023 that stated he had returned the donation to himself.

More than two years later, on March 5, 2025, Elections BC notified Paull he was under investigation due to the overcontribution.

“You explained that you do not accept contributions and believe it is wrong to do so,” said Pridmore’s letter. “The investigator explained

the rules around self-funding of campaigns and explained the contribution limits for unendorsed candidates.”

On March 18, Paull sent the investigator an image of his personal bank statement that showed $10,000 transferred to the “Ron Paull Campaign” account on Sept. 23, 2022.

Under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, Paull faced a fine of up to two times the amount of the illegal

Appeals board says moose quota remains

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Environmental Appeal Board confirmed 14 as the annual moose-hunting quota for a guide outfitter licenced in the Cariboo and Quesnel Highlands.

In an Aug. 12 decision, panel chair Diana Valiela upheld the June 2023 decision by fish and wildlife director Logan Wenham in the Ministry of Forests. Bowden appealed in July 2023, asking for his five-year allocation to be increased to 56 and annual quota be increased to 17, which he stated were his historical levels.

The ministry, however, said the decision was fair and based on information before Wenham. “Taking into account the most current moose population estimates and current Ministry policy, including current management objectives for moose, First Nations considerations, and fair and consistent allocation of hunting opportunities between resident and non-resident (guided) hunters,” said the ruling.

Bowden did not demonstrate the increase in First Nations needs had any effect on his allocation and quota numbers. Nor did he show that the partial lack of disclosure regarding results of

contribution.

Instead, the administrative penalty is $1,000. Pridmore’s letter acknowledged that Paull co-operated with the investigation, returned the contribution, has not been the subject of a previous fine and he showed evidence to suggest he never accepted campaign contributions in the past.

Paull was a veteran city councillor when he upset incumbent Mayor Bob Simpson, the former two-term NDP MLA for Cariboo North, by 1,184 votes to 975 in the 2022 election.

Simpson’s campaign disclosure shows he donated $2,500 on Sept. 17, 2022 to his own campaign and an additional $1,252.97 on Jan. 1, 2023.

Lodge fned for logging without licence

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Forest Appeals Commission dismissed a Vanderhoof hunting and fishing lodge’s appeal of a $25,000 fine for cutting Crown timber without a licence.

In an Aug. 13 decision, panel chair Maureen Baird upheld the March 2023 fine against Crystal Lake Resort Ltd. by the Ministry of Forests.

confidential First Nations consultations affected his challenge of the quota decision.

Bowden conceded he knew about his most likely quota as early as Jan. 6, 2023, but that communication could not be appealed because it was not a final decision.

The June 2023 decision was too late to appeal and Valiela said she did not

receive evidence that the late decision affected Bowden’s business.

“In conclusion, while it would have been preferable for the notification of the quota decision to have been made earlier than June 29, 2023, I find that the appellant had advance, though not final, notice that would allow him to plan his business prior to the 2023/24 season,” Valiela ruled.

Daniel Brooks, whose family bought the resort in 1975, admitted trees were cut without a licence in July 2020 on a right of way and the company asked, after the fact, for the Ministry of Forests to authorize the removal of merchantable timber. The Ministry advised the company that it needed to have a licence to harvest in the first place.

Brooks said he did not know he needed a licence and believed that the management plan allowed road-clearing activities and argued there should be no penalty because of financial hardship.

The ministry had calculated $818,768 as the maximum penalty, but deemed $25,000 in this case to be appropriate.

Paull

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAST

A young bull moose stops alongside the trail behind College Heights’ Polaris Montessori School on Sunday, Jan. 19.

Mobile breast cancer screening in Valemount, Clearwater

Appointments can be booked by calling 1-800-663-9203

CITIZEN STAFF

Residents of Valemount and Clearwater will soon have access to mobile breast cancer screening, as BC Cancer’s screening coach makes stops in both communities later this month.

The mobile mammography unit will be parked at the Best Western in Valemount from Aug. 25 to 29, and at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3.

The service is available at no cost to eligible residents of BC, including most women, and many Two-Spirit, transgender and gender-diverse individuals aged 40 and older who have no symptoms. Appointments can be booked by calling 1-800-663-9203. More information is available at ScreeningBC.ca.

Mobile breast cancer screening is heading to Valemount (Aug. 22-29) and Clearwater (Aug. 30-Sept. 3).

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in British Columbia, with about 3,500 people receiving a diagnosis each year. Regular screening can detect cancer early, often

No further ICBC compensaton to seriously hurt van passenger: CRT

BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A van passenger seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash almost four years ago is not entitled to further compensation from ICBC for permanent impairment, according to the decision of a Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) member.

Jeffrey Drozdiak did order ICBC to recalculate and increase the existing permanent impairment compensation within 14 days of the July 29 ruling. A driver lost control on gravel and the van rolled on Aug. 26, 2021 near Tomslake. The passenger was airlifted to Edmonton for emergency treatment, underwent surgery at the University of Alberta and was flown back to Quesnel for several months of recovery in hospital.

The injured passenger, who is

identified by CRT only by the initials

C.R.S., suffered fractures to: left arm, collarbone, pelvis, sacroiliac joint (between the spine and pelvis), lumbar vertebrae, right rib and eight left libs.

ICBC paid $83,732.50 in permanent impairment compensation, but C.R.S. applied to CRT and argued the injuries were catastrophic and worthy of a higher amount. ICBC denied the injuries were catastrophic and maintained that the applicant sought damages that are no longer available under the no-fault system. The crash happened after the Insurance (Vehicle) Act banned civil lawsuits for bodily injuries suffered in B.C. after May 1, 2021.

Drozdiak said the evidence before him showed C.R.S. is not entitled to further permanent impairment compensation, but nothing in the decision prevents C.R.S. from reapplying if further issues arise.

options are available,” said John Lowrie, mobile operations manager for the breast screening program.

The mobile program plays a vital role in reaching rural and remote communities. Each year, three state-of-the-art coaches travel to more than 170 locations across the province, including over 40 Indigenous communities. The units are wheelchair-accessible and offer private exam rooms and a comfortable waiting area.

About 10 per cent of all screening mammograms in BC are performed through mobile clinics.

A typical screening mammogram involves four images — two of each breast — and can detect cancer up to three years before it can be felt.

before symptoms appear or the disease has spread.

“Mammograms save lives by detecting breast cancers early, often before they have spread and when more treatment

People aged 40 to 74 with a first-degree relative who has had breast cancer are advised to get screened annually.

Those without a family history are encouraged to book an exam every two years.

• COMICS • GAMES

What’s happening in PG

CUPE Concert in the Park & Active Living Market at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park bandshell goes Friday, Aug. 22 from 5 to 9 p.m. Sponsored by CUPE 1048 and 399 and presented by Mad Loon Productions, also explore recreation opportunities at the Active Living Market. Local organizations and businesses will be showcasing their programs, activities and special events, showcasing a diverse range of recreation options available in Prince George, from sports and fitness to arts, culture and volunteerism, there is something for everyone to discover. Food trucks on site.

Touch a Truck goes Friday, Aug. 22 fom 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Touch a Truck is back to wrap up the 2025 Summer Reading Club hosted by the Prince George Public Library. After exploring the Plaza, the public is invited inside to build their very own amazing cardboard vehicle and enjoy Disney’s Cars 2 movie. This is an all-ages event that’s free. Craft time goes from 2 to 2:30 p.m. and the movie starts at 2:30 p.m. in the Bob Harkins downtown branch of the library.

End of Summer Night Market goes Wednesday, Aug. 27 from 4 to 9 p.m. at CN Centre featuring local vendors, music and food trucks. Celebrate the season’s end with delicious local eats, handmade crafts, vintage finds, and more. Whether shopping, snacking, or just soaking in the good vibes, there’s something for everyone. Bring friends and family and that end-of-summer spirit. Let’s make one last magical memory before the leaves start to fall. Free entry. All ages welcome.

Summer Art Monkeys goes every Wednesday until Aug. 27 from 9 a.m. to noon at Studio 2880, 2880-15th Ave., and presented by the Prince George & District Community Arts Council. Children will get to experience painting, sketching, working with clay and learning how to journal. For more information and to register visit www.studio2880. com/programs/youth-programs/ summer-arts.

Foodie Friday goes Aug. 29 from 11

a.m. to 3 p.m. at Canada Games Plaza. With lots of local vendors to pick from there will be something to satisfy every craving. Don’t miss this special seasonal foodie experience in Prince George.

PG Ponnonam ’25 goes Saturday, Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. at 483 Gillett St. Event presented by PG Regional Kerala Cultural Association that sees a day filled with vibrant traditions, cultural performances, games, and a delicious Onam feast.

Seniors’ Paint Club goes Wednesday, Sept. 3, 10, 17, Oct. 1, 8, 15 and 22, presented by Prince George & District Community Arts Council, at Studio 2880 2880-15th Ave. in the Jack Bryan Room. Learn the skills of water colour painting with Lorri-Anne Mayley-Bell. This group is designed for those 55+ and is on the main floor. Each session is $25 each.

Register today, space is limited. For more information visit https://www. studio2880.com/programs/art-classes

Prince George Fall Fruit Festival hosted by the Prince George Food Hub goes Thursday, Sept. 4 to Sunday, Sept. 7 and is looking for volunteers to gather fruit from across the community to reduce food waste, connect people with locally-grown food and reduce bear attractants. Sign up to volunteer, help with transport or register your tree to be picked by calling 250-561-7327 or email eatgleaningabundance@gmail. com.

Seniors’ Paint Club goes Thursday, Sept. 4, 11, 18, Oct. 2, 9, 16 and 23, presented by Prince George & District Community Arts Council, from noon to 2 p.m. at Studio 2880 2880-15th Ave. in the Jack Bryan Room. Learn the skills of acrylic painting with Marilyn Schmaus.

This group is designed for those 55+ and is on the main floor. Each session is $25 each. Register today, space is limited. For more information visit www. studio2880.com/programs/art-classes

Crossroads Summer Street Party goes Saturday, Sept. 6 from 5 p.m. to midnight at Crossroads Brewing & Distillery, 508 George St. This is a 19+ event featuring craft beverages, live music, yard games and house made food. Dead Sexy, Code Blue, Big Fancy and the Fly Smackers will perform. For tickets visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/ crossroads-summer-street-fest.

35th annual Parkinson Super Walk 2025 goes Saturday, Sept. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park Picnic area. Funds raised support Parkinson Society BC’s life-changing programs and services for people affected by Parkinson’s disease. To register or donate visit www.support.parkinson.bc.ca.

Ranjit Bawa Folk Star Canada Tour goes Saturday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. at CN Centre. A prominent Punjabi singer, actor and songwriter, Ranjit is known for infusing traditional Punjabi music with a modern twist, making his songs appealing to a broad audience. Ranjit’s live performances are known for their energy and stage presence. Tickets are available at www.cncentre.ca/events-tickets/ ranjit-bawa-folk-star-canada-tour. 2025 Great Northwest Fibre Fest goes Sunday, Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ramada, 444 George St. A Celebration of Fibre will see more than two dozen vendors on site - beautiful hand-dyed yarn, accessories for finished projects, tools to make crafting more fun, project bags to store and tote those works in progress and an assortment of crafted items from other makers. Bring a project and visit with fellow crafters, have a snack break, get a coffee or cold drink, a light lunch or tasty treat. For more information visit https://www. greatnwfibrefest.ca/

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Grace Hoksburgen, 19, performs for the crowds at the CN Centre Night Market on July 23. The Night Market returns Aug. 27 at the CN Centre parking lot.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Coldsnap Presents Locarno on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Locarno, the Latin project of Juno Award-winning musician Tom Landa, brings a captivating blend of Mexican and Canadian sounds. Born and raised in Mexico City and now based in Canada, Landa’s music reflects his rich cultural heritage. With influences from Son Jarocho, Afro-Cuban rhythms and more, Locarno’s live performances, featuring a talented ensemble of musicians, are known for their infectious energy and fusion of musical styles. For tickets visit www.coldsnapfestival.tickit.ca/locarno

45th Annual Terry Fox Run goes Sunday, Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. Bring friends, family, co-workers, teammates and pets to run, walk or wheel the route starting at the Bandshell and going through the park and along part of the route Terry ran in 1979 in the Prince George to Boston Marathon. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the course officially opens from 10 to noon. Online donations can be made at https://run.terryfox.ca/ princegeorge

Trails for Tails Dog-A-Thon goes Sunday, Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cottonwood Island Park is a fundraiser for the Humane Society. This fun and active event is a chance to raise money for animals in need while enjoying a morning on the trails with your dog. Register as an individual or create a team — everyone is welcome. After the walk, stay for hot dogs and hamburgers, kids’ face painting and activities, as well as games and friendly competitions for the dogs. Information booths and local vendors to explore throughout the event. Dogs must be leashed at all times. To register visit www.canadahelps.org/ prince-george-humane-society.

PG Mud Bogs, goes Saturday, Sept. 20 from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at NITRO Motorsports Park, 9285 Raceway Rd. The mud will fly during

Two epic days of racing at the PG Mud Bogs packed with things to see and do, including two live bands performing at halftime. There will be 4 Class Mud Racing, expo booths from local companies, food trucks, cool side events, giveaways and prizes. $30/weekend pass, $20/ day pass, 16 and under or 65+ are free. No alcohol or pets please. Bring camp chairs. Hosted by local off-road YouTube channel Bearded Boggers, RTI ramp on location-taking donations for MS Society per try.

HockeyFest goes Friday, Sept. 19 to Sunday, Sept. 21 at CN Centre. This is world’s biggest road hockey festival coming to Prince George for the first time as a fundraiser for Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation to help bring cancer care closer to home. Agebased divisions with men’s, women’s, and mixed teams, capped at 100 teams total. All teams guaranteed to play 4+ games. For more information and to register visit www.spiritofthenorth.ca/ hockeyfest.

Free Food Preservation Workshops go every Thursday and is presented by PG Aboriginal Business Development Centre, 1200 LaSalle Avenue. Want to learn how to make jam or pickle fresh veggies? No experience is needed. Just bring your curiosity. Participants will learn jam-making and vegetable pickling step by step. All supplies are provided and everything made will be shared among participants to take home.

Building community skills, one jar at a time. RSVP by calling Cheryl Doering at 250-562-6325 to register.

Craft & Chat at the main branch of the Prince George Public Library goes every Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the magazine corner, second floor, where fibre artists are invited to bring their latest projects to share, vent frustrations, brag about successes, get and give help and join in lively discussions. Snacks provided. This event is in partnership with Great Northwest Fibre Fest.

Myeloma Support Group goes every third Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Commonwealth Financial, 575 Victoria

St. Everyone is welcome who has been diagnosed, those who are caregivers, family members and friends. Wheelchair accessible parking at the back of the building. For more information call Viv Lougheed at 250-981-2618.

Parkinson Support Group meetings are the third Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Spruce Capital Seniors Centre, 3701 Rainbow Drive. Meetings are informal and are for sharing information about slowing down the progression of PD. There are guest speakers, special events and biweekly exercise sessions and positive social interaction. Use lower parking lot beside ball diamond to access the seniors centre.

Willow River Farmers Market and Junk in the Trunk goes every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Willow River Hall, 55 Willow Avenue in Willow River, about 30 minutes east of Prince George, until Sept. 28. There are local crafts and

homemade goods including jams and preserves, concession, music and family fun. Everyone is welcome to attend. Trivia Night at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday at 8 p.m., 1261 Third Ave. There are three rounds per game, each round has five themed questions and five music questions. The winning team gets a custom Nancy O’s Trivia trophy and a round of drinks, their photo on the wall that goes into the winners’ book after two weeks. Those caught cheating will be publicly shamed and labelled as cheaters – good wholesome fun. Book a spot by calling ahead at 250-562-8066.

If you’ve got an event coming up email us at news@pgcitizen.ca to offer details including name of the event, the date, time and location, ticket price and where to get them and a little bit about what’s happening, too. LOCF

CUPE CONCERT IN THE PARK and ACTIVE LIVING MARKET

Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, 5 to 9 p.m.

Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park Bandshell

Rides, games, 4-H, food, music, magic and more ...

Big fun at the BCNE

The Exhibition Grounds lled with families over the weekend as the British Columbia Northern Exhibition returned

ABOVE: Young 4-H club members stand ready to show their rabbits at the BCNE Friday.

TOP RIGHT: Amy Larson, 19, accompanied by parents Steve and Celynne, poses with her Simmental/Angus steer Joe Saturday, August 16, 2025 after winning Reserve Champion Market Steer and Reserve Champion 4-H Angus.

CENTRE RIGHT: Tiara Prince, 12, and Latoya Prince, 16, hold hands as they are launched into the air at 160km/h to a height of 235 feet aboard the Sling Shot at the BCNE Saturday.

BELOW: Local indie rock band Heyday play the BCNE mainstage as the rain pours down Friday. Other acts on the stage included a magic show and more.

ABOVE: Quinn Nagy, 6, waves and smiles as she skims her way down the Super Slide in the midway at the BCNE Friday.

ABOVE: Ted Couling talks with his latest subject at the BCNE Saturday. The artist was offering free caricatures.

RIGHT: Cooper Toth, 3, tries to hook a fish at a booth in the midway Friday.

RIGHT: Evelyn Zsombor, 4, smiles as Mandy Paavola Mua of MP Make-up Artistry shows her her kitty makeup at the face-painting booth on Friday.

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY CHUCK NISBETT

Scholarship winner heading of on a culinary adventure

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

This year, 30 women from throughout BC are recipients of scholarships from Les Dames d’Escoffier BC, totalling $24,000, to support the advancement of their careers in the province’s hospitality, food and beverage industries.

River Wilson of Prince George received a scholarship co-sponsored by Les Dames d’Escoffier BC and Two Rivers Specialty Meats.

The award provides an opportunity to learn more about the humane treatment of animals and sourcing local, sustainable ingredients. The two-day experience includes a trip to a BC farm, followed by a North Vancouver visit featuring a farm tour, butchery training and tastings.

Wilson applied for the scholarship with encouragement from her mentor, Chef Mandy Newcomb — an award-winning Red Seal chef and College of New Caledonia graduate — according to her biography on the college’s website.

Newcomb has been an instructor at CNC for 12 years and brings extensive experience as a restaurant manager and executive chef. She currently serves as chef instructor and program coordinator. CNC’s professional cook students benefit from Newcomb’s extensive knowledge, experience and support, including Wilson.

Most recently, Newcomb was recognized by Les Dames d’Escoffier — a global organization — for her work mentoring young women in culinary arts. She was inducted into the prestigious organization, which includes more than 2,400 female leaders in the global hospitality sector.

Wilson began her culinary journey like many young girls: baking with her grandmother.

“I would bake sugar cookies and ginger snaps with my grandma and we’d make Italian pizzelles at Christmas time, stuff like that,” Wilson recalled.

“I really enjoyed that with my gramma and having her as an inspiration. She worked so hard and she still does, making dinners and stuff. My dad was

the cook in the house, not necessarily my mom. When we had big dinners, my dad would do pig spits and all kinds of barbecues. I think he just loved getting people together. I’m really proud of the family I come from.”

Her career path hasn’t been without detours.

“I was originally enrolled in the art program at CNC,” Wilson said.

“I have always been passionate about art ever since elementary school. It was always my favourite subject.”

Then tragedy struck.

“My dad passed away in the heat dome in 2021 from heat exhaustion,” she said.

“I took a couple years to just work and tried to figure it all out. Then I really wanted to get back into school, and I was always fascinated with the culinary

awesome and I love it.”

In the future, Wilson hopes to travel, starting with a culinary adventure to Mexico to explore Oaxacan cuisine.

“I really want to go down there because their cuisine is insane,” she said.

“It’s inspiring.”

Newcomb knew the scholarship would benefit Wilson, as it did her.

During her own scholarship experience, Newcomb connected with new colleagues and chefs from across the province.

“I still call upon them for mentor chats with the students,” Newcomb said.

“I got to explore new farms and farmto-fork operations; experience a side-byside comparison with Canadian wagyu beef; learn about charcuterie practices at Two Rivers Meats in North Van; and visit some Vancouver restaurants. All of these experiences and connections helped me expand my own skill set. In return, I can share that with my colleague Chef Stacey and the students at CNC — and, furthermore, restaurant diners and patrons.”

Newcomb now serves on the Les Dames d’Escoffier scholarship committee.

stuff. I wanted to learn about the science behind it and all the different flavours and cuisines, so I signed up for the culinary arts program and got in really quick. I heard back the next day and I was really excited about it. I made a lot of friends there. It was the best time ever. I remember going there every day and thinking, ‘Oh yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be.’ I enjoyed it so much.”

Wilson is currently at Level 2 in her culinary training.

Level 3 professional cook certification leads to the nationally recognized Red Seal standard.

“I am working at Betulla Burning and I started out as a dishwasher, and I am mostly cooking now,” Wilson said.

“It’s been very challenging but also very rewarding. Everyone there is really

“It warms my heart to connect with recipients and make a huge difference in their lives, whether financially or just as a mentor,” she said.

“Having a cheering crowd rooting for you during your life and work challenges is always beneficial. This year we gifted $24,000. This is extra special — sharing the experience and exact Tina Fineze scholarship with River Wilson, a former student. I never had any female chef role models locally, and I want to change that for future generations.”

Newcomb sees great potential in Wilson.

“She is very driven and worldly at such a young age,” Newcomb said.

“River has always shone in the classroom and in the school-operated restaurant, Kodiaks. She has a deft hand and creative spirit. She was always passionate about local, sustainable food; foraging; and special dietary needs. She reminds me of myself.”

CNC IMAGE

River Wilson, a Betulla Burning prep cook, is a recipient of the Les Dames d’Escoffier BC where she gets to explore culinary techniques, including farm-to-fork in Vancouver.

Library roof repairs expected to be fnished on tme

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Roof repairs at the Prince George Public Library’s Bob Harkins Branch are well underway and expected to finish on time, a spokesperson said on Wednesday, Aug. 13.

Scaffolding can be seen on the exterior of the building leading up to the roof as well as surrounding the interior central staircase joining the upper and lower floors.

The project was approved as part of the City of Prince George’s 2025 capital budget.

At the May 5 city council meeting, staff said that due to factors like U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel, the costs for the project were higher than expected.

Hamilton told The Citizen that as originally predicted, the work over the last month and a half has had no impact on operations except for some occasional extra noise.

He said the library is looking forward to not having to worry every time it starts to rain.

“Whenever the rain would really start to fall here, as it sometimes does in Prince George, the skylight wasn’t doing what it was supposed to,” Hamilton said. “It’s an older building and we would have to get buckets to stop the puddles and protect our collections. It just got to the point where it was time to take some action.”

Work is expected to wrap up in the late fall or early winter.

As a result, council approved a $250,000 increase to the project’s budget for a total of $1.125 million. However, those extra funds were obtained through contributions from the Canada Community Building Fund and the city’s general infrastructure reinvestment fund.

like a roof replacement given how much space it takes up.

While the project was labelled a skylight replacement, staff said it’s more

Heavy equipment, emergency vehicles at library’s Touch a Truck

COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George’s most important summer event for young truck lovers is back for another year on Friday, Aug. 22.

The Prince George Public Library typically wraps up its summer reading club program with a Touch a Truck program and this year is no exception.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Canada Games Plaza, people of all ages can drop by to get hands-on with a variety of vehicles.

Then, from 2 to 2:30 p.m., kids can go inside the Bob Harkins Branch to build their own cardboard cars before a 2:30 p.m. showing of Cars 2 inside the Keith Gordon Room.

Speaking to The Citizen on Wednesday, Aug. 13, the library’s manager of communications and engagement Steve Hamilton said there will be emergency and heavy industrial vehicles on display

among others.

“Dump trucks, loaders, all that stuff,” Hamilton said. “I’ve got a call in to YRB (Yellowhead Road and Bridge). They’ve committed to showing up with something cool. We don’t know what’s exactly coming this year and that’s always one of the best parts about it.”

The Touch A Truck event will be going on at the same time as the Nanguz ‘An container market. Hamilton said the library will be using the containers and will have some items on display inside them.

“We keep things absolutely free as much as possible here,” Hamilton said. “The idea behind doing that is to make it accessible for everybody. There’s nothing paid this year.”

The event will take place rain or shine. Some of the vehicles will be parked in the lot where the Four Seasons Pool was once located next to the Civic Centre.

During a visit to the branch on Wednesday, Aug. 13, library manager of communications and engagement Steve

Prince George

Transit

With the next school year less than a month away from kicking off, Hamilton said the library is preparing for its fall programming and getting ready to offer its suite of after school programs once again.

Service Change

Effective August 31, 2025

 Seasonal schedule adjustments to coincide with schools being back in session. This includes changes to routes 12, 15, 55, 96 and 97.

 Minor schedule changes for school trips.

For more information, please visit bctransit.com/PrinceGeorge or pick up a new Rider’s Guide onboard.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY COLIN SLARK

Visitors climbing the central staircase at the Prince George Public Library’s Bob Harkins Branch pass under scaffolding on Wednesday, Aug. 13 as construction workers make roof repairs.

Perseid meteor shower lights up skies over Prince George

Annual event draws hundreds to Prince George’s observatory

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The Prince George Astronomical Observatory saw record-breaking attendance this week as hundreds of stargazers flocked to catch a glimpse of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Despite a cloudy start on Tuesday, Aug. 12 — when 182 people turned out under mostly obscured skies — interest soared. By Wednesday, Aug. 13, clear weather brought out an even larger crowd, with 281 visitors gathering at the observatory on Tedford Road for an unforgettable night of astronomy, northern lights and fireballs.

“It went really well — luckily, the sky was clear on Wednesday night,” said Prince George Astronomical Society president Malhar R. Kendurkar. “We saw a few meteors, and there were northern lights visible as well, after 11:30 in the northwest direction. That was cool — people got to see that.”

Guests were treated to tours of the observatory, access to its 24-inch telescope, and presentations from Kendurkar about the science behind the meteor shower, including the role of Comet Swift–Tuttle and the characteristics of different types of meteors and comets.

Even with a 78.5 per cent illuminated moon on Wednesday — which can reduce visible meteor counts by up to 25 per cent — viewers were still able to witness several meteors per hour, including a few dazzling fireballs.

“You could hear people cheering, ‘Oh my god, there’s a meteor!’” Kendurkar said. “The Perseid meteor shower is known to have a few fireballs, which makes people even more excited.”

The events marked the second most popular of the year for the observatory and set a new record for Perseid meteor shower attendance. Entry was by donation — $2 for individuals and $5 for families — and community support poured in.

“Over the two nights, we got about $640 in donations, which is really good,” said Kendurkar. “The donation helps us a lot to keep the doors open, maintain the facility and pay the bills. We don’t have a lot of funding sources, unfortunately, so we heavily rely on donations. That $640 will help us keep the doors open until Sept. 5.”

Volunteer Rebecca Althammer, who has helped out at the observatory for the past three years, said she hopes the events spark a lasting interest in space.

“I hope they walk away with an interest in space and a new appreciation for what astronomy can bring to a community,” said Althammer. “It’s important — in the city, we have all this light pollution that hampers our ability to see the night sky. Out here, it opens up a whole new world of stars, constellations,

northern lights — a bunch of interesting things.”

She added that the observatory plays an important role in bringing people together.

“I think it’s a valuable space for the community to come together and focus on the love of space, science and learning new things,” she said. “Right now, behind us, I can see kids running around and people chatting — really coming together in a space that is open to everyone.”

Kendurkar echoed the sentiment, calling the observatory a vital part of the Prince George community.

“It’s not just about looking at the Perseid meteor shower,” he said. “It’s for the entire community. We love hosting these special events and our regular open houses from September to the end

of November. Everyone can be a part of it — they can volunteer or even become a member. With proper training, they can use any of the telescopes as well.”

With the observatory now closed to the public until Sept. 5, Kendurkar said he hopes to organize another event in the interim — possibly a daytime solar viewing using a hydrogen-alpha telescope.

“It’s a different kind of telescope that lets you see solar flares on the surface of the sun,” he explained. “It shows a prominence on the sun. So we offer astronomy not just at night, but during the day as well.”

The Prince George Astronomical Observatory is located at 7365 Tedford Rd. For more information on future events or to become a member, visit www.pgrasc.org.

MALHAR R. KENDURKAR PHOTO

The Perseid meteor shower is visible over the Prince George Astronomical Observatory. The northern lights are also often visible from the facility.

Amazing Race Canada shines a spotlight on the city

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

The Amazing Race Canada visited Prince George during episode 5 that aired on CTV Tuesday, Aug. 12.

Prince George sibling duo Grace Dove and Joe Syme were still in the race after placing sixth at the end of this leg of the race.

This edition of The Citizen went to press after The Amazing Race Canada’s sixth episode, which featured a trip to Sherbrooke, Que., aired on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

The local scenes were filmed here last May.

After being shown leaving the Prince George International Airport, teams visited the Ness Lake Nursery where they searched for pieces of a screw-together Mr. PG statue in the 100 or so free-standing greenhouses where about 20 million seedlings are grown annually.

Then the search was on to visit Mr. PG at the corner of Highway 97 and 16 where there was a double pass to delay two teams during the race as teams made their way up to UNBC to take on a mental or physical challenge. Dove and Syme arrived and were given the double pass choice.

Dove and Syme made the decision to give the passes to Jesse Harink and Jonathon Braun, the team with the most wins during the race, and strong competitors Ika and Demetres.

During the next challenge, competitors could figure out what it would take to heat a home for 24 hours with wood pellets, as that’s the main heat source at

our green university, or visit the Northern Sport Centre and participate in para badminton and while in a wheelchair volley the birdie 15 times between their duo and volunteers on the other side of the net.

Dove and Syme were leading the pack into the Road Block where teams had to decide who would take on the splashy challenge at the Aquatic Centre, where they would instruct a water aerobics class through a series of complicated moves.

Dove took on the aerobic challenge while Syme cheered from the sidelines.

The dominant team of Harink and Braun, best friends from Vancouver who are representing their 2SLGBTQIA+ community, took on the mental challenge at UNBC and got through that very quickly before breezing by everyone during the water aerobics challenge to hit the mat on Connaught Hill in first place.

This was their fourth win of the season and they happily accepted a trip to Mexico City from Expedia along with $10,000. Boost awarded them $5,000 as well.

Competitors also visited House of Ancestors during this stage of the competition.

The Amazing Race Canada, based on the original U.S. version. is hosted by skeleton bobsled Olympic gold medalist Jon Montgomery .

The show challenges teams of two as they race across the country to complete physical and mental challenges in pursuit of a grand prize of $250,000 courtesy of FUZE Iced Tea, a trip around the world and two 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS vehicles.

The Prince George team includes Dove, who is a Canadian Screen Award nominated actor who appeared in The Revenant as Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife; Alaska Daily, a television series with Hilary Swank and in How It Ends with Forest Whitaker, as well as the movie and television series Bones of Crows. Dove lives in Vancouver now but was born and raised in Prince George. Syme is a diamond driller from Prince George.

The Prince George Citzen

AMAZING RACE CANADA PHOTO

Grace Dove (foreground) and her brother Joe Syme take part in a challenge at Ness Lake Nursery in the Aug. 12 episode of The Amazing Race Canada. The Prince George siblings were able to compete on their home turf in the episode by assembling pieces of a Mr. PG statue hidden in the nursery.

AMAZING RACE CANADA PHOTO

Jon Montgomery, host of The Amazing Race Canada, tries a House of Ancestors donut while shooting an episode of the series in Prince George in May 2025.

Realistc abstract: Of on a creatve new adventure in art

CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

It’s a swirly-whirly world and we are lucky to be living in it with Sharon Priseman.

Realistic abstract is how the Prince George creative describes her latest adventures in art.

Guided by her mom from a young age, Priseman was deep into realism when she first started painting, but eventually she discovered that a green stripey zebra, orange clouds and fantastical people holding an entire universe in their hands might be worth exploring, too.

“I can’t remember ever not wanting to do art even when I was a little kid and then, of course, as an adult I didn’t have a lot of time when I had my son who he was in all kinds of sport and I was working full time for 40-some years so I would maybe paint two paintings a year and then when I retired I joined the Artists’ Co-op — I love the Artists’ Co-op.”

Priseman retired from being a secretary at the School District office a few years back and she’s been in Prince George since ’76.

After delving into realism for years something shifted.

“I got kind of bored,” Priseman said. “I was doing landscapes and then I always had to have an animal in my work and then it was people and then I just wanted to let loose a little bit.”

A recent piece is the result of letting loose. It was inspired by the first COVID restrictions that kept us all in our houses.

“Do you remember when people were making music on their balconies?” Priseman asked, pointing at the painting depicting a village scene.

“These three people were inspired by musicians that were at Books & Co. so people might even recognize them. I’ve also got little references like the heart in the window and the fact that there is nobody on the streets. My husband Al’s family all live in England and I love the Mediterranean and we try to go to Europe every couple of years and I think that’s influenced a lot of my painting

Sharon Priseman is a Prince George artist who explores her creativity in many different ways,

abstract piece show here that is her husband Al’s favourite. Below is a colourful painting of zebras.

because I do a lot of cobblestones and rock. I like the bright colours and it’s happy to me. I call it realistic abstract because it’s kind of abstract but you can still tell what it is. In my mind that’s what I call it. A lot of times I will do one of those and then a realistic one just because I get writer’s block except it’s painter’s block.”

If Priseman gets stuck on one piece she quickly moves on to the next.

“Because it’s totally different and it’s good to focus on something else but I have way more fun with the abstract.”

Priseman said that while some artists will make a plan before they put paint to canvas she just starts.

“I know what I want to do but I don’t plan it out or draw it out,” she explained.

“I just can’t do it that way. I often thought I would save myself a lot of work if I did the composition and planned it all out and when I have done it that way in the past I end up going off track anyways so I just wing it every time. Working that way I have to redo a lot of stuff to get it how I want it. I will

go to bed and think I did a really good job and I get up in the morning and it’s ‘what was I thinking?’ Then I have to redo it all.”

Most of her work is in oil or acrylic but she has also done some water-colour pieces as well.

Priseman explores her creativity in other ways, too. When she wanted a pond on her property just outside of Prince George she created one of her own design.

It’s show and tell time and as we make our way toward the pond for a closer look, the first step onto the lawn results in alarming the little frog to the right of us. We walk carefully, mindful of the little creatures lurking in the lawn.

“Isn’t it neat?” Priseman said as we approach the pond.

“I did everything myself except the bridge. Al made the bridge.”

The pond is of modest size and shallow. It’s earthy and interesting in that it has rocks in it with cattails, wildflowers and hollyhocks surrounding it and with that plantlife comes more frogs and a plethora of dragonflies in brilliant

turquoise flitting about, quickly gobbling up the mosquitoes in the area as all good dragonflies do. A great feature of this waterscape is the bridge that arches over the top end of the pond to offer easy access to the far side of the property.

“It took about a month to do the pond because I had to dig it out and then collect the rocks,” Priseman said. It’s a peaceful setting and might always be a work in progress.

“I like that I can come out here and just putter away,” Priseman smiled.

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE DALGLEISH

including with this realistic

Throwback Thursday: Week of August 21

Aug. 20, 1976: Five-year-old Camel Durkee showed The Citizen one of the slugs that had been chewing through his cauli ower leaves as thousands of the species known as deroceras reticulatum went after gardens in the city. The infestation was blamed on a rainy summer. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVE

MILNE

Aug. 20, 1992: With the groundwork complete and the foundation poured, concrete walls were starting to rise as the new Civic Centre took shape. The 60,000-square-foot centre would be followed by a new outdoor space, The Citizen reported. We know it today as Canada Games Plaza.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MILNE

Aug. 20, 1965: One of the most thrilling attractions at the Prince George Exhibition was the Wenatchee Youth Circus’s Flying Fledglings, who entertained more than 1,500 people during their evening show. The Wenatchee performers were students who spent the summer on tour.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Aug. 23, 2013: Team Cuba de Avila Tigres pitcher Yander Guevara took on Yohei Saiga of Team Japan JX-ENEOS in the World Baseball Championship gold medal game at Citizen Field. Cuba won the tournament for the second time.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVID MAH

Long-COVID patents lef in the lurch as MSP changes

MICHELLE GAMAGE Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Upcoming changes to BC’s Medical Services Plan could affect how thousands of long-COVID patients access care.

Starting Sept. 1, MSP is capping all online group medical visits to just 20 patients, to “ensure there can still be a one-on-one interaction between each patient and the attending physician,” the Health Ministry told The Tyee.

Most long-COVID care in BC is currently delivered through large online group telehealth sessions from the Bowen Island-based BC Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS, and Fibromyalgia, or BC-CLMF, which currently has over 5,200 patients — with 25 more referred every day, Dr. Ric Arseneau told The Tyee.

Arseneau is a specialist in internal medicine and runs the clinic with Dr. R. Jane McKay, also a specialist in internal medicine.

The majority of patients are women who live in or close to poverty, and who live outside of urban centres. One-quarter of them are house- or bed-bound, Arseneau said.

Telehealth, Arseneau added, allows doctors to reach patients who aren’t able to travel for care.

“Our clinic shows we can help (longCOVID) patients feel better, cope better, return to work and get into remission,” he told The Tyee. The clinic hosts daily virtual sessions on subjects such as medications for treating the symptoms of long COVID, exercising with chronic conditions and how to deal with the grief that comes with chronic illness, with as many as 50 patients on each call.

How can a doctor attend to that many patients at once? Quite well, actually: group sessions about medications allow for a wider scope of questions to be answered, cover the cost of bringing in allied health professionals such as physiotherapists and can be broken down into groups of 10 to answer questions. The clinic also offers an in-depth one-on-one meeting with the doctors

running the clinic during intake, and patients can request further one-on-one meetings and will be seen within a week or so.

The clinic doesn’t replace primary care providers and is more educational and treatment focused, Arseneau said.

Arseneau said it’s important to distinguish between post-COVID-19 condition, which is straightforward to diagnose and has many doctors offering excellent care in BC, and long COVID, which is harder to diagnose and has limited doctors offering care.

Post-COVID-19 condition generally covers four categories.

First, there are the people who get tissue damage, like lung scarring or blood clots. Second, there are people whose illness triggers an autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or Sjögren’s syndrome. The third group are people whose illness triggers a metabolic disorder, such as diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol. The fourth group consists of people whose illness triggers psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Then there’s the fifth category, where patients suffer from post-viral

therapists, naturopaths, dietitians, counsellors and psychologists.

Arseneau said he’s open to trying new treatments, such as off-label prescriptions, if the treatment is low-cost, low-risk and backed by some form of evidence, even if it’s anecdotal.

It’s important for health care to be grounded in evidence-based medicine, which ideally emerges from randomized control trials, but long COVID doesn’t get a lot of attention, which means there’s not a lot of money for research to generate that evidence, he said.

Arseneau said this multidisciplinary program is funded by MSP fees and has been “hugely successful” in reducing emergency room visits, specialist referrals and hospitalizations for patients.

The secret is offering effective care, which also lowers health-care costs, he said.

syndrome, colloquially known as long COVID.

The BC-CLMF clinic serves patients suffering from post-viral syndrome, which doesn’t have a formal definition, Arseneau said.

It can occur in roughly 10 per cent of patients after any viral infection and can show up as patients develop conditions like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which do have clinically diagnosable criteria, he said.

These are diseases that can occur after the body goes through extreme stress, like a car accident or childbirth, but his clinic looks at the post-viral version of these conditions.

When patients are referred to the clinic, they get a one-on-one consultation with a doctor and then are given full access to everything offered by the clinic.

The BC-CLMF offers online group medical visits about medication, treatment and prescriptions; to learn what other patients are struggling with and what worked for them; and to listen to lectures by allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational

Most of his patients are referred to at least two specialists before being referred to the BC-CLMF clinic, with one patient being sent to see a record 27 specialists. They’ll also be sent for a lot of labs and tests with little to show for it, because post-viral syndrome, or long COVID, doesn’t show up on labs, he said.

But long COVID can still be diagnosed by looking at a patient’s fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, brain fog and unexplained symptoms, which can range from issues with their gut to their nervous system, Arseneau said. Patients might suffer for a couple of months or much longer, where they develop other diseases like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

When patients are referred to the BC-CLMF clinic, they’re connected with a doctor who understands long COVID and knows how to treat its symptoms, and are connected with a community of people who are similarly suffering and can assure them they’re not alone.

Arseneau said switching to in-person care would require 100 doctors and hundreds of allied health professionals, who would also need to be able to offer home-based care.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

MICHELLE GAMAGE, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER PHOTO

Riel Hahn says the BC-CLMF clinic taught her how to adapt and find community during a terrifying and isolating time.

Sometmes all it takes is one infecton to change a life

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

That’s not feasible, Arseneau said, because there aren’t 100 doctors offering this care in BC Instead, there are barely enough to count on one hand.

In BC there is the Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network, which operates the provincewide virtual Post-COVID Recovery Clinic through St. Paul’s Hospital, and longCOVID clinics at Vancouver General Hospital and the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey.

But these programs can see a limited number of patients, have lengthy waiting lists and can care for patients for only a set period of time, Arseneau said. When patients graduate from these programs they’re often referred to his clinic, he added.

“For most of our patients it’s not a question of virtual care versus another form of care that is better,” he said. “It’s virtual care versus no care at all.”

The Tyee reached out to Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and Providence Health Authority to ask to speak with doctors offering long-COVID care at their clinics. VCH declined an interview and Providence referred The Tyee to McKay, who helps run the BC-CLMF clinic.

One infection changed their lives

Vancouverite Riel Hahn is a standup comic who has toured North America and jumps at the opportunity for adventure. She has entertained audiences since she was four years old with acting, playing music and storytelling.

A COVID infection in the summer of 2022 knocked her down. And then she couldn’t get back up.

Hahn said her life transformed and she struggled with her new reality of being housebound, where she barely had the energy to make herself food and see a friend socially in the same 24 hours.

It’s a terrifying and isolating experience, Hahn told The Tyee. And it isn’t made better by doctors shrugging their shoulders and saying they don’t know how to help.

“Long COVID is still new and people are really struggling with not knowing

While most people who survived COVID-19, particularly those who were vaccinated, recovered, some were left with a post-viral syndrome known as long COVID.

what’s happening to them. It’s really scary,” Hahn said.

Vancouverite Alannah Berson, who uses she/they pronouns, got sick in March 2020. She’d just entered a master’s program and found, one month after recovering, that her energy was still shot.

“At the time the advice was to exercise all the time and ‘push through’ the fatigue,” they said. “Now I get so tired I can’t get up the stairs to go to bed at night. I haven’t been able to go to a grocery store for 5 1/2 years.”

It took Berson eight months of arguing with their family doctor to get them “to believe I’m not just tired.”

“You’re left with all of these debilitating conditions and no one believes you except (Arseneau),” Berson said.

Both Hahn and Berson are patients at the BC-CLMF clinic.

Understanding post-viral syndrome

Arseneau said he’s spent the last 30 years studying post-viral syndrome.

Mono, which can affect young people for six months to a year, is a mild post-viral syndrome, he said. More severe cases can result in chronic fatigue syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome “and a whole bunch of other things.”

A major problem with diagnosing

there together. They proposed increasing the number of patients the clinic could see by offering patients full access as soon as they’re referred to the clinic, and by creating group visits or a YouTube channel for patients.

When these ideas were turned down, Arseneau and McKay left and formed the BC-CLMF clinic, which offered group sessions, accessible upon referral, and didn’t have a time limit, so patients could stay as long as they wanted. He said the Complex Chronic Diseases Program graduated patients after one year.

post-viral syndrome is that people suffering from it will have normal lab tests and CT scans, he said.

“Most patients get an incorrect psychiatric diagnosis before they get a correct medical diagnosis,” Arseneau told The Tyee.

As COVID swept across the world, Arseneau said he knew roughly 10 per cent of the infected would develop some kind of post-viral syndrome. He hoped that this might help raise awareness for the syndrome.

That didn’t happen, Arseneau said. But it did create a large population of patients in need of complex care, which family doctors aren’t well equipped to deal with, he said.

Thanks to vaccines and the evolution of the COVID-19 virus, today it’s closer to seven per cent of people who are getting long COVID after an infection, he said.

Complex Chronic Diseases Program

A little over a decade ago Arseneau helped set up the Complex Chronic Diseases Program at BC Women’s Hospital, which, according to Arseneau, is the first program in Canada to deal with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

The program could see only around 600 patients a year and quickly developed a waiting list of over 3,000 patients, he said.

Arseneau said he and McKay worked

“We’ve had to figure out how to provide good care to a large number of patients in a sustainable manner,” Arseneau said. “Luckily, we have group medical visits, which became possible during the pandemic, so we’ve leveraged those to not only see more patients but to offer more services to those patients.”

Arseneau said his clinic has been asking the Ministry of Health for a meeting. He’d like to discuss not capping group online visits or, if that’s not possible, capping them at 50 people instead of 20. So far, he said, Deputy Minister of Health Cynthia Johansen has told him the government is aware of the issue but cannot meet at this time.

If nothing changes, the clinic will remain open, Arseneau said, but will have to cut lectures from allied health professionals. That means patients won’t learn how to adapt to and move forward with their new lives.

Arseneau said a 20-person cap will shift the burden of care onto already overworked family doctors. It will additionally hurt patients who don’t have family doctors, he said.

Less efficient health care will also increase overall costs as patients with post-viral syndrome are sent to specialists and for tests that can’t help them, he added.

His patients are also organizing, forming LifeLineBC to advocate for the province to not cap the number of patients allowed in a single virtual group session.

This article originally appeared in The Tyee.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

Local Sports Thousands celebrate swimming in Prince George

MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The Prince George Aquatic Centre was a hub of activity this past weekend as the BC Summer Swimming Association (BCSSA) Provincial Championships fill the facility with parents, athletes, volunteers and spectators from across the province.

The provincial championships ran Aug. 11-17 with events such as diving, water polo and artistic swimming. The weekend saw more than 1,600 athletes compete in speed swimming Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The main pool at the aquatic centre was packed with hundreds of people, with scaffolding set up to accommodate spectators.

In addition, the parking lot will be filled with food trucks and vendors. This event has grown so large that tents have been set up along the adjacent field next to the aquatic centre to accommodate families and athletes waiting for their turns to compete this weekend.

Tents were sorted into the swimmers’ regions, with the Cariboo region’s competitive swimmers and families all camping together.

Rory Boyle, BCSSA’s Cariboo regional director and president of the Pisces Swim Club, said he’d been looking forward to this event for a long time and was excited to see the Aquatic Centre come alive.

“It’s exciting,” said Boyle. “We’ve been putting work into this for the last year and to see 1,700 athletes in Prince George with all the supporting friends and family — it’s just amazing for Prince George, amazing for our local athletes to get to compete in their own pool filled with excitement. It’s great.”

Boyle was also happy to see Prince George swimmers at the Pisces Swim Club make their mark on such a big stage.

“We’ve got just shy of 1,700 actual swimmers for the meet — and the Pisces sent 80 swimmers — and the Cariboo region, which includes Dawson Creek, Quesnel, Mackenzie, Nechako Valley and the Prince George Pisces, sent just over 160 swimmers. It’s super exciting. We’ve got some really fast swimmers and we’re looking to tear up some records in the pool.”

One of the Pisces swimmers looking to make his mark was Colby Watson, a Division 7 swimmer who made his mark at the Cariboo Regionals.

The Citizen caught up with Watson before his 50-metre freestyle preliminary swim this morning.

Watson has been swimming since 2019, when he joined Pisces to swim with his two sisters.

He said he did not expect to get this far when he joined six years ago.

“I would not think I would be the number one seed in ‘50 free,’” said Watson. “I thought maybe I would be a B final,

but not number one. It feels awesome. I got a lot to prove here, and I’m excited to do so.”

He added that despite a recent shoulder and bicep injury that has limited his mobility, he is still excited to compete.

“A little bit nervous going into this race for sure, because I’ve been having some injury issues, but I’m super excited to do this race … It feels really good to have a lot of people with similar times to me, because that’s really gonna help me push further in these races,” he said.

Bob Lees, team manager for Pisces, was especially proud Friday as he has helped oversee the development of the Prince George team since 2016.

“In 2016, the club was on a downturn,” said Lees. “Clubs have peaks and they have valleys, and we were in a valley then. Nobody wanted to run for the board, and there was talk of the club not continuing just because there was no parental involvement.

“My son-in-law, Rory Boyle, went to the washroom and I nominated him for president while he was in there. Surprisingly enough, he won, and then when he came out everybody thanked him and applauded him. Then the next position was the vice-president — and the only person nominated was me. That was the start of the new generation of Pisces board members.”

He was especially excited to see the hard work his athletes have put in since the COVID-19 pandemic and told The Citizen how much these athletes have pushed themselves over the years.

“It was a perfect storm — when we were trying to rebuild the club, along came COVID,” said Lees. “I think for our club, really coming out of COVID was when we really came into our own. We were able to secure lanes from the city and we were able to hire coaches and assistant coaches.

CONTINUED

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Prince George Pisces swimmer Brett Gandy powers his way through a 50-metre butterfly final during the BCSSA 2025 Provincial Championship Meet at the Aquatic Centre on Sunday, Aug. 17.

More than 6,000 people set up at PG Aquatc Centre

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

“Then we just started building momentum. Through COVID, a lot of facilities weren’t open. A lot of parents selected swimming as their child’s activity because they could swim through it. A very large percentage of those swimmers have stayed with us and are still with us. So we have some experienced swimmers. We’ve got some passionate swimmers. Now, as you can see, we’ve been able to bring an event like this to Prince George.”

City of Prince George aquatics manager Jim Worthington was especially happy to see more than a year of preparation and planning pay off in a spectacular turnout to the beginning of the speed swimming weekend.

“We’ve been looking forward to this all week,” said Worthington. “We knew it was gonna build and this was gonna be the busy weekend — and it hasn’t been difficult! The temporary viewing that was built with scaffolding has been amazing. It’s held enough of our spectators and it’s definitely outperformed even my expectations. It seems like everybody has enough space to view. There are 1,600 athletes, so there are a lot of people in the building at one time.”

Worthington emphasized that an event like this would not be possible without the help of more than 100 BCSSA volunteers who are needed every day during the meet.

Athletes and coaches wait for their events outside the Aquatic

Friday, Aug. 15. The field was full of colourful tents during the provincial

“From my perspective, just a real big thank you to the BCSSA volunteers and organizers,” said Worthington. “They have been great throughout this whole process and made our job to host it very easy. We couldn’t have done it without them — and they’ve just been wonderful.”

Results were still being tabulated at press time and will be available at www.princegeorgecitizen.com

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Ariana De Castro completes the 50-metre butterfly leg of a Girls Division 1 Medley Relay Regional final Sunday.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Centre with their team camps setup on the PGYSA field

championship meet.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Hudson Marjoribanks of the Prince George Pisces Club competes in a 50-metre breast stroke final Sunday.

Win over Langley puts Kodiaks in a playof positon

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The Prince George Kodiaks knew they had the ingredients and the recipe to produce a winning football team before the BC Football Conference season started in July.

Now, after butting heads with the Langley Rams and coming out on top 33–13 Saturday at Masich Place Stadium, they’ve cast aside any doubts they’ve got what it takes to be contenders in what’s considered the toughest junior football conference in Canada.

They manhandled the Rams for three quarters, holding their nationally sixthranked opponents off the scoreboard to build an insurmountable lead that they held — despite a fourth-quarter rally that came a bit too late from a group of Langley ball-carriers who finally found some holes in the Prince George defence.

It was a confidence-building win for a team that’s never before been in the hunt for a playoff spot, and they did it in front of the home fans, who waited three weeks to see the Kodiaks play on home turf.

“This feels so good, this team worked so hard through the bye week and it feels so good to honour the fans with this win,” said Kodiaks quarterback Sawyer Thiessen.

“Just when they were trying to fight for that momentum we get that picksix (from Prince George native Dillon Piddocke) and that’s a dagger — we just had to finish the game.”

As dominant as they were in the first 30 minutes, they couldn’t find their finish until the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns in that frame to take a 26–0 lead.

Piddocke, a rookie defensive back who earned his high school stripes at College Heights, picked off a Tristan Clarke pass and ran it back 65 yards virtually untouched — the first interception and touchdown of his four-game BCFC career.

“I’ve seen that in film so many times, I’ve been dreaming about that play and I finally brought it into fruition,” said the

17-year-old Piddocke. “I’ve seen that in my head so many times, I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to do, help the team win.

“It starts with the run game and ends with the defence. It was a must-win and it’s about belief. We did what we were supposed to do.”

Piddocke’s run to paydirt came after College Heights grad Quinn Neukomm hooked up with Thiessen for a 19-yard touchdown catch — the first for Neukomm, who made the switch from quarterback to receiver last season.

The Kodiaks’ first major of the night — a 10-yard strike from Thiessen to Ben Fehr — was set up by Carson Briere’s 42-yard catch that moved the ball to the Langley 12.

“We came out flying in the third quarter. We knew it was just the little things in the first half that kept killing drives and momentum,” said Thiessen, 22. “The defence stood firm the entire game and we were just able to put up some points in the third quarter to give them some relief. (The Rams) had zip and it was quite fun to watch — two-and-out after two-and-out, boy oh boy, that gets our offence rolling. What a performance from them. When you get field position it makes it a whole lot easier to score.”

The Kodiaks, Rams and Vancouver

finished it off with a 10-yard end-zone catch.

Badenhorst completed the scoring with a two-yard plunge on the opposite end of the field.

Prince George led 6–0 at halftime. Kodiaks running back Gavin Halvorsn had a great game rushing the ball and set up the first Brady Harper field goal with a 34-yard run. Harper finished off the drive, hitting from 37 yards out. The Kodiaks threatened again late in the quarter after Clarke fumbled the snap and Kodiaks middle linebacker Caden Crow recovered.

Thiessen kept the drive alive with a slick spin move to find Fehr with a pass into Langley territory, and Sturgis got PG into the red zone — but a penalty stalled that series and Harper salvaged it with a 32-yard boot through the uprights.

Island Raiders (25–11 losers Saturday to the Westshore Rebels) are now tied with identical 2–2 records. With their head-to-head win over the Rams, the Kodiaks leapfrogged Langley to move into a playoff position. Saturday’s game marked the first time in their four seasons the Kodiaks have beaten the Rams.

“It was a good game, a good result — we’re a different team,” said Kodiaks head coach Jamie Boreham. “I think this is a game that lets our guys believe who they are.

“I’m not overly happy with how we finished the game, so we have to clean up that stuff. But we won offensively, we had things we wanted executed and our defence had a heckuva three quarters. I’m proud of the guys and how they responded after losing to Kelowna.”

The Rams got their run game in gear in the fourth quarter, relying on the frenetic legs of Damon Badenhorst and Bruce Jones to finally break the goose egg.

They generated five first downs on that drive, capped by a 10-yard rush from Jones that made it a 26–6 count with 7:29 left.

Xander Shane, in his Kodiaks debut, stole back some of the momentum with a series of long runs that put his team in great field position, and Mathew Sturgis

Led by the likes of Jason Kragt, JJ Aboagye and Alexandro Thanos, the Kodiaks’ defence had a ferocious first half, holding the Rams to only five first downs and 79 yards of net offence — 39 on the run and 40 through the air. The Kodiaks’ offence generated 159 yards in the opening half but was kept out of the end zone.

Clarke, the Langley backup, entered the game midway through the second quarter when starting quarterback Palaina Hopper went down with an ankle injury. Clarke struggled to find his rhythm at the start, but his comfort level rose as the clock ran down and he started finding his targets in the late stages.

Solid kick-team coverage prevented the Rams from galloping on any long returns. Harper, an All-Canadian punter last season, met his match with Langley kicker Antwan Maua, who bailed out his teammates all night with his powerful spiralling punts. The Rams were forced to kick it away eight times in the first half.

The Kodiaks hit the road next weekend for Kamloops, where they’ll face the winless Broncos (0–4) on Saturday in the first of three meetings with their closest geographic rivals. The Rams will get a chance to work out the kinks in practice as they head into a bye week.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Prince George Kodiaks defensive back Macklin Noonan tackles Langley Rams receiver Nickolas Agnoletto as the Kodiaks defeat the southern squad 33-13 Saturday, Aug. 15 at Masich Place Stadium.

Prince George youth soccer back under one umbrella

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The philosophical rift that tore the city’s youth soccer community apart — and sent the number of registered players into a sharp decline — has been healed.

After years of in-fighting that, in 2018, led a group of disgruntled parents to split from the Prince George Youth Soccer Association to form Northern United FC – Youth Soccer, the two sides have merged.

PGYSA has returned as the single overseer of youth soccer programs in the city, and the number of kids playing the beautiful game reached nearly 1,300 this summer.

Ryan Beer, the newly elected PGYSA president, moved up last December from the vice-president’s position to take over the reins of what has traditionally been the largest youth sports organization in Prince George. He’s intent on maintaining that steady growth to keep those numbers healthy.

“I think things have changed a lot, with people from the different clubs getting to know each other. Some time has passed and people were just like, ‘You know what, it would be better for the kids if we just got together,’” said Beer.

“The conversations between us and Northern United were awesome, and now that they’ve come across and we’re working together in the same club, a lot of their coaches have come over and a lot of them are volunteering — some as team managers — and it’s been really good so far.”

Northern United’s board voted in February to merge with PGYSA, and it officially happened in April, just before the outdoor season began.

Considering the bad blood that used to exist, Beer said the current PGYSA board members are extremely conscious about responding to issues put forward by parents, coaches and managers, and that has helped the two sides put aside their differences.

“When two clubs come together, people have questions and concerns. I find if you listen to people and they feel heard — and you actually take the

things they say seriously and try to work together and have good conversations — you can usually work it out, and that’s what’s been happening since we’ve come together,” said Beer.

At its height in the early 2000s, PGYSA had more than 3,100 registered players. That dropped to between 500 and 600 in the first few years of Northern United’s existence.

“I think we’re just shy of 1,300 now, and our goal is to find creative, innovative ways to get kids interested in playing the game again,” Beer said.

“People want to come where there’s a positive culture, and I think now that the culture is positive, people want their kids involved in something where the kids are having a good time. Anytime an environment has underlying tension, it makes it challenging for people to want to stay involved.”

Having been a PGYSA board member since 2022, Beer assumed the presidential duties from Chris Branigan in December 2024. He’s coached in the league since 2014, starting when his boys were young, and has been a rep

sponsorship programs and partner with local businesses to help keep registration costs affordable. Kids playing in the youngest age groups in the Timbit program, sponsored by Tim Hortons, pay $100 per season — which includes a jersey, socks and shorts.

He said the Prince George Soccer Association also does its part in developing young talent, allowing players aged 16 and older from PGYSA to play in the adult leagues. The U16 boys currently play in the men’s league, and last year there was a U18 team involved. That helps make up for the lack of competition in the region for youth teams within their own age groups.

Prince George won its bid to host the Provincial B Cup in 2027, which will bring 80 teams to the city that weekend in early July. Beer said Tourism Prince George is already helping connect with local hotels to offer discounted room rates for the teams.

“People are excited about it. It’s always great when a big event comes to Prince George,” said Beer.

team coach for the past five years. This year, he coached the U16 and U18 boys.

He says his main ambition at the helm of PGYSA is to keep the game as accessible as possible so any kid who wants to play has that opportunity.

“You see the city becoming more multicultural, and I want this to be a place where everybody feels like they belong and they’re welcomed,” he said. “We’re not just developing soccer, but we also want people in this club to be learning what it is to have good character, learning how to work hard and learning those lessons that sports teaches you that go into so many other aspects of life.”

The influence of the UNBC Timberwolves on youth soccer development continues under the leadership of women’s varsity team head coach Neil Sedgwick, who also serves as PGYSA technical director. Beer said nine of the coaches who worked at the TWolves summer skills camp were current or former PGYSA players.

Beer, the pastor of United Church in Prince George, is hoping to grow the

The tournament features five age groups — U14, U15, U16, U17 and U18 — in each gender.

The Prince George Impact U17 girls, coached by Mark Chadwick, won back-to-back provincial titles at this year’s Kamloops tournament on July 13, having won gold at the U16 level in 2024. Last year’s U18 boys team won provincial bronze.

Rotary Field includes seven full-sized fields, and five more are available from the PGSA. Beer said BC Soccer considers Prince George an ideal place to host a large youth tournament.

The host team gets a bye into the provincial tournament, which could mean as many as 10 local teams in action for the 2027 event. This year, five of the six PGYSA travel teams qualified for the Provincial B Cup.

PGYSA is also in line to host the qualifying tournament that will determine the zone teams to compete in the 2026 Provincial B Cup, also in Kamloops.

The PGYSA fall season runs from Sept. 8 to Oct. 9.

Registration closes on Sept. 1.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Prince George Impact under-17 girls under head coach Mark Chadwick celebrate their gold-medal win at the Provincial B Cup soccer tournament in Kamloops on July 13.

Life Events

Ejvind “Ivan” Hansen

October 18, 1936 - August 1, 2025

On Friday, August 1, 2025, Ejvind “Ivan” Hansen of Prince George, BC, passed away peacefully at home at the age of 88.

The day before, he did what he had done almost daily for over two decades: met friends at 9 a.m. sharp at Caledonia Nordic for a morning hike, followed by cofee, homemade treats, and warm conversaton, a traditon that in winter months became cross-country skiing. It was a ritual of friendship and joy, refectng the actve life he loved.

Ejvind never stopped loving his wife, Ruth. They met in 1961 on a muddy street in Prince George, married a year later, and shared a rich life untl her passing in 2021. His heart never lef her side.

Born October 18, 1936, in Denmark, as one of seven siblings, Ejvind grew up with a strong sense of adventure and a bit of mischief. He atended forestry school and at 21, he worked logging in Sweden to save for a dream. Then in May 1958, with just $105 in his pocket, he crossed the Atlantc alongside his lifelong friend Fred Host aboard the Norwegian freighter Stavanger Fjord SS. They landed in Halifax and by train, made their way west to Vancouver. Life in Vancouver was a patchwork of jobs—botling, blacksmithing, farm work—each a step toward his future. With enough saved, they bought a 1939 Nash and headed north, fnding work fghtng fres at Summit Lake. Their earnings bought a .22 rife and power saw; and they headed further north into the Peace Country only to fnd that work was scarce. They lived in an old barn, eatng grouse and foraging berries and when winter came, they found steady work falling trees. In 1959,

Ejvind joined the Industrial Forest Service, and later founded Hansen and Dyer Logging Planning, before fnishing his career with The Pas Lumber.

If you’ve ever traveled the forestry roads of Northern Britsh Columbia, chances are you’ve driven on routes Ejvind laid out, roads that stand as a testament to his hard work and lastng impact on the land he loved.

He was a man of deep convictons – ones shaped by WWII and the Nazi occupaton of Denmark. Ejvind never took freedom for granted and he passionately loved his chosen country of Canada not only for its wilderness and beauty, but for its values: social justce, democracy, and rule of law.

He is survived by his siblings in Denmark, Birthe, Vagn, and Aage; by his children Annete (Greg), Mark (Laura), and Tanya (Jason); his grandchildren Grifn, Justn, Ryan, Gemma, Dannika, and Nathan; and great-grandchildren Sidney, Kai, Cheyenne, Halle and one more on the way. He was predeceased by his beautful wife Ruth and his siblings Kristne, Ejgil, and Gerda.

His was a life fully lived; honest, adventurous, grounded in love and generosity.

“We will miss you Ejvind, Dad, brother, Bestefar, and friend. We will carry your legacy of integrity, compassion, and that joyful reminder you always gave us, ‘Enjoy life.’”

December 22, 1945 – August 7, 2025

The family of Arthur Barr sadly announce his peaceful passing on August 7,2025 at the Gateway Lodge in Prince George, BC.

Arthur was born and raised near Peterborough, Ontario. His family relocated to BC in 1962. Arthur explored the world for a few years as a young adult. He later setled in Prince George and was employed at Domtar/Stella Jones for over 30 years. Arthur’s hobbies included: gardening, recycling, walking, reading, helping visitng neighbors and family.

Sadly, a diagnosis of dementa stole Arthur’s independence. Kathleen, Wade and neighbors supported him at home for as long as possible. Arthur moved to Gateway Lodge in the fall of 2024, where he resided untl his passing.

Arthur is survived by his sister Diane (John) Kichuk from Minitonas MB. Nieces and Nephews from Minitonas MB: Lee Anne (Blair) Campbell, Wendy (Kevin) Barker (Bethany, Abby, Josie); Laurie (Lee) Evans (Blake), Neil (Brenna) Kichuk (Hallie, Nyah, Connor).

Nieces: Kristy Thompson of Fort Fraser BC (Natasha, Nathan). Nancy Lougheed of Fraser Lake BC (Wayne, Zack, Cynthia, Stefanie, Donnie, Karista).

Stepdaughter Kathleen (Wade) Weetman of Prince George BC, (Ethan, Kiera).

Stepson Callum (Heather) Brown of Vancouver BC, (Joshua, Tommy).

Also remembered by many aunts, uncles, cousins. Predeceased by his parents David and Ivah Barr, Brothers: Neil, Wayne and Keith.

Nephew Daryl Barr, great-nephew Joel Campbell, great-niece Amara Campbell.

Services of Remembrance were held in Prince George on August 15 and in Fraser Lake BC August 16.

Arthur George Barr

Margaret Claire Gale (Allcock)

August 23, 1934 - August 6, 2025

In Loving Memory

Born in Quesnel, B.C., passed away peacefully at Birchview Residence, Prince George B.C.

Marg will be missed dearly by her children Terry and Al, Barb, Greg and Russ,Sister Dorothy Wanderer, brothers John and Shirley Dolman and Douglas and Teresa Dolman. 3 grandchildren, their spouses and 5 great grandchildren. Peggy and Ken Todd, their children and grandchildren. 19 nieces and nephews and their families. Also, by many life long and new friends.

Marg was predeceased by her husband Lloyd Gale and son-in-law Michael Olexa.

Mom grew up in Quesnel and Lillooet BC. She moved with her family to Victoria in 1951. There she atended the Victoria Normal School and earned her teaching certfcate. Afer graduaton she returned to Quesnel in 1953 to teach at Riverview Elementary, at that tme in a one room schoolhouse. Eventually she ended her 30 + year career at Carson Elementary as a learning assistant. She was a very well respected teacher. While in Quesnel Marg met and married Lloyd Gale, the love of her life for over 67 years.

Mom was actvely involved in sports in Quesnel, including playing golf and curling, coaching junior girls’ sofball and as the Quesnel junior girls golf coordinator for a number of years. She loved swimming, camping, singing, dancing and family. She helped many friends and family with their annual dreaded income taxes.

Mom and Dad enjoyed years of dancing with the Old tme Fiddlers and many other dances in the area. They travelled Canada many tmes from coast, to coast, to coast, explored back country B.C., New Zealand and Australia. Mom also had a wonderful hiking adventure in Switzerland with her lifelong friend Beth Trask. The family would like to thank the wonderful staf of Birchview Residence for their care and support of mom the last 3 years. Also, a thank you to Josee at Quality Time Wellness for the great tmes spent with Mom over the 3 years.

In lieu of fowers, donatons can be made to the Quesnel Community Foundaton Quesnel Women’s Resource Centre, The Quesnel Child Development Centre, or any charity of your choice.

Please join us for an Open House Celebraton to be held Sunday, August 24, 2025 1:30PM – 4PM at the Royal Canadian Legion 94 Quesnel, B.C.

A Tribute will be given at approximately 2:00 PM

“Our Angel, our Light, our Hearts.”

Beverly Ann Bast (nee Bancesco)

August 31, 1937 – September 5, 2024

Beverly Ann Bast passed away suddenly September 5, 2024, at the age of 87. Bev was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta to John & Adele Bancesco.

She is survived & deeply missed by her husband John Bast, children: Pat (Yvonne), Lucille (Gary, deceased 1 , eanna A la , Michael awn , avid aura brothers eith vete, deceased 1 , oug Claire . 13 grandchildren & 7 great grandchildren.

A celebraton of life will be held aturday August 3 , 5 at 1:00pm at the Hinton Trail Hall in Elmworth, Alberta.”

Carolynn

Ellery

anuary , 19 9 August , 5

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lynn Ellery on August 4, 2025 at the age of 76.

Lynn always shared how important family was to her. he was an ama ing wife, supportve mother, very proud and loving nana, a kind sister and a very though ul friend.

She was predeceased by her parents.

ynn is survived by her loving husband of 5 years, Angus, her eldest son, Trevor Eryn and his family Taryn ordan , Theo great grandson , a en and Thomas, her youngest son, Tyler and his family awson rooke , amryn Mark , ucas and their mother, anet. ynn s fve surviving siblings and their families will miss her deeply.

Our nana had a heart of gold. She will always be remembered for how special she made everyone feel, her wity sense of humour and her though ul and unwavering love that she had for her grandchildren. Lynn will be dearly missed by all those who were lucky enough to know her.

In tme, the family will celebrate ynn s life, but at this tme there are no funeral arrangements to share.

Charles Dalton une 5, 19 uly 3 , 5

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Douglas Charles Dalton on July 30, 2025, at the age of , in Prince eorge, ritsh Columbia. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, on June 25, 1947, oug was welcomed into the world by his loving parents, Muriel and Ted Coxall, and his big sister ete.

oug was a devoted husband to Ricci for 55 years, a proud father to Troy (Kate), Jenn, and Jody (Ryan), and a loving grandfather to Marlow, Ma , and ailey, his litle gafers. He is lovingly remembered by his sister ete oug and numerous nieces and nephews. His passing leaves a lastng void in the hearts of his family, friends, and all whose lives he touched.

A man of many passions, oug loved travel, sports partcularly baseball O lue ays and hockey . He was an avid fsherman, duck and goose hunter, and enjoyed camping with family, spending tme outdoors and especially tending to his yard and garden. His dedicaton to his work at the Prince eorge Airport spanned over 5 years, where he loved greetng and reconnectng with the community and travelers alike.

oug s rich life was marked by his compassion, kindness, curious mind, uick wit, and unwavering willingness to help others. His love for his family and friends was boundless, and though he is no longer with us in body, his spirit will forever remain in our hearts.

A funeral mass will be held at Immaculate Concepton Parish, aturday, eptember th at 1 p.m.

A Celebraton of ife will take place at the Prince eorge olf and Curling Club on eptember 1st at 1 3 p.m.

In lieu of fowers, please donate to C Cancer Centre for the North, Prince George

Douglas

Join Us to Celebrate the Life of Brian Sigurdson on Saturday, August 23, 2025 1pm at the Christ ur aviour Church Hall, 4514 Austn Road, Prince George BC

Dean Olsen

June 8, 1941 - August 4, 2025

Dean Olsen passed away August 4, 2025 Survived by his wife Lois, sons, grandchildren, great grandson & siblings Celebraton of ife at a later date

Ronald William McCabe

April 19, 1938 - June 7, 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Ronald William McCabe. He leaves behind daughters Rhonda, Corina (Mike), son Kelly (Marlie), 7 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren. Sisters Doreen (Rocky) and Eileen (Greg), many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Dad prided himself on his long career in the forestry industry. He married the woman of his dreams twice, Paulete McCabe and they had 56 wonderful years together. He enjoyed his family and friends whether that was a game of cards, camping, horseshoes, hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, or enjoying a cofee at the favorite spot where everyone gathered.

Please join us in celebratng dads life August 30, 2025 at 1 p.m. Pineview Hall 6470 Bendixon Rd. There will be a family gathering following the celebraton of life.

Yvete Morton August 28, 1928 - August 5, 2025

vete passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 5th, 2025.

Born August 28th 1928 ancouver, B.C.vete Thresa ebel.

he moved to Prince eorge in 1949, worked as an P in the Prince eorge Hospital, where she met wen illiam Morton. They were married ctober 21, 1950, and had six children, Maureen ave aulkner, erry onald Miller, lory en ilkinson, Thomas endy Morton, rin Morton, and Howard Morton died May 24, 2009 . wen Morton died January 5, 1992. vete is survived by her brother ouis ebel and sister Rita Bailey as well as her six grandchildren, arah Miller, mma Miller great granddaughtersJessica andTara Paterson

Ha e Jack arney great grandchildrenCassandra andAustn arney ate livier de Colombel great grandchildrenily,Atlas and Ma lis de Colombel achary onia Morton great granddaughter uinn Morton

Benjamin Morton-Coray. tep randdaughter, Brandy John- ric udwig step great grandsons - ael, Parkerand avin udwig tep randson, Ben Allie ielke step great grandsons - Max and Cooper ielke .

hile busy raising her children, vete loved to read, garden, draw, cook and bake, becoming well known for her bagels. n the community of ukko ake, B.C. she and wen were actve, o en volunteering tme and help during social events. vete was very artstc, o en lending her talent and skills to the ukko ake lementary chool. he loved to sing, and taught us many melodies. n her 80s, vete found herself hostng tea partes for friends, o en gathering people around her.

The family would like to thank the staf at ateway, and r. u for their kindness and care.

vete re uested no funeral, and wished to be cremated. A private family gathering will be held to honor her life and passing.

“Goodnight

Mom, sleep in heavenly peace.”

Alec McLeod

February 5, 1944 - August 4, 2025

The McLeod Family sadly announces Alec’s passing.

He will be missed by his loving wife Diane, his two sons, cot Tifany , Mark abrielle and his grandchildren Ashley, arah, mily, mma, and Jackson.

He will be remembered for his love of the outdoors, boatng and shing and for his handyman skills that he used to help out many people.

No service by his request.

Sandra Phyllis Teegee

February 13, 1963 - August 4, 2025

Sandra Phyllis Teegee, Hereditary Chief Adiks Nox Nok - Laxgibu/Wolf Clan 62 years passed peacefully to be with her ancestors and her father William Teegee nephew oah Rain tuslien-Teegee and Miranda Loyie-Silva on Monday 4th August, 2025 with her beloved Family and Friends by her side: Her son, Kalan Teegee, her newly wedded husband Cyril Dean Prince, her precious grandchildren William and Meadow Teegee her daughter in-law Christna Boivin-Teegee; her mother Sarah Teegee, Siblings Marilyne, Fabian (Tracy), Dianne, Mary (Ryan), Phillip and Terry (Rena); her nieces Davina Valk (Darryl); Rhianon and rist Teegee and supportve extended Family and Friends were all present as she had her last breath.

A service was held on Saturday 9th August, 2025 at the Kwah Hall in Fort St James, BC. Many thanks to all who atended.

n lieu of owers, please send donatons to the Rotary Hospice House 3089 Clapperton St, Prince George.

We thank you all for your prayers and condolences as we were going through this journey.

WANTED

LOOKING FOR A PUREBRED WHITE FEMALE GREAT PYRENEES PUPPY CALL 250-487-9476

o r o ents n fee rin t e revie erio st rtn st t , e se, s it o r o ents e te er t ,

e is essi e for revie n o ent s ission on ine t s fo nrs ov i ro e ts i ot es

tern tve , in erson revie n o ents n e s e e n o ete t t e fo o in o ton rin re r o e o rs on ri , o ertson o , rin e eor e, ,

Forest Stewardship Plan Amendment

AMENDMENT REQUIRING APPROVAL 2017 FOREST STEWARDSHIP PLAN (FSP 2) Prince George & Stuart Nechako Natural Resource Districts

Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor), Tanizul Timber Ltd., Takla Track & Timber Ltd., Hampton Lumber (Fort St. James Forest Products General Partner Ltd.), and Dunkley Lumber Ltd., Sasuchan Development or or ton, n rrier er t ve re re an Amendment Requiring Approval (ARA) to their oint orest te r s i n for o er tons in the Prince George and Stuart Nechako Natural Resource Districts. The Amendment is available for public review startn on u ust . Amendment ARA-017 is required to add Forest Licenses A98534 and A99206 into the Forest Stewardship Plan.

In or n e it t e orest nnin n r t es e ton, en ent is v i e for public review and comment from August 21th to e te er r , t t e fo o in o tons rin re r o e o rs to se ene imber td. : Deborah Thompson, 61 Sekani Drive, General Delivery, Mcleod Lake, BC, V0J2G0 (dthompson@sekani.ca).

ani Forest enure imited Partners ip : C/O Darryl Valk, KDL Resource Management, PO Bag 19, 561 Stuart Drive, Fort St James, BC, V0J1PO (dvalk@merakiresources.com)

e resent tves i e v i e to is ss t e proposed amendment and to receive comment(s).

If an interested party is unable to review the Amendment (ARA-017) during regular business hours, e se ont t s one or in ritn to rr n e s it e t e

LAND ACT: NOTICE OF INTENTION TO APPLY FOR DISPOSITIONS OF CROWN LAND

Take notce that WPD Renewable Energy 7 Incorporated, from Victoria, BC, has applied to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region, for:

An Investgatve Licence for Windpower purposes situated on Provincial Crown land located west of Tudyah Lake, BC, described as Unsurveyed Crown Land in the vicinity of Tudyah Lake, Cariboo District, containing approximately 4891 hectares.

The Land File for this applicaton is 7410362.

An Investgatve Licence for Windpower purposes situated on Provincial Crown land Southwest of Naton Arm on Williston Reservoir, BC, described as Unsurveyed Crown Land in the vicinity of Naton River, Cariboo District, containing approximately 4557 hectares.

The Land File for this applicaton is 7410363.

Writen comments concerning these applicatons should be directed to Lauren Wheeler, Authorizatons Specialist, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region at 5th Floor 499 George Street, Prince George, BC V2L 1R5, or lauren.wheeler@gov.bc.ca Comments will be received by Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region up to September 21, 2025. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region may not be able to consider comments received afer this date. Please visit the website at htps://comment.nrs.gov.bc.ca for more informaton.

Be advised that any response to this advertsement will be considered part of the public record. Access to these records requires the submission of a Freedom of Informaton (FOI) request. Visit htp://www.gov.bc.ca/freedomofnformaton to learn more about FOI submissions.

A hard copy MAP showing the locaton and extent of the applicaton areas may be acquired by emailing the Authorizatons Specialist named above.

LAND ACT: NOTICE OF INTENTION TO APPLY FOR DISPOSITIONS OF CROWN LAND

Take notce that WPD Renewable Energy 7 Incorporated, from Victoria, BC, has applied to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region, for:

An Investgatve Licence for Windpower purposes situated on Provincial Crown land located southeast of Bear Lake, BC, described as Unsurveyed Crown Land in the vicinity of Crooked River Park, together with part of District Lot 29 4, Cariboo District, containing approximately 4819 hectares. The Land File for this applicaton is 7410364.

An Investgatve Licence for Windpower purposes situated on Provincial Crown land located southeast of Bear Lake, BC, described as Unsurveyed Crown Land in the vicinity of Mc wan Lake, Cariboo District, containing approximately 2 09 hectares. The Land File for this applicaton is 7410365

Writen comments concerning these applicatons should be directed to Susan Spears, Authorizatons Specialist, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region at 5th Floor 499 George Street, Prince George, BC V2L 1R5, or susan.spears@gov.bc.ca Comments will be received by Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region up to September 21, 2025. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Omineca Region may not be able to consider comments received afer this date. Please visit the website at htps://comment.nrs.gov.bc.ca for more informaton.

Be advised that any response to this advertsement will be considered part of the public record. Access to these records requires the submission of a Freedom of Informaton (FOI) request.

Visit htp://www.gov.bc.ca/freedomofnformaton to learn more about FOI submissions.

A hard copy MAP showing the locaton and extent of the applicaton areas may be acquired by emailing the Authorizatons Specialist named above.

1. Where did Depeche Mode get its name?

2. Name the group that released “Candy Girl” in 1963.

3. Which female artist released “Saving All My Love for You”?

4. Who wrote and released “Just Like a Woman”?

Answers

1. From a French fashion magazine. The translation meant “fashion update” or “hurried fashion.” Their rst No. 1 single was “People Are People” in Germany in 1984.

1. Which group released “Rag Doll”?

FOREST OPERATIONS MAP #2515 and 2516 INVITATION TO COMMENT

The public is invited to review and comment on West Fraser’s Forest Operatons Maps (FOM) #2515 and 2516. The FOM #2515 shows proposed road constructon and cut block development for Forest License A18162 under Forest Stewardship Plan #10 within Forest Development Units in the Prince George Natural Resource District (DPG). The FOM #2516 shows proposed road constructon within TFL 52 in the Quesnel Natural Resource District (DQU) under Forest Stewardship Plan 755. These FOMs have a validity period of years beginning Sept 21, 2025. During the validity period, West Fraser may apply for Cu ng Permits containing cut blocks and Road Permits to construct roads shown on the FOMs.

These Forest Operatons Maps are available for public review online on the following website: htps://fom.nrs.gov.bc.ca/public/projects

The West Fraser FOM #2515 and #2516 are also available for in person review and comment by appointment at the address listed below. Business hours are between 8:00a.m.to 12:00pm and from 1:00pm to 4: 0 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Comments will be accepted between August 20, 2025 and September 20, 2025. Comments may be sent to the e mail address listed, delivered in person to the physical address during business hours or mailed to the mailing address listed below.

If you have questons or comments, or if you require assistance using the online portal to view or comment on the Forest Operatons Maps, please use the contact informaton below.

Licensee;

West Fraser Mills Ltd FSP #10

1250 Brownmiller Rd. uesnel, B.C. V2 P5 Email comments to; U Woods FOM wes raser.com

Carefree Societ y

nn a enera eetng Comesupportaccessible, inc sivetransportatonfora .

When: Thursday, September 4, 2025

2. Name the artist who wrote and released “Dreamy Eyes.”

2. The Four Seasons. Several songs with girl names as titles were released in 1963: “Denise,” “Ruby Baby,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Donna, the Prima Donna,” as well as many more.

Where: Community Futures 1566 7th Ave Time: 4:30 pm

3. Whitney Houston, in 1985. The song was Houston’s rst to top the Hot 100 chart, and she won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal for her performance.

3. Which group released “GreenEyed Lady”?

4. Who wrote and released “Cracklin’ Rosie”?

4. Bob Dylan, in 1966. The album version was twice as long as the single, at 4 minutes 53 seconds.

5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “If I could take my pick of all the girls I’ve ever known, Then I’d come and pick you out to be my very own.”

Memberships are $6.00 Phone: 562-1397

Email: shivam@carefreesociety.org

* On Sept. 1, 1878, Emma Nutt of Boston became the first female telephone operator. Until then, most telephone operators were teenage boys, whom customers weren’t overly happy with due to their gruffness and penchant for jokes and cursing.

* On Sept. 2, 1995, pop star Michael Jackson’s recording of “You Are Not

• On Nov. 11, 1831, Nat Turner, an American slave and educated minister who believed that he’d been chosen by God to lead his people into freedom, was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, for leading a revolt with 75 followers through Southampton County, killing about 60 white people.

• On Nov. 12, 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed the extent of the U.S. Army’s charges against 1st Lt. William L. Calley at My Lai, Vietnam, in a cable picked up by more than 30 newspapers, saying that “The Army says he [Calley] deliberately murdered at least 109 Vietnamese civilians during a searchand-destroy mission in March 1968, in a Viet Cong stronghold known as ‘Pinkville.’”

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) This week could ofer more opportunites for ambitous Lambs who are eager to get ahead. But don’t rush into making decisions untl you’ve checked for possible hidden problems.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Some light begins to shine on professional and/or personal situatons that have long eluded an explanaton. Best advice: Don’t rush things. All will be made clear in tme.

Alone,” penned by R. Kelly after Kelly lost people close to him, made it to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, becoming Jackson’s 12th No. 1 hit. It also earned American Music Award and Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance.

* On Sept. 3, 1939, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany.

* On Sept. 4, 2016, Pope Francis declared Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa, who had dedicated her life to caring for India’s poor and marginalized, Saint Teresa of Calcutta before an approving crowd of thousands in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s

Square. Her numerous awards included the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

* On Sept. 5, 2024, Oksana Masters, who was born with disabilities linked to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, including webbed fingers and six toes on each foot, and abandoned as a baby but adopted at age 7 by an American professor, won her 9th Paralympic gold medal, scoring 19th overall across rowing, cycling and skiing.

* On Sept. 6, 1781, British Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, a former Patriot officer who had already become infamous for betraying the United States by attempting to sell the Patriot fort at

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Work prospects are back on track, but watch what you say. A thoughtless comment to the wrong person -- even if it’s said in jest -- could delay or even derail your progress.

West Point, New York, to the British the previous year for 20,000 pounds, added to the stains on his reputation by ordering his British command to burn every building in New London, Connecticut, after they’d looted the town, to the equivalent of more than $500,000 worth of damage.

* On Sept. 7, 1911, radical French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested and jailed on suspicion of stealing LEOnardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Due to a lack of evidence, he was released after five days.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Although it’s not quite what you hoped for, use your good business sense to make the most of what you’re being ofered at this tme. Things will improve down the line.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) You stll need to demand answers to your questons. Remember, your wise counseling earns you respect, but it’s your search for truth that gives you wisdom.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Although you might want to protest what seems to be an unfair situaton, it’s best to keep your tongue and temper in check for now. The full story hasn’t come out yet.

• On Nov. 13, 1979, Philadelphia 76ers center Darryl Dawkins leaped over Kansas City Kings forward Bill Robinzine for a memorable slam dunk that shattered the fiberglass backboard. His equally memorable comment on the move, which was not his last and the sound of which spectators likened to a bomb going off: “It wasn’t really a safe thing to do, but it was a Darryl Dawkins thing to do.”

• On Nov. 14, 1882, outlaw Frank “Buckskin” Leslie shot and killed Billy “The Kid” Claiborne, who had publicly challenged him, in Tombstone, Arizona.

• On Nov. 15, 1984, Baby Fae, a month old infant who received the world’s first baboon heart transplant, died at California’s Loma Linda University 20 days after the operation. Three other people had received animal heart transplants, but none survived longer than a few days.

• On Nov. 16, 2001, British author J.K. Rowling’s most famous and beloved creation, the bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role), made his silver-screen debut in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which went on to become one of the highestgrossing movies in history.

• On Nov. 17, 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party split into two factions: the majority Bolsheviks and minority Mensheviks. The

LEO (July 23 to August 22) A colleague might goad you into saying or doing the wrong thing. It’s best to ignore the troublemaker, even if they rile up your royal self. Your supporters will stand with you.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22)

Careful not to let your on-the-job zealousness create resentment with co-workers who might feel like you shut them out. Prove them wrong by including them in your project.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) A more positve picture of what lies ahead is beginning to take shape. But there are stll too many gaps that need to be flled in before you make defnitve plans.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Contnue to keep a tght hold on the reins. This way, you don’t charge willy-nilly into a situaton that might appear atractve on the surface but lack substance underneath.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You’ll fnd people who are happy to help you deal with some difcult situatons. And, of course, knowing you, you’ll be happy to return those favors anytme. ... Won’t you?

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Give the special someone in your personal life a large, loving dollop of reassurance. This will go a long way in restoring the well-being of your ailing relatonship.

Homes & Living

When to begin harvestng root vegetables in Northern BC

When growing a garden in Northern British Columbia, timing your harvest is crucial due to the region’s short growing season and cool climate. Fortunately, most root vegetables are well suited to northern conditions. Determining the appropriate time to begin harvesting depends on the type of vegetable, the date of planting, and the seasonal weather patterns.

Carrots are typically ready for harvesting about 70–80 days after seeding. Young carrots can be pulled as soon as they reach finger thickness. For fully mature roots, wait until late August or early September. A light frost actually enhances their sweetness, so many gardeners in Northern BC delay the main harvest until the first frost has passed. Just be sure to harvest before the ground begins to freeze.

door starts here

Beets generally require 60–70 days to reach maturity. The tops can be harvested earlier for greens, but for full-sized roots, you should begin harvesting in late August. Like carrots, beets benefit from a cool finish and can remain in the ground well into September. Harvest before heavy frosts arrive or cover with mulch if you intend to extend the season.

Potatoes are ready once the foliage begins to turn yellow and die back. This typically occurs 90–110 days after planting, which in Northern BC usually falls between mid-August and midSeptember. Early new potatoes can be harvested as soon as the plants flower, usually in July. For storage potatoes, wait until the vines are fully dead, and allow the skins to set for a week or two before lifting.

Parsnips and Rutabagas are quite

hardy and can tolerate light and even moderate frosts. In fact, both develop a better flavour after being exposed to cooler temperatures. While you may begin sampling them in late September, many Northern BC gardeners delay the main harvest until October. In mild years, they may even be left in the ground until early November, provided the soil is not frozen.

Turnips and Radishes grow quickly and are usually ready within 30–50 days. These are typically harvested in July or August, but a second fall crop can be planted for a September harvest.

In summary, the bulk of root vegetable harvesting in Northern BC takes place between late August and early October. Always monitor local weather forecasts, and aim to

harvest before hard frosts or sustained freezing temperatures arrive. A little patience often leads to sweeter, more flavourful roots.