Prince George Citizen, Thursday December 18, 2025

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Business leader Harry Backlin remembered ... Page 16

Council rejects funding for seniors’ centres Mayor had suggested dividing up contingency account to support multiple local programs COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

Prince George city council rejected a proposal by the mayor to split its remaining 2025 contingency budget of $17,691 equally among five local seniors centres at its Monday, Dec. 15 meeting.

The proposal was brought forward by Mayor Simon Yu, who said in a report attached to the meeting agenda that the Prince George and District Senior Citizens Activity Centre Society “has recently experienced unanticipated financial pressures, including increasing operating costs and fluctuations in external funding environments.

“These pressures have created a short-term financial gap that affects the centre’s ability to maintain operations

through the end of 2025,” the report stated.

As reported by The Citizen in the lead-up to the council meeting, activity centre president Bud Burbee said he was pleased to see the proposal come forward but wasn’t sure it would get approved.

“We have approximately 365 members, and their annual memberships and fees — the cost of them coming in to take part in floor curling or tai chi or line dancing or whatever it might be — it just does not meet our needs now,” he said.

“The costs of everything are going up. We have a kitchen, and as you know, the cost of meals has gone up tremendously. So every year, we’re in a situation where we need grants.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CITIZEN PHOTO BY COLIN SLARK

Seniors listen to a Prince George city council discussion on funding seniors’ centres with contingency money on Monday, Dec. 15.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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Mayor had originally proposed funding only one centre CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE However, representatives from the Spruce Capital Seniors Recreation Centre, the Hart Pioneer Centre and the Elder Citizens Recreation Association expressed frustration that the mayor’s proposal excluded their organizations as they face similar financial pressures.

“In my personal opinion, and the opinion of some of the members also, either everyone gets $17,000 or we divide it evenly,” said Lorraine Proust, president of the Hart Pioneer Centre.

“Why play favourites? We as members feel it should be divided evenly, or else give everybody the same amount.

We’re not going to complain. You give us $17,000, we’ll send them a thank-you letter.”

There were five letters added to the meeting agenda as late additions addressing the funding proposal.

Donna Chenall of Hopkins Roads advocated for the funding to be split between multiple local seniors’ centres, saying that “many are just one major financial setback away from being in serious trouble.”

Geri Ruzicka of Monterey Road also advocated for the funding to be split among multiple centres, writing almost the exact same letter as Chenall with a couple of changes.

Spruce Capital director Jeff Walsh said that all local seniors’ centres are in the same boat.

“The mayor should be made aware that the members are being asked to bail out Brunswick (Street centre),” Walsh wrote. “None of the other centres have ever asked for bailout money and continue to function and make do with what they have in order to survive and function for benefits to the senior public.”

Shirley Morin, Spruce Capital’s manager, said all centres are in a similar situation and outlined the struggles her organization has been in since the COVID-19 pandemic. She said that the centre has decided to close between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4, 2026 to give staff and volunteers a break and that decision will provide enough savings for the

facility to operate until the end of January.

The final letter was from Spruce Capital’s cook, Edith Service, echoing many of her colleagues’ concerns.

When it came time for the matter to be discussed, council chambers were more full than usual in large part because of a strong contingent of seniors in the audience.

Yu said his idea came after a meeting with representatives of the downtown centre, who had discussed their funding issues.

He said that he loves all the seniors’ centres equally and said he had made a mistake for singling one out.

“I believe they should all receive a Christmas present from council,” Yu said.

He then moved for the funds to be split equally between all five centres and said he would personally visit each of the centres to find out more about their needs and challenges. He also moved for staff to assess each centre’s need to see if the city needs to enhance future support.

Coun. Kyle Sampson said while he approved of the mayor’s intent and his pivot, he said he was concerned about dipping into contingency funds rather than investigating a long-term approach to meeting seniors’ centres needs.

From conversations he had with the various groups, Sampson said, he thought they needed a process with more certainty instead of choosing winners and losers in the spur of the moment.

He advocated for representatives from each centre to be brought together to have a conversation on future needs and challenges should Yu’s motion not pass, with up to $5,000 in spending from contingency funds to facilitate the event.

Coun. Susan Scott said that after joining council 11 years ago, one of her biggest focuses has become seniors’ issues.

Raising the old adage of “give a man to fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” Scott said she agreed with Sampson’s proposal to work smarter

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Programs like cardio drumming, seen here at Spruce Capital Seniors Centre, are among the popular classes offered at local centres.

using the city’s existing resources.

Coun. Brian Skakun said contingency funds are spent at council’s discretion and he would support Yu’s motion, though he agreed with Sampson’s outlook on looking for a long-term solution.

He also wondered whether the city could advocate for seniors’ issues at next year’s Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Union of BC Municipalities conventions. Skakun thanked all the seniors who reached out to council to discuss the matter.

Coun. Garth Frizzell asked staff for a progress update on the city’s agefriendly action plan and wondered whether funding could be acquired from the UBCM to update it.

Director of civic facilities and events Andy Beesley said the plan is still referred to and reviewed actively by city staff.

Coun. Cori Ramsay asked director of finance and IT services Kris Dalio what happens if council doesn’t allocate or spend contingency funds by the end of a calendar year.

Dalio said the surplus would be added to the city’s overall surplus to be spent on one-time items or emergency items.

Ramsay said contingency funds aren’t a slush fund to be spent every year and

affect the city’s overall tax levy. She said there are other groups in the city that need support beyond seniors’ centres.

In trying to make a decision, she said, she hadn’t had time yet to review which seniors’ centres received permissive tax exemptions from the city or leased buildings from the city. She said she wouldn’t support Yu’s amended motion but would support a referral to administration to find other ways to support local seniors.

Frizzell moved for the motions on distributing the funding and directing staff to investigate 2026 budget enhancements to be considered separately.

Yu said that because that was the final council meeting of 2025, he didn’t think there would be a chance to consider further requests for the remaining contingency funds. He also said his intent was like Sampson’s in trying to find a longer-term solution for local seniors’ centres.

Dalio chimed in to say that the city underspent on the CN Centre’s 30th anniversary event and that the actual remaining contingency funds are actually a bit higher. He suggested wording the motion in a way that would give the city some leeway to distribute the remaining funds.

Coun. Tim Bennett thanked Yu for reconsidering his approach as many residents were concerned about favouring one seniors’ centre over another, though not all of his concerns were allayed.

He said he was worried about creating a precedent should the funding be approved as suggested, especially as council will be discussing a hefty tax increase to maintain status quo services.

Early budget figures discussed at the Standing Committee on Finance and Audit in late November showed that staff will open budget deliberations with a property tax increase of around 5.98 per cent.

Coun. Ron Polillo said he thought Yu’s motion was well-intentioned, but it represented a short-term, unsustainable fix.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

Unhappy seniors leave council chambers after vote CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE “I’d rather see a sustainable idea,” he said. “I like the idea of using that money, perhaps, to enhance the grant stream.”

He said he wouldn’t support Yu’s distribution of funds but would support the second half.

Spending the remaining contingency funds, he said, wouldn’t be the best use of taxpayer dollars.

Polillo also encouraged his colleagues to discuss during the upcoming budget deliberations in January whether council should have a contingency fund at all.

Yu reiterated that the funds are to be spent at council’s discretion and urged local businesses to financially support local seniors’ centres.

Entering a second round of comments, Scott said she felt she was in an awkward position as she is a member of three of the organizations being discussed and also knows that they have

different operations.

Yu asked whether it would be better to allocate the funds based on the organizations’ membership.

That proposal provoked some shaking heads and whispers of “uh-uh” from people in the audience.

Coun. Trudy Klassen asked how soon the city could distribute the funds if it was approved by council. Dalio said it would be within a couple of weeks.

After an amendment to strike the exact dollar amount from the first motion was approved, Yu and seniors declared victory, only to be told the main motion was yet to be approved.

The motion to split the remaining contingency funds equally between the five organizations was then defeated.

Most of the seniors in the audience then got up to leave, uttering their disappointment with council and prompting corporate officer Ethan Anderson to ask them not to disrupt the ongoing meeting.

FF D

Passing by the media table, one of the seniors said “They can find money for everyone else but not for seniors; put that in the paper.”

“We should give them the finger,” another said.

Sampson then proposed an amendment to the second motion directing administration to have a collaborative session with representatives from the major seniors’ centres and to provide up to $5,000 from council’s contingency fund to facilitate the meeting.

Polillo wondered whether the $5,000 was needed to facilitate the meeting.

Sampson said his motion said “up to” to provide staff with some wiggle room but that hopefully, they wouldn’t need the full amount.

The mayor was critical of the proposed spending limit, to which Sampson said it needed to be handled professionally with refreshments, a facilitator and more.

Sampson’s amendment and the

Financing Available No Interest

main motion were then approved unanimously.

“Sorry folks,” Yu said after the vote.

“You’ll have to wait for a decision.”

Vote summary

Council distributes its remaining 2025 contingency funds equally among the five local seniors’ centres.

• In favour: Yu, Skakun and Klassen • Against: Ramsay, Polillo, Scott, Frizzell, Bennett and Sampson Result: Defeated 6 to 3 Council directs administration to host a collaborative session with Prince George’s major seniors’ centres to discuss operational pressures and explore opportunities for collaboration, provide feedback for future city support opportunities with up to $5,000 in spending from contingency funds to facilitate the meeting.

Result: Approved unanimously With files from Matthew Hillier

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New life as Urban Planet moves into former Bay store The clothing store has hired 60 people and is looking for more MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Urban Planet is now open in Prince George, taking over the main floor the former Hudson’s Bay building. It opened its doors to shoppers on Friday, Dec. 12.

Workers were also seen removing old Hudson Bay signage from the building on Monday, Dec. 15 as customers filed into the new location.

The store has seen hundreds of people check it out since opening, with training manager Skylar Tuba noting that the parent company decided a larger location in Prince George was a natural fit for the company.

“We already have a location at Pine Centre Mall — we have a Stitches there,” Tuba said. “Since it was doing pretty well and we had an opportunity

CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

Workers remove the old Bay sign from Parkwood Place after Urban Planet moved into the first floor of the space on Monday, Dec. 15.

for a bigger location, we want to try it out and see if a larger location would also do well.”

Urban Planet is owned by YM Inc., a

Canadian clothing retailer that operates more than 100 stores across the country, including Urban Planet, Stitches, West 49, Bluenotes and others.

The store has hired approximately 60 people and is still looking for part-time employees.

Tuba said the company has received a warm reception from Prince George so far.

The Bay closed earlier this year. Tuba noted that Urban Planet has previously opened in other vacant Hudson’s Bay locations across the country, and that experience made this transition smoother.

Northern Health is planning to move into the second floor. Tuba said it will not impact the store when the health authority moves in, as the escalator con necting the floors has been removed.

“Only the emergency exits are shared at all,” he said.

“There’s no way to get from here to Northern Health without going through an alarm door. We want those fire exits open in case there is an emergency, but there won’t be any access between the two. The escalator was already removed for that purpose.”

City staff will consider the purchase of portable bleachers Rodeo association makes the pitch to city councillors COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

City council asked city staff to consider a request from the Prince George Western Heritage Society to purchase a fleet of portable bleachers that could be used for seating at various local events at its Monday, Dec. 15 meeting.

The society’s president, Kevin Cunin, asked that the city purchase large-capacity towable bleachers that can seat 250 to 300 people, mid-size aluminum bleachers with 50 to 100 seats and small, portable tip-and-roll units with 10 to 24 seats.

In a package Cunin prepared for council, he said that the purchase of the bleachers would “support major

festivals, concerts, sporting events and community programs.”

The society runs the annual Rodeo Prince George, promotes “western lifestyle and heritage,” supports the humane treatment of livestock and provides opportunities for people to compete in rodeo events, according to its website.

While presenting to council, Cunin said the society currently has to rely on rental seating for events, which can be both expensive and unpredictable.

Purchasing a variety of bleacher types would allow support for multiple types of events and venues and make it easy for them to be transported around the city.

He said other uses for the bleachers could be the annual Coldsnap music festival, speed skating events, Silvertip Archery and more, though Cunin cautioned he hadn’t spoken directly to the organizers of those events yet.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY COLIN SLARK

Prince George Western Heritage Society president Kevin Cunin addresses Prince George city council at a Monday, Dec. 15 meeting.

Mayor Simon Yu asked whether they had developed a cost estimate. Cunin said they hadn’t and were hoping they could work with city staff after making the initial proposal.

Yu also congratulated the society for hosting the 100th edition of the local rodeo this year. Cunin said they had

a big announcement scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 17 for next year.

Coun. Susan Scott also said she wondered about the cost and moved for the matter to be referred to staff for consideration.

Coun. Trudy Klassen asked whether there was need for these bleachers elsewhere in the community beside the rodeo.

Cunin said he believed there was and that he’s seen some of the bleacher types he brought up being used in Grande Prairie, Alta. and they were easy to move by officials there.

Council voted unanimously to refer the item to staff.

Vote summary

Council directs city to investigate the purchase of portable bleachers as suggested by the Prince George Western Heritage Society.

Result: approved unanimously.

NEWS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

MLA Rosalyn Bird named Conservative caucus whip Clare, Giddens stay in current roles as new leader makes changes MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

With Trevor Halford settling into his new role as interim leader of the BC Conservative Party, his caucus has officially announced new critic and leadership responsibilities.

Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird has been appointed as the Official Opposition’s caucus whip and will be responsible for party discipline and attendance, ensuring that the party’s MLAs represent party interests and follow their caucus responsibilities.

Party whips are also responsible for scheduling speakers and assigning offices.

Bird told The Citizen that she felt a mix of emotions when she was nominated but was thankful that her career in the navy was so similar to her new role as caucus whip.

“To be quite honest, the role itself is actually not really a whole lot different from what I was doing in the Forces as a logistics officer,” said Bird. “It’s very much often a logistics type role where you’re making sure people are in the right place at the right time, and feel supported, and they’ve got the tools they need and the ability to do their job without things getting in the way. For the most part, that is really the role of the whip.”

Bird has spent 23 years in the navy and was commissioned as an officer

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird, seen speaking about the toxic drug crisis at an event in August, has been named caucus whip by the BC Conservatives.

halfway through her career.

She added that although the party is facing an upcoming leadership race that may bring challenges, she is confident in her ability to manage the team dynamic of the party.

“Any time a party is engaged in a leadership race of any kind, you know, it certainly brings challenges to every caucus,” she said. “Everybody generally has somebody they feel would be the right person for the job. Sometimes that gets communicated well, sometimes it doesn’t. Those are all things that you have to manage as a team. I think the process overall will be one that is good for the party and is good for team building. 2026 is going to be an exciting year.”

Bird said she also believes that her personality is well-suited to the role.

“I have always been quite a vocal advocate for processes, procedures, policies,” she said. “I like things to be structured, I like things to be well organized, I appreciate those things.

I’m always excited to engage in learning new things that revolve around that.

Not everybody would sit down and read the legislative assembly standing orders, but I actually find them quite interesting. I find dissecting legislation quite interesting. It’s not something everybody enjoys doing, but it is something I enjoy doing. I think those would be helpful traits.”

She also views her position as an MLA from the North as an advantage.

“The North brings a lot to British Columbia, and British Columbia brings a lot to Canada,” said Bird. “That’s a real privilege being from somewhere out of the norm for these roles. I’m excited, hopefully it draws some more attention to our community.”

While this new role may keep her busy, she emphasized that she will always make time for her constituents in Prince George-Valemount.

“The role itself doesn’t change anything,” said Bird. “This past session, due to having a large portfolio and sitting on several committees, I haven’t spent as much time in my office as I would have liked to, and this role may bring the same challenges, but that isn’t to say that I’m not actually here and responsive to the concerns from both residents, individual constituents and the region and the city itself. My goal is to continue building those relationships

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and working closely with all levels of government and highlighting not only what our city brings, but our region brings to this incredible province.”

Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Claire and Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens will stay on in their roles as critic for environment, parks, emergency management and climate readiness, and critic for labour, respectively.

Halford was selected as the Official Opposition’s interim leader earlier this month when Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad resigned after a caucus revolt.

In a statement posted by the Conservative caucus, Halford said his responsibility in this interim period is to provide steady leadership, keep the Opposition focused squarely on government accountability, and ensure the caucus is positioned for a seamless transition to the next permanent leader.

Here’s a list of the current BC Conservative Party leadership roles: • Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford: interim leader of the Official Opposition • Chilliwack-Cultus Lake MLA Á’a:líya Warbus: house leader • Langley-Willowbrook MLA Jody Toor: caucus chair and critic for citizen service • Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird: caucus whip • Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper: deputy caucus whip — and critic for children and family development • Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson: assistant deputy speaker

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Backlash forces reversal of 36.7% council pay hike idea Committee ‘set up for failure,’ one member says at final meeting TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The city’s Advisory Committee on Council Remuneration has recommended city council implement a performance-based compensation model that ties incremental salary increases for the mayor and council members to how hard they work at their jobs.

This came at a special meeting, held Friday, Dec. 12 at city hall, that had been added to the committee’s schedule late on the afternoon of the day before.

The new payment model would be evaluated according to defined metrics set by council, and no wage increase would exceed the median salary as determined by a November report compiled by Sainus Consult Inc. If council disagrees with the committee’s first recommendation, salary increases should reflect the percentage increase given provincially to members of the legislative assembly and should not exceed the median salary.

The remuneration committee also recommended the mayor’s pay raise be tied to the percentage of provincial ministers’ pay hikes, also not to exceed the median.

“I think the recommendations are fair,” said committee member Grace Chan. “We just suggested a (salary) ceiling, but council needs to decide what they’re worth.

“We have heard many people complaining about the performance of our city officials. There are a lot of problems in Prince George that need to be addressed that may not be directly correlated to their salaries, but that’s all we have. Their performance should be based on merit. So we did not give them a blank cheque.”

Assembled at the end of each city council’s four-year term, the volunteer remuneration committee consists of members of the public. Its purpose is to review salaries and benefits of elected

officials and how they compare with other jurisdictions.

The pay raises aren’t immediate. If approved by council, changes take effect after the next election.

The committee used salaries and benefits paid to councils in Kamloops, Kelowna, Chilliwack, Nanaimo, Coquitlam, Langley, Delta, North Vancouver, Saanich and Victoria in its comparisons.

The remuneration committee revealed at its Friday, Dec. 5 meeting that its members had voted to recommend councillors’ annual pay jump from the current $42,678 to $58,346, an increase of $15,668, or 36.7 per cent, while the mayor’s salary would rise from $140,068 to $148,268, an increase of $8,200 per year, or 5.9 per cent.

That suggestion touched off a backlash of negative feedback directed through social media at committee members, who said they did not anticipate such public scrutiny.

“I personally did not receive any criticism, but some of them did, and it’s not nice to be criticized, especially as volunteers,” Chan said. “It’s also logical for media to question — they’re doing their jobs — so tempers flared.”

Committee member Jen Higham said the large pay increases suggested at the Dec. 5 meeting were too much, too fast, and should be incremental, but salary increases are essential for the city to attract high-quality candidates in the next municipal election.

“I think we’re all in agreement we want to entice good people to run for council, good, strong people who can clean up the city,” Higham said.

Offering more money to do the job is the only incentive to make the job of a mayor or councillor more attractive, said committee member David Mothus.

“We can’t change the job of councillors, we can’t implement more days off,” Mothus said. “There’s no benefit you can do to attract people. The only lever we can pull is compensation.”

Mothus said councillor salaries could be tied to their attendance at meetings or community events, or the extra work they do as part of committees. He also

It seems this volunteer committee was used for nothing more than to gauge public reaction.” suggested councillors be incentivized for work they do to increase business and tax revenue for the city.

Mothus said while tying salaries to prescribed metrics based on performance and the work they do would be popular with the public, he doubts council will implement that model because it’s difficult to set up and monitor.

Committee member Diana Duchscherer came up with the idea to tie raises to the existing MLA pay structure.

“It’s clear, predictable and already familiar to the public,” Duchscherer said.

All five volunteer members agreed they had very little to work with when handed the remuneration task. Mothus said it should not be left up to them to decide without more guidelines to formulate their opinions.

“No volunteer should take a beating like this, guessing what they’re worth — no one’s going to be happy with that,” Mothus said. “I don’t think this is an effective way to determine what councillors should be paid because we have no metric to set their pay.”

Mothus suggested that due to the exposure of committee volunteers to the media, the public and social media, the committee was set up to be abused.

To avoid that in future years, he said the city should scrap its remuneration committee and find another way to determine city council salaries. That was their recommendation to council.

“Given the restrictions and lack of other criteria, this volunteer council may be redundant,” Chan said.

The remuneration group was chosen in a vote by councillors. Although Mothus, Duchscherer and Higham are friends, none of the five knew they had been chosen as remuneration

volunteers until they walked into their first meeting.

Duchscherer said the city should explain publicly how that committee is chosen.

“It seems this volunteer committee was used for nothing more than to gauge public reaction — they were set up for failure from the beginning. Now they know they can’t pick this big of a raise,” Mothus said.

Committee chair Denis Gendron said councillors who want to be better paid need to be more proactive in telling the public what they do for their money.

“Council needs to be transparent and openly explain the realities of the job to the community they serve,” said Gendron.

Ethan Anderson, the city’s manager of legislative services, said it’s now up to council to decide how it will approach the subject of its own pay raises and what metrics could be used to determine raises if it chooses a performance-based model.

He said it’s common for members of regional districts and hospital boards to receive stipends for each meeting they attend.

“They’ve offered a few samples, but it could be attendance at meetings, attendance on committees, taking roles at committee meetings, things like increases in tax revenue through commercial activity,” Anderson said following the meeting.

“They’ve offered a few metrics. It’s just a starting point for council to discuss and determine if that works for them.”

Anderson thanked the committee members for their work and apologized for the public reaction to their suggestions.

Gendron will work with Anderson and Leslie Kellett, the city’s deputy corporate officer, to produce a final report to be presented to council at the Jan. 12 meeting.

Any pay raises for the mayor and council agreed upon will not take effect until after the Oct. 17, 2026 election and would not be implemented until Jan. 1, 2027.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

OPINION

Grinches on council yank seniors’ Christmas gift away KENNEDY GORDON Citizen Managing Editor

Councillors had a simple choice Monday night: use the remaining council contingency funds to provide $17,691 in immediate, modest relief to five struggling seniors’ centres, or do what this council has become expert at doing — talk about it later.

They chose the latter. Council voted down the mayor’s proposal to split the remaining 2025 contingency funds equally among local seniors’ clubs.

Instead, they unanimously approved spending up to $5,000 of that contingency fund to hold meetings about the situation facing the seniors’ centres.

Let that sink in.

During the meeting, local seniors packed council chambers hopeful for funds that would give their operations some immediate breathing room, funds they did not initially ask for to help keep their community hubs alive.

The seniors — many of them are volunteers, many on fixed incomes — were told there’s no appetite for a quick solution, but plenty of appetite for more conversation.

This wasn’t an abstract policy debate.

The problem is well-known, long-standing and painfully simple: costs are rising, memberships don’t cover expenses and grants are increasingly hard to secure.

Bud Burbee of the Prince George and District Senior Citizens Activity Centre on Brunswick Street said plainly, “The costs of everything are going up.” Meals

cost more. Utilities cost more. Insurance costs more.

And apparently, so do the solutions.

Instead of spending less than $18,000 — pocket change in a city budget – this council would prefer to spend up to $5,000 discussing the problem. Six councillors, four of them re-elected incumbents and two being former school board trustees, voted against action while endorsing holding more meetings.

But what is the purpose of the contingency funds? It’s for unforeseen, onetime pressures, exactly like those faced by these centres. Why say no?

Concerns about precedent and sustainability were rolled out like the well-worn talking points they are.

Mayor Simon Yu deserves credit for recognizing his initial mistake. After hearing concerns that his first proposal favoured one centre, he did exactly what leadership looks like: he listened, pivoted and proposed an equitable solution. Five centres. Equal shares.

Everyone wins — a Christmas present, as he put it, to organizations that have spent decades supporting the people who built this community.

Although he was supported by Coun.

Trudy Klassen and Coun. Brian Skakun, the rest of council let him down.

The alternative solution embraced by councillors makes their decision sting even more: up to $5,000 — nearly a third of the amount denied — to host a “collaborative session.”

SEE ‘REACTION’ ON NEXT PAGE

CITIZEN EDITORIAL CARTOON BY MICHAEL KAST

This cartoon was created by an artist using graphic design and AI tools.

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Terresa Randall-Stolz Owner

Kennedy Gordon Managing Editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR editor@pgcitizen.ca OWNER / PUBLISHER owner@pgcitizen.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.

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

OPINION

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

maintenance reports from every department in the city, items like the state of the Aquatic Centre would have been addressed long before it needed an almost total major overhaul and closure for two years.

Can you imagine how a mine could operate if one whole department had to be shut down for two years?

Maj Sutherland Prince George

LETTERS tothe EDITOR Transparency is necessary in letters to city council

The decision to remove the requirement for full addresses in public correspondence may look like a small procedural tweak, but its impact may have far-reaching consequences. This change weakens the quality, reliability and transparency of the public input council depends on to make informed decisions.

Stripping this information away makes it harder to distinguish legitimate local concerns from general commentary or outside influence. It opens the door to manipulation and diminishes the weight of genuine neighbourhood voices.

The staff report driving this decision focused heavily on administrative workload, privacy discomfort and the challenge of redacting old documents.

Efficiency matters, but it should not override the foundations of a credible public process. A balanced report would have explored solutions that protect both privacy and democratic integrity.

For instance, redacting names, house numbers or personal identifiers while leaving street names or neighbourhoods before publication. This is a common and entirely workable approach used by many local governments. Why wasn’t this option tabled?

The report also acknowledges an existing lack of transparency, as

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CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

There shouldn’t have to be a two-year closure to address structural issues at the Aquatic Centre, a reader writes today.

residents can email councillors directly, bypassing the formal submission process entirely.

Staff admitted this creates a two-tier system.

Yet instead of recommending fixes to improve these shortfalls, the report suggests lowering standards across the board.

Rather than closing the loophole, staff proposed opening it wider by removing address requirements from official submissions — a move that only deepens the transparency gap.

This recommendation should not be coming from Legislative Services, whose role includes safeguarding procedural fairness and lawful public access to information. Their responsibility is to support processes that uphold public trust, not weaken them.

Democracy requires effort; the alternative is a council that cuts corners and erodes public trust.

Protecting the legitimacy and clarity

of public participation is worth far more than sparing the city some administrative inconvenience.

Council should reconsider this decision with a more balanced, comprehensive report — one that puts democratic integrity at the centre, not the sidelines.

If left unchallenged, this decision risks becoming a precedent for future shortcuts that erode transparency and widen gaps in public oversight.

Don Wilkins Prince George

Aquatic Centre issues could have been addressed years ago I worked at Granisle Copper many years ago and I typed up the monthly maintenance reports for all the departments.

If something needed repair or replacing, it was done or carried over to the next monthly meeting.

I liken this to our city of Prince George. If there are monthly

Citizen speaks for all of us on important matters

I just read editor Kennedy Gordon’s editorial in regard to our city councillors’ pay increase.

Gordon expresses the feelings of, I am sure, a good portion of Prince George’s citizens, not only about this issue but many others.

It is through his knowledgeable and informative presentations of current events regarding how our city is run, that we, the readers, get the true facts.

We are so proud to call ourselves a democratic society, built on the foundation of respect for individual opinions and freedom of espression.

We, as a community, should feel lucky to have a voice that speaks for us all on matters which concerns our beautiful city and its citizens with erudite points of view; but most importantly, presenting true facts.

In this time in our history, will all the upheavals, our honest newspaper is a breath of fresh air.

Daniela Brulello Prince George

Reaction from disappointed seniors at council’s meeting said it all CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE This is a meeting to discuss future needs, a meeting everyone in that room already understands is necessary but not urgent. It’s a meeting that won’t pay a heating bill, won’t cover food costs and won’t help keep doors open next month.

It’s this council’s familiar pattern.

Meetings. Workshops. Engagement sessions. And then, often, nothing.

The reaction from the seniors in the gallery said everything council needed to know. They left disappointed, angry and hurt, muttering that money can always be found for others, just not for them. They weren’t wrong.

Council has had no trouble finding funds to combat the homelessness

crisis. However, when it came to helping seniors, council was unwilling to act now, knowing full well it could still pursue long-term solutions in the new year through the budget process.

The seniors’ centres need help.

They’re the volunteers, cooks, organizers and members who quietly fill a gap in our community by providing a place where seniors are able to connect and

find support for one another.

Prince George prides itself on being a caring community. But caring isn’t measured by how many meetings you hold.

It’s measured by whether you’re willing to act when the solution is obvious, affordable and urgently needed.

Council had the chance to do the right thing. Instead, it chose meetings, muffins and minutes. Again.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

OPINION Committee recommends $15.6K annual pay boost for Prince George councillors

Committee recommends $15.6K annual pay boost for Prince George councillors

I understand that being a city councillor can be a full-time job in itself and I agree that the mayor is a full-time job as that person is the voice and visible figure of the city henceforth the pay raise.

What I don’t agree with is how most of the council seems to not understand is that they represent the people of PG yet few actually seem to have an understanding of how that works.

There was a time when councillors took time out of their day to talk to people and listen to their concerns by being in the public eye and even if that council member was disliked they still got respect.

Now most of PG city council sits in their office or attends meetings and rarely talks to the public any more.

So with that being said why should council deserve a pay raise when they can’t even take time to talk to the public any more for whom they supposedly represent.

Dearth

pgcitizen.ca

Editorial: Reimbursing councillors for public criticism is a ridiculous idea

If council wants a pay raise review, the committee must be truly impartial and not tied to any member.

I have to agree 100 per cent with your editorial, Mr. Gordon. If you can not stand the heat, get out of the kitchen as they say.

Anything else just looks like self-interest.

In whose mind is a 37 per cent pay bump for a part-time position a sane idea?

Add to this that the amount is more than a large chunk of the population makes working full time and you have a group out of touch with reality.

Then consider that this is the council at least in part that oversaw and allowed the parking garage fiasco and apparently failed to maintain the Aquatic Centre necessitating repairs in an amount close to the original building costs and it is stunning that anyone has the gall to suggest this !

Elected representatives have little chance of making everyone happy and will face criticism for their performance and that is part of the job.

If they face treatment that is unacceptable that needs to be addressed across the board and not by giving them more money for hurt feelings.

Share your views on our stories at

Editorial: Reimbursing councillors for public criticism is a ridiculous idea

Perhaps begin by ignoring unmoderated media where virtually anything goes.

Another idea is examining whether criticism actually has foundation in reality and if you need to reassess your position.

Renoguy24

They also need to read the room — people wouldn’t complain so much if council actually delivered results.

Downtown has been allowed to deteriorate for years.

Businesses and residents still deal with safety issues, crime, and empty storefronts while we keep hearing about more “studies” instead of real action.

Nothing feels improved.

Taxes keep rising, and the new stormwater fee is just another burden for people already stretched thin.

Calling it a utility doesn’t make it any less of a tax.

Instead of focusing on their own compensation, council should be fixing the real issues, showing progress, and rebuilding trust.

In my opinion there is not one (1) councillor that is worth a six per cent raise let alone a 36.7 per cent raise to their pay. I and many other people I communicate with all agree that they are very well paid for the PART-TIME JOB that they are doing.

Another opinion of mine, is that there should be a wholesale change in our city councillors come next election.

I personally hope that a whole new bunch of members of our city that will put their hats in the ring for these jobs.

I believe there are a lot of smart people in this town that would be more than happy to be making $42,678.00 a year for a part-time job.

Do the job well first — then talk about a raise.

It also appears that there should be a big change in the members of the Advisory Committee on Council Remuneration.

Megyn

Jack Frost

Editorial: Reimbursing councillors for public criticism is a ridiculous idea We rely on and need editorials Journalists provide the eyes and like this. Scrutiny of all levels ears, observing for the rest of us. of government is needed more In a world were AI is rapidly than ever. taking over the information The vast majority of us cannot attend council meetings, where policies are proposed and implemented and how “our” tax monies will be spent.

universe, reliable and verifiable human observation is needed more than ever.

Wayne Allen

NEWS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

$73M capital budget being proposed for city in 2026 COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff

The City of Prince George has almost $73 million worth of capital projects planned for 2026, the Standing Committee on Finance and Audit heard at its Wednesday, Dec. 3 meeting.

The draft capital plan, director of finance and IT services Kris Dalio told the committee, is based on the draft operating budget and the tax levies it lays out.

That includes an increase of almost $1.5 million to the general infrastructure reinvestment fund and a $300,000 increase to the road rehabilitation fund.

“Should council ever wish to cut the road rehab levy or the general infrastructure levy, it will have an impact on the capital plan and we would have to discuss which projects get pulled from it,” Dalio said.

“Reducing a project off the list would not immediately trigger a reduction in levy unless council directed that as well.”

Dalio noted that the city’s capital expenditure reserve is funded by gaming revenue shared by the provincial government and those funds have been declining over time.

“I’ve been hopeful keeping it at $3 million in total,” Dalio said.

“It’s not holding anymore, so we are actually only going to get about $2.7 million of gaming revenue if the trend holds. We take $300,000 off the top every year and we give it to the major events reserve, meaning that we only had $2.4 million to give to the capital plan.”

Here’s a rundown of the committee’s discussion over some of the capital projects on the list.

CN Centre building envelope renewal Debt-funded, $6.355 million in 2026, $8.648 million in 2027 and $13,000 in 2028.

This project involves repairing exterior walls to prevent water from leaking inside, with improvements to flashings, windows and columns.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

A heritage sign at Ginter’s Green tells the story of Ben Ginter. The city estimates it will cost $106,000 to replace the aging signs in the city.

City staff’s report notes that this project presents an opportunity to extend the arena’s overall lifespan and improve its energy efficiency. The repairs are expected to last 25 years for windows and doors and 50 years for metal siding and roofing.

Coun. Trudy Klassen said that after the $37 million cost for pending repairs to the Aquatic Centre, she wished this project could have been pursued as a public-private partnership to save taxpayers some money.

Kin 1 and 2 lighting replacements — $693,000 cost drawn from the capital expenditure reserve ($139,000) and the BC Growing Communities Fund ($554,000).

Klassen asked whether this could be deferred until the existing lights actually fail, but Beesley said that doing so would essentially mean they would have to be closed until the city can organize replacements.

“I would hesitate against suggesting that we would just put that off and cross our fingers, because that literally means closing the facilities,” Beesley said.

He also noted that every time the lights are replaced, more energy efficient fixtures are installed as technology progresses.

Civic Centre A/V system upgrade

Funded through the general infrastructure reinvestment fund, $306,000 cost in

2026 and $600,000 cost in 2027 Staff’s report on the draft capital plan said that this upgrade will include the replacement of the Civic Centre’s sound system in 2026 and the installation of rigging points and lighting in the auditoriums so that audio-visual equipment and baffling can be hung in the auditorium in 2027.

18th Avenue city yard overhead crane replacement

Funded from MFA lease proceeds, $282,000 cost Ramsay asked whether the purchase of the cranes, which are replacing 25-year-old units, could be phased in rather than all at once.

Director of civic operations Blake McIntosh said staff don’t want to repeatedly disrupt the shop through multiple years of replacements as the cranes are critical to the servicing of the city’s maintenance fleet.

“I think it would be more efficient and advantageous to get the work done and not be without a crane should it fail and should we not be able to procure replacement parts,” McIntosh said.

Kin Centre wifi system

Funded from the northern capital and planning reserve at a cost of $250,000 Beesley said that he would bring more specifics of this project when council has its full budget meetings in January

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and wasn’t sure he was going to argue hard for it yet because staff are still developing a business case.

However, he noted that when vendors rent out the Kin arenas for events like trade shows, if the city doesn’t have wifi available they’ll bring in their own temporary system.

“It’s something we can cost recover on because we would charge for our own internal wifi rather than having them reach out and have these temporary systems put in and out, which is also causing a lot of infrastructure issues because these companies come in and staple new things to our walls and install new wires and then they leave it behind,” Beesley said.

Heritage sign revitalization project

Funded from the capital expenditure reserve, $106,000 projected cost City council voted to add this project to the 2026 capital budget at a committee of the whole meeting back in June after a request from the Prince George Heritage Commission.

Staff have estimated the cost of replacing all the existing heritage signs at around $1,700 per sign.

Director of planning and buildings Deanna Wasnik said that council will be asked to approve the funding, but there’s still work to be done and some flexibility in determining what the signs look like and what their content will be.

Civic Centre signage improvements

Funded from the general infrastructure reinvestment fund, $129,000 cost in 2026 and $600,000 in 2027.

Beesley said he wouldn’t classify this project as being critical or an emergency, but there are some issues with existing signs not meeting accessibility standards and some of the directional signs are incorrect after Tourism Prince George moved into the building.

The 2027 part of the project would also include the replacement of the four faces of the Civic Centre’s clock tower with digital ones.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Councillors will begin budget deliberations on Jan. 26 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE “It’s kind of a cool idea, but it’s not something that we’re asking for formal approval at this particular round (of budgeting),” Beesley said.

Electric utility vehicle for the Exhibition Grounds

Funded through Municipal Finance Authority lease proceeds, $57,000 cost Director of civic facilities and events Andy Beesley said every time there’s an event at Exhibition Park, there’s a lot of equipment like signage, barricades and electrical equipment that needs to be moved around.

“We don’t have the vehicles for it and we just are unable to really manage it, so we leave a lot of stuff outside,” Beesley said.

“Sometimes it gets vandalized. It gets stolen and we just feel that it’s really not very good the way we’re treating it right now. We would like the ability to be able

to move more efficiently around the lot and to move stuff inside again. I’m not going to argue that this is absolutely critical but it would be a good decision.”

Other notes

As previously reported by The Citizen, the city has inquired about entering into a long-term operating agreement for the Little Prince historic miniature train with the Exploration Place, but the museum wants a replacement shelter as the existing one is leaking and in poor condition, which makes it harder for staff to maintain the artifact.

At a Sept. 17 meeting, council voted to add the project to the list of unfunded capital projects with an estimated cost of $1.2 million.

“We are working on preliminary capital designs for the shelter,” McIntosh said.

“Next phase would be a more detailed cost estimate. We’ve had preliminary discussions with the Exploration Place

25121NN0

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

A replacement storage building for The Little Prince is on city council’s radar.

on changing the annual agreement to a longer-term agreement so both parties have some certainty moving forward.

I believe in January we’ll have a better idea of the shelter budget for council’s consideration.”

Klassen asked whether the city had inquired about transferring ownership of the train to the museum and increasing its annual funding as well as making the Exploration Place, the train and

Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park into more of a revenue generator.

McIntosh said they could take that idea under consideration, but the challenge would be the sensitivity of the park to the Lheidli T’enneh and the need for archeological investigations that could affect any expansion plans.

The park used to be home to a Lheidli T’enneh village.

Though a $40,000 security system upgrade for the Aquatic Centre is in the draft capital budget, director of civic facilities and events Andy Beesley noted that this will be removed ahead of January’s budget deliberations given the upcoming large-scale renovations at the pool. It’ll be brought back “when the appropriate time comes,” Beesley said.

Council’s two budget meetings are scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26 and Wednesday, Jan. 28.

Both meetings are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of Prince George City Hall.

Yu disciplinary hearing delayed BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There’s another adjournment in Prince George Mayor Simon Yu’s disciplinary hearing before the Engineers and Geoscientists Association of BC (EGBC).

Discipline coordinator Alexandra Greenberg said the hearing was adjourned “due to a procedural matter that requires the appointment of a new hearing panel.” She anticipated it would be rescheduled to the spring.

The hearing was originally scheduled to begin July 18 in Vancouver, but EGBC announced in September that it was postponed to December. In July, EGBC called the delay “strictly procedural.”

EGBC cited Yu in September of 2024 for alleged professional misconduct. Yu, a structural engineer who was registered in 1990, denies the allegations and has vowed to “vigorously defend” himself.

Yu is accused of committing professional misconduct contrary to a provincial statute, the Professional Governance Act, and for breaching the EGBC bylaws and code of ethics.

Yu supported a building permit application in 2021 to the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako for an addition to an existing cabin at Cluculz Lake. But EGBC said he did not have sufficient geotechnical engineering expertise to deem a retaining wall and slope safe. He is also accused of failing to keep records of his work on the project.

“Any geotechnical engineer or structural engineer should be able to design a simple little wall like that based on the knowledge they have received in university,” Yu told The Citizen in June.

“I have done third-, fourth- and fifth-year university (courses) on geotechnical studies.”

The 2022-elected Yu’s company is called Simon and Co. Structural Engineers.

NEWS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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Quesnel bank robber sentenced in Prince George court He’ll serve close to one more year behind bars BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A 43-year-old man who admitted that he planned with two others to rob the CIBC bank in Quesnel was sentenced Dec. 12 in Prince George to two-anda-half years in jail and two years on probation.

Branvin George Scott McLeod pleaded guilty to robbery on Dec. 1. He spent 370 days in custody before sentencing, so he received time-and-a-half credit of 555 days. That leaves 358 days remaining in jail.

A Crown prosecutor had asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker for a three-year jail sentence.

An agreed statement of facts said a man entered the bank on Feb. 1, 2023

wearing a hoodie, medical mask and blue medical gloves to conceal his identity.

He approached a bank teller with a note that read “give me the money that’s beside you or get hurt, I will hurt you.”

The man gestured to indicate he had a weapon. The teller gave him cash totalling $730, but the so-called “burglar bundle” was pre-arranged in case of robbery with identifiable serial numbers on the bills.

McLeod fled, but an RCMP officer saw him jump off the Fraser River Walking Bridge into deep snow. The officer briefly interacted with McLeod, but determined he did not have grounds to arrest him.

Two officers scoured the area where McLeod landed and found blue medical gloves that contained $5 and $10 bills.

The serial numbers matched the stolen bundle of cash from the CIBC. McLeod was arrested two days later.

Baker said McLeod had denied being the robber, but acknowledged he was aware of a plan to rob the bank — involving a disguise, threats to a teller and a weapon — and that McLeod would be the beneficiary of any funds stolen.

In June, McLeod decided to plead guilty and send the case back to Provincial Court. Before that process could be completed, he re-elected for a 10-day trial before a BC Supreme Court judge and jury. Seventy people were called for jury duty, but the trial was cancelled when McLeod pleaded guilty “at the very last moment,” Baker said.

“With respect to this mitigating factor, I will not give it the same weight I would have had the plea come earlier in the process,” Baker said.

Baker said McLeod’s Indigenous heritage and removal from his mother at an early age likely resulted in his drug use and failure to maintain relationships.

But the judge found the aggravating

factors were more substantial.

“The offence was premeditated. A weapon was planned to be used to increase the threat to the bank employees. Robbery took place in midday when members of the public could be expected to be present,” Baker said.

“Violence was threatened and a disguise was used. Mr. McLeod is not a young man with no history of offences, but rather he has a history of offences going back 20 years, and the history of those offences are offences that are becoming more violent over time.”

Baker acknowledged that McLeod regrets the robbery and is trying to change his ways.

“He has proactively accessed a number of faith-based programs while he’s been in custody.

He says that he is making efforts to improve himself and move away from his prior way of life, and wants to return to his prior construction work,” Baker said.

PEACEMAKERS The Mayor’s Proclamation says: “Whereas; December is associated with the tradition of gift giving and the gathering of family, friends, and people of all faiths”….

PG Peacemakers is again thrilled that our Mayor Simon Yu has declared December as “Christian Heritage Month” Pictured here is the raising of the Christian Flag on 1 December 2025 to mark the beginning of Christian Heritage Month.

Part of the Proclamation states: “Whereas: Christian Heritage provides an opportunity for Canadians of all backgrounds to appreciate and celebrate the positive impact

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of Christianity on our shared history.”

Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882)- known as the “Father of Public Education”. “…The absolute necessity of making Christianity the basis and cement of public education”

Peacemakers encourages us all do something nice for your neighbors.

You’ll be surprised by new conversations and friendships. Bake some cookies, bring some firewood, or Tim Horton’s Gift Certs. “Pay it Forward in the coffee lineup.”

From last year Wayne reports: “ went to 3 neighbors, we gave a bundle of firewood to each. We gave the best and they appreciated it. One neighbor was extremely talkative, and gave us a bag of potatoes!”

“A silent night, a star above, a blessed gift of hope and love.

A Merry Christmas to you and your whole family! From PG Peacemakers

Stay up to date, subscribe to our Newsletter

Bless Your Neighbour Month “Do Something Nice” Cookies, Squares, Firewood, Shovel, Timmy GC’s

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone” - Charles M. Schulz

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

NEWS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Suspect switches Judge issues ruling in Catholic school case lawyers again Warning: This story BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Prince George man who pleaded guilty to multiple drugs and guns charges is switching lawyers again.

Tony Zipp told Judge Martin Nadon on Dec. 10 that his client, Sebastian Gordon Goudreau, wanted to be retained again by his previous lawyer, Jason LeBlond.

Nadon agreed with Zipp’s application to withdraw after he confirmed with Goudreau, who is in custody.

Goudreau’s next court date is Dec. 17.

The docket shows 1988-born Goudreau pleaded guilty to: three counts of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking; possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition; possessing a firearm with an altered serial number; possessing a firearm contrary to order; and possessing body armour without a permit. Some of the charges date back to 2022.

In July, Zipp told Judge Michael Brecknell that Goudreau was considering whether to change his guilty pleas.

But Zipp needed more time because of a backlog in producing court transcripts by new contractor Veritext.

contains allegations of sexual abuse BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The presiding judge made key rulings before the partial settlement of a man’s sexual assault lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, religious orders and the estates of deceased clergy members.

BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo, in Dec. 8 reasons for judgment on pretrial applications, allowed plaintiff Dr. Nicholas John Harrison to make amendments to his notice of civil claim.

Harrison accused Brother Leopold and Father Rayner of physically and sexually assaulting him at Sacred Heart Elementary School between 1973 and 1977.

He also accused institutions, such as the diocese and Catholic school board, of negligence.

Loo originally notified the parties of his decision in a Nov. 13 memorandum. The trial was scheduled to get underway four days later, but it was adjourned.

One of the amendments Loo allowed

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Nicholas Harrison, aged five or six in this picture, alleges it was around this time in his life that Prince George Catholic priests began sexually abusing him.

involved Harrison’s claim that he was coerced into observing a defendant engage in a sex act with a dog.

Loo said the evidence was included in documents delivered by Harrison in June.

“Further, the plaintiff has written a book and screenplay, of which the defendants were aware, and the incident in question is described in the screenplay,” Loo said.

Lawyers for the defendants did not deny that their cross-examination would refer to the incident.

“It would be unfair if the defendants could cross-examine the plaintiff on his failure to bring this allegation sooner, while precluding him from advancing the allegation in the action at this time,” Loo said.

But Loo dismissed Harrison’s proposal for five witnesses to testify about abuse they allegedly suffered at Sacred Heart.

“There are insufficient similarities or unifying features in this case, and that the probative value of the proposed evidence exceeds its prejudicial effect,” Loo said.

Diocese faces another sexual assault, negligence lawsuit BOB MACKIN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Another lawsuit has been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, this time from a woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted as a child at Camp Morice in Fort St. James.

In a notice of civil claim, filed Dec. 4 in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, Ruby Ann Mortensen alleges that a Diocese-employed priest preyed upon her in 1972 at the camp.

Mortensen accuses Father O’Connor of using his position of authority and trust to molest her and prevent her

from telling anyone.

“To facilitate the abuse, the perpetrator engaged in a pattern of behaviour intended to make the plaintiff feel that it was unsafe to report their wrongdoings,” said the lawsuit.

Mortensen accuses the Diocese of knowing that O’Connor committed sexual assault, yet failing to take action and continued to allow him to interact with children, including Mortensen.

Mortensen claims O’Connor caused her physical pain, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder, that she will continue to require treatment and counselling and face loss of income and opportunity.

Mortensen’s lawsuit said the Diocese owed a duty of care and fiduciary duty to all children in its care, at school and in the activities that it operated.

None of the allegations has been tested in court and the Diocese has yet to file a statement of defence.

A “Father O’Connor” is named in the lawsuit as a “non-party.” The first name is not mentioned.

Father Hubert O’Connor was the Bishop of Whitehorse beginning in 1971 and became the Bishop of Prince George in 1986 until his 1991 resignation due to allegations that he sexually assaulted students at the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake.

He died in 2007 at age 79.

Similar lawsuits against the Diocese were filed in September via the same lawyer, Christopher McDougall, on behalf of a man and woman who claimed they were sexually assaulted in the 1970s and 1980s.

In reaction to the September lawsuits, James Fowlie, business manager for the diocese, said “we are unable to comment on legal matters.”

Last February, the Diocese and St. Thomas More Collegiate of Burnaby settled for $3.4 million with an anonymous plaintiff who claimed to have been sexually abused by teacher Alfred Patrick Quigley.

NEWS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Veterinarian denied bail as he appeals Fort St. John man was found guilty of sexual assault BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Fort St. John veterinarian, whose sexual assault sentence was deemed too light, had his bail application dismissed by the BC Court of Appeal on Nov. 19.

Justin Donald Sewell was sentenced last April to two years less a day of house arrest for sexual assault.

Provincial Court Judge David Simpkin also sentenced Sewell to concurrent terms of six months on one count of voyeurism and three months on another.

In 2007, while his wife and children were away, Sewell spiked a woman’s drink with ketamine or Valium, sexually assaulted her and took photos of her

JUSTIN SEWELL/FACEBOOK

Justin Donald Sewell was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.

naked body. He told the court that he had an addiction to pornography.

The woman reported the incident to police in 2019. In 2021, with assistance of detectives, she recorded a meeting with Sewell at a restaurant in Vancouver International Airport where he confessed.

On Oct. 14, an appeal court tribunal agreed with the Crown and substituted a new sentence of 33 months, less a day, in jail.

Man waved knife at pit party BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Prince George man pleaded guilty Dec. 10 in Provincial Court to uttering a threat and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose during a party while he was a 17-year-old.

The man, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, arrived intoxicated to an April 25 party at the sandpit near Glengarry and Croft roads.

He became upset at what he believed were people insulting him, so he told them to stop or he would kill them, wrap them in a tarp and put them in the back of his truck.

When asked to leave, he refused and proceeded to put cocaine on his phone and snort it in front of several people. Then he pulled out a knife, flicked it open and said to everyone around him: “Do you want to get f---n stabbed? If you don’t stop asking me to

leave, I’ll stab you.”

When police arrived, they found the man with small amounts of MDMA, cocaine, ketamine and cannabis.

Another male was found with a slash to his chest, but it was determined that was caused by a branch, not the knife.

The guilty man, however, did require treatment for a deep cut to his right index finger, which has not fully recovered.

Defence lawyer Airi Cipelletti said her client’s memory was limited, due to intoxication. He had no prior record.

Judge Martin Nadon agreed to the joint Crown and defence proposal for an Intensive Support and Supervision Order for 12 months. The alternative to jail means the man will be assigned a youth probation officer and youth worker for the term.

“This was not your finest hour, was it?” Nadon said to the man.

“The hard work just starts. Getting sober is hard.”

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

Sewell applied Oct. 27 to appeal his sentence to the Supreme Court of Canada. He also sought bail, claiming that he satisfied the requirements, including compliance with bail conditions and a conditional sentence order and he has no prior criminal history.

The Crown opposed the application because it argued Sewell failed to establish that his detention is not necessary for the public interest.

In her ruling, Justice Janet Winteringham said Sewell does not present a flight risk or risk to public safety, but the offence that he committed is very serious.

“Involving, as the judge put it, ‘invasive, violative, and demeaning sexual conduct’ with devastating effect on the victim and her entire family,” Winteringham wrote.

Winteringham decided that public confidence in the justice system would be undermined by releasing Sewell on bail.

15

Psych evaluation ordered for thief BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A 22-year-old man accused of stealing vehicles a week apart last August is scheduled to return to Prince George Provincial Court in February after a forensic psychiatric risk assessment.

Seth Brian Moran pleaded guilty Dec. 10 to obstructing a police officer and possessing stolen property worth more than $5,000 after an Aug. 8 incident in which he stole a black Ford Mustang.

Moran also pleaded guilty to failing to stop when pursued by a police officer, obstruction of a police officer and driving while prohibited.

A Prince George RCMP officer spotted Moran driving a Subaru Forester that been reported stolen on Carney Street on Aug. 15.

Judge Martin Nadon set Feb. 25 as Moran’s next appearance.

1685 3rd Ave. Prince George, BC

250-563-6637 www.booksandcompany.ca

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Little known fact, if you leave a book out for Santa, he might hang around at your house just a little longer

16

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

BUSINESS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Harry Backlin: Visionary of Prince George real estate He helped build and shape the city’s business community TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Prince George realtor Clint Dahl will never forget the day he met Harry Backlin for the first time.

Backlin, who died Dec. 2 at age 96, asked Dahl to bring his client to his downtown Prince George office to complete a deal.

“We went to his office and we go to sit down and right away I notice his desk and his chair is elevated by two feet, so he’s looking down on you,” said Dahl.

“He’s got the reputation, he was like the godfather of commercial real estate, and I had an internal chuckle — this guy is Dale Carnegie-ing me. He is absolutely trying to make me feel I’m at the throne and I have to kiss the ring.

“I don’t remember the deal, but I vividly remember that was my first experience with Harry Backlin and yeah, this guy knows all the tricks of the trade, that’s for sure. He was definitely a character and he touched a lot of this town.

He was smart, he knew how to play the game and get stuff done.”

Look around Prince George and it’s not hard to find a commercial property that doesn’t have Backlin’s name attached to it as the deal broker.

He was the catalyst that spurred building projects like Costco, Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, White Spot, Tim Hortons, Wendy’s, Earls, commercial/retail properties across from Spruceland Mall, bank and office buildings, and had a hand in spearheading land deals that built the University of Northern BC campus and the Prince George Courthouse.

“As a matter of interest I was responsible for 17 restaurants opening in Prince George, including Moxies,” Backlin told reporter Christine Dalgleish in a Citizen story published Aug. 4, 2024. “I have appeared before city council over 100 times and have dealt with seven mayors during my time here. My philosophy

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Harry Backlin worked as a realtor in Prince George until he retired in June at age 96. The man who helped bring Costco, Earls, Moxies and White Spot to the city died on Dec. 2.

of life is caring and sharing, I learned that from going to church every Sunday and I believe that is the foundation of success.”

Backlin talked Henry Remple, a New Westminster businessman, into buying 1,000 hectares of land that was to be part of the Global Logistics Park, a light industrial development along the Boundary Road connector. Remple paid $6.5 million of the $28 million cost of building the 6.8-kilometre two-lane arterial road to connect Highways 16 and 97 that opened in November 2013. Global Logistics Park near the airport remains undeveloped; Backlin got investors to build on the property on the south end of Boundary Road closest to Highway 97.

He served on the Prince George Regional Hospital board, chaired the Baldy Hughes committee and was active with the Prince George Chamber of Commerce.

Backlin was known for his voice, which apparently could be heard all

the way to Hixon when he spoke at city council chambers, a place he visited often trying to convince councillors to green-light his clients’ rezoning applications.

Colin Kinsley got to know him when he was a Prince George city councillor, from 1984-93.

“During that time, especially from ’86 to ’90, there was nothing happening here and Harry Backlin brought it all in,” said Kinsley, a four-term mayor from 1996-2008.

“Like all people who are good at things, he liked it, that’s what he did. He did it for the money but he also didn’t do it for the money, the way I saw it, it was the accomplishment.”

So why was he so successful?

“He was aggressive with his promotions, he promoted the city and his client’s property and he was at council a lot,” said Kinsley. “He always had some ideas, some of which were in line with our strategic planning and others that weren’t.

“I was on council when he brought that first Tim Hortons here across from Parkwood Mall. He contacted me and he said, ‘Do you or anybody you know want a Tim Hortons franchise?’ I said Harry, there’s no money in donuts.

That’s what Tim Hortons was back in ’88, donuts and coffee.”

Born March 29, 1929 at Sandy Lake, Man., he worked in Winnipeg as a property lawyer before he moved to Vancouver, where he found work as an insurance salesman.

He came to Prince George in 1975 at age 46 to build houses after the province designated thousands of acres of land in the city limits for residential, retail and commercial development.

Backlin knew a good deal when he saw one and snapped up five lots he bought from the city for $2,000 each.

From that point on he’d found his calling as a developer/realtor.

David Black worked alongside Backlin for seven or eight years and they became close friends. After years of working for Century 21, Coldwell Banker Boardwalk Properties and Powerhouse Realty, Backlin was approaching his 90s when he switched to Royal LePage Aspire Realty and he wasn’t selling much but Black knew he could always lean on him to tap his extensive list of contacts.

“Harry loved to talk, he believed in this city, he did a ton for the city, and his time ran out,” said Black. “I retired in May and he retired in June and I used to take him for lunch at the seniors centre and then we’d go for a drive, go through the subdivisions, and he was just happy to see the city.

“He was a real proponent for the city, I don’t know anybody who’s done more for the city in the last 50 years.

Somebody asked him what he thought his best accomplishment was and he said bringing in Costco (which opened in 1993). He knew more people in the real estate industry across the country than anybody here for sure. He was a visionary, he saw things that could be.”

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

BUSINESS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

‘Quiet philanthropist’ Backlin retired this year at 96 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Backlin was a strong supporter of the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation and also gave substantially to the Prince George Community Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity that started in 1995 out of an idea floated by John Backhouse.

When a group formed to pressure the province to bring UNBC to the city, Backlin was one of the movers and shakers involved in that initiative.

Backhouse met Backlin in 1982, two years into his first term as a Prince George alderman, and they became fast friends.

Backhouse, who served as mayor from 1986-96, said some people had a negative impression of Backlin because his name was plastered on so many signs listing property for sale. But he said if you really knew Harry, there was no reason to dislike him.

“Harry never asked me for anything when I was the mayor,” said Backhouse, whose election campaigns were partially funded by Backlin. “He was absolutely straight.”

Backlin attended the Ukrainian St. George’s Catholic Church on Westwood Drive and got to know several Ukrainian families who have fled the Russian war for the safety they’ve found putting down new roots in Prince George and he helped them get established.

“He was a very religious person,” said Backhouse. “He supported his church financially. I went fishing with him and he’d bring salmon home and would clean it and package it and take it down to the church for the ladies providing food.”

Backhouse was the emcee of Backlin’s 90th birthday party six years ago and at that event he met two people who Backlin had helped with his advice — and his pocketbook — when they were going through some tough times trying to keep their businesses afloat.

“They had been helped by Harry and are now successful business people — nobody knows about that, and that’s the way he was,” said Backhouse. “He

had a nephew, a young person, and he found out he was going to be without a vehicle and couldn’t afford a new one, so he got Harry’s. That’s the kind of guy he was.”

As giving as he was, he never wanted recognition.

“I always called him the quiet philanthropist, because he never made fuss,” said Backhouse.

“When he made a donation it was from somebody interested in the project, not him. He’ll best be remembered as a realtor, but he was an active community member and he loved the place.”

Backlin moved to Prince George with his partner, Maybelle Klein, who also sold real estate. He had a son from his first wife who lived in the U.S., but he died in his 30s about 40 years ago undergoing a medical procedure.

Backlin had one sister, who lives in Vancouver.

“In his later years he got a lot softer and less cutthroat, he was much more helpful and likeable,” said Dahl.

“Whereas when I first got started (in 2010) he was all business and you did it his way. You didn’t have an option.

“Work was his life and he just kept working.”

Backlin retired this year in June — at 96, no doubt the oldest commercial realtor in the city’s history.

He loved to dance and still drove his own car.

But without his daily work routine to keep him going he gradually went downhill.

He broke his hip in a fall about a month ago and went through the operation to repair it but had internal bleeding and died after two weeks in the hospital.

“He really loved socializing, people were always coming in to the office and they’d stop in to see Harry and talk to him for a while and that’s really what kept him alive, it kept him sharp,” said Black.

“He was just a good soul. Caring and sharing was his motto.”

As per Backlin’s request, no service will be held.

17

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Harry Backlin, left, with his friend David Black, was known for his booming voice and his passion to make Prince George a better place as one of the city’s most influential commercial real estate developers.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

REGIONAL

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Butcher shop burglarized during first week in business ANDIE MOLLINS

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dino Meats in 150 Mile House hadn’t been open for more than a week when the butcher shop was broken into.

“We’re not going to let it get us down,” said Matt Rempel, the owner and butcher of Dino Meats.

Their retail storefront opened on Nov. 22, but the family-owned butcher business was started a few years prior, a way for Rempel to spend more time with his family as their youngest son battled cancer.

Dino Meats is part of the legacy of their son, named Tristan Rex, or T-Rex. “We wanted to use it as a way of giving back in return, and down the line give back to those that helped us,” Rempel said.

Tristan suffered a ruptured brain tumor in 2019 and was flown to Vancouver where he was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.

Rempel was told there was a possibility his son wouldn’t survive the flight to Vancouver, but he did, and a few months later recovered with treatment.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Matt and Jenn Rempel own Dino Meats in 150 Mile House.

But the cancer returned 18 months later, spreading to his spine. Tristan died three years ago at five years old.

“His life carries on through us giving back,” Rempel said.

Dino Meats will be hosting a monthly raffle for a box of meat, with proceeds going to a charity, organization or fire department, starting this month with Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

“They walked with us through the last two years of our son Tristan’s life,” Rempel said of Canuck Place. The Rempel family was the Canuck Place’s Light a Life family last year.

But first, a bump in the road. On the Friday morning at the end of their storefront’s opening week, Rempel arrived to find that most of their frozen meat, jerky, chocolate and other dried goods

were stolen.

“We’re trying to play catchup,” Rempel said.

The encouragement from the community has been great.

“The support has been overwhelming,” he said.

A community member helped Rempel board up a window he found damaged the morning of the break-in, and another is donating their time to install security bars on the shop’s windows and doors.

Since the break-in, Dino Meats has installed an alarm system, but before then Rempel had to camp-out in the shop to make sure nothing else would be stolen.

Rempel said the community has already done so much for him and his family, but with several community members asking how they could help, a friend started a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of repairs, upgrades and stock loss. Any excess funds received will be donated to Canuck Place.

Dino Meats is located at 228 Likely Road and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

BC Hydro seeks injunction over Vanderhoof properties The utility accuses landowners of refusing access for the North Coast Transmission Line BOB MACKIN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

BC Hydro is accusing six land owners of refusing access to Vanderhoof properties that it needs to enter so that it can prepare for the $6 billion North Coast Transmission Line project.

In a BC Supreme Court petition filed Nov. 28 in Vancouver, BC Hydro alleges Kenneth William Fawcett, Carolyn Elizabeth Fawcett, Debra Lynn Montgomery, Darlene Viola Turner, Denise Marie Dowswell and Diane Elizabeth Black are in breach of statutory rights of way (SRW).

The Crown utility wants a judge’s order to prevent them from restricting

BC Hydro’s access and to authorize the RCMP to enforce the injunction if necessary.

BC Hydro said it needs to complete pre-construction forestry activities by the end of May 2026 and pre-construction environmental and archaeological activities by the end of June 2026. If it cannot stay on schedule, it will adversely impact filings to the B.C. Energy Regulator and delay the first phase of the Prince George to Terrace project.

“BC Hydro may therefore need to draft and submit amended reports, which will increase the costs and resources required,” the court filing

said.

BC Hydro said Kenneth Fawcett owns three properties and is a joint owner with the others of four more properties.

Since 2023, BC Hydro claims it has communicated with them about entering an agreement so it could complete pre-construction activities. But they have not agreed to date.

“Except for brief periods of access in May 2025 and July 2025, the respondents have repeatedly denied BC Hydro access to the properties, including in the existing SRW areas,” BC Hydro claims.

Denials occurred in person, by phone or in writing on two days in July 2024 and one day in each of May, July, September and October of 2025. BC Hydro notified them by letters of Sept. 23 and Oct. 3, 2025 of pre-construction activities beginning Oct. 6.

Without an agreement, BC Hydro said it would send personnel onto the properties under provisions of existing SRWs and the Hydro Act. But, on Oct. 6, Kenneth Fawcett and Dowswell allegedly kept the swing gate closed and told BC Hydro forestry and archaeology crews they could not enter.

None of the allegations has been tested in court and the respondents have yet to file a response.

BC Hydro said it normally seeks a consensual agreement with landowners for access, even when the rights fall within BC Hydro’s statutory powers.

The court filing said BC Hydro has agreements with all other owners along segments D, E and F and all other pre-construction activities were expected to be completed by the end of November.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

COMMUNITY

What’s happening in PG The Nutcracker goes Dec. 18 to 21 at 7:30 p.m. each evening with matinees at 2 p.m. on Dec. 20 & 21 at Vanier Hall, 2901 Griffiths Ave. This spectacular holiday tradition is presented by Judy Russell and the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. This is Tchaikovsky’s time-honoured ballet in two acts with live orchestra. For more information and tickets visit www.pgso.com/ TheNutcracker Small Business Holiday Luncheon goes Thursday, Dec. 18 from noon to 2 p.m., doors open at 11 a.m. at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre, 808 Canada Games Way. This event is a festive lunch with your favourite workmates, closest pals or hard-working committee members. There are door prizes, entertainment and delicious festive food. Tickets are $40. For more information visit eventservices@ princegeorge.ca.

Celebration of Lights goes Thursday, Dec. 18 to 23 and Dec. 27 to 30 at Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum, 850 River Road. Enjoy the biggest light show in Northern BC with more than 100,000 lights and light displays, rail cars and buildings as you explore the museum park. Dec. 18 and 19 there is free admission with a non-perishable food donation. This year the Cottonwood minirail train ride is included with price of admission. Scheduled throughout the event is live music, kids crafts and activities while hot chocolate and concession is available for purchase. For all the details and tickets visit pgrfm.bc.ca/ news-events/celebration-of-lights/ Early Bedtime Club Christmas Bash goes Friday, Dec. 19 from 5 to 10 p.m. at Ignite Night Club, 1232 Third Avenue for those who want to relive the best hits of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s while still protecting your precious sleep schedule. Dance, socialize and enjoy the music that raised your generation and be in bed before the late-night crowd even wakes up. Each ticket supports the construction of water wells in remote African communities, giving families access to

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Larhonda Hildebrandt and her granddaughter Aalayah, 3, take in the village of houses laid out in the school house at last year’s Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum Celebration of Lights. It’s back from Dec. 18-23 and Dec. 27-30.

clean, safe and reliable drinking water.

Tickets are at www.eventbrite.com/e/ early-bedtime-club-xmas-bash-tickets National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Holiday Movie Night goes Friday, Dec. 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Prince George Playhouse, 2626 Recplace Drive.

Get ready for some holiday laughs.

The venue is licensed so beer and wine will be available. For tickets visit www. eventbrite.com/e/national-lampoonschristmas-vacation-on-the-big-screentickets Marshall & Chase Christmas Meet & Greet goes Friday, Dec. 19 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Bubbles Indoor Playground, 3053 McGill Crescent. The duo from Paw Patrol will visit with children at Bubbles to celebrate the holidays. For more information and tickets visit www. bubblesindoorplayground.ca/PawPatrol Christmas Country Weekend goes Friday, Dec. 19 and Saturday, Dec. 20 at the Underground Show Lounge, 1177 Third Ave. On Friday there is a karaoke contest, trivia and the dance floor is open. On Saturday there is a variety

show, the karaoke finale and the dance floor is open. To enter the karaoke contest register by emailing Madameteaze@ gmail.com Rock the Halls goes Saturday, Dec. 20 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Prince George Playhouse, 2626 Recplace Drive. During the last weekend before the holidays escape the madness with cold drinks and a massive live music triple header featuring Dead Sexy, Diode, Examine the Bore. For more information and tickets visit www.eventbrite.com/e/ rock-the-halls-2025-tickets Candlelight: Tribute to ABBA goes Saturday, Dec. 20 at 8:30 p.m. at Knox Performance Centre, 1448 Fifth Ave. Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience featuring the Listeso String Quartet. Enjoy all the most popular ABBA songs. For more information and tickets visit www.feverup.com/ candlelightABBAtickets Last Minute Holiday Bazaar goes Saturday, Dec. 20 and Sunday, Dec. 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the CN Centre

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Concourse. Local vendors will have last-minute gift ideas, food, coffee, photos with special guests, door prizes and lots of holiday cheer.

Ballad of the Prospector book launch goes Saturday, Dec. 20 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave. Local professional wrestler and author Wes Barker has written a book based on Billy Barker, Barkerville and the Cariboo Gold Rush during the winter of 1862.

Winter Solstice Lantern Walk goes Sunday, Dec. 21 from 3:15 to 5 p.m. at Lheidi T’enneh Memorial Park at the Pavilion near Exploration Place parking lot. Join Mousewood Forest & Nature Early Learning and Family Society for a joyful evening of lantern-making, songs, stories, games, and a magical walk through the park. It’s a heartwarming way to welcome winter, connect with your community and make special memories with your children. There is a lantern-making station and kits for purchase for $3 to $10 each or make your own at home with no open flame.

Bring drums or small instruments to add rhythm to the lantern walk. For all the details visit www.facebook.com/ events/wintersoltice Red Carpet New Year’s Eve Gala goes Wednesday, Dec. 31 at Ignite Nightclub, 1232 Third Avenue. Celebrate 2026 in elegant style featuring two local bands, two DJs, free champagne, balloon drop, and confetti at midnight. For more information and tickets visit www.eventbrite.ca/e/ red-carpet-new-years-eve-gala New Years’ Eve Celebration goes Wednesday, Dec. 31 at the Prince George Legion, 101-1116 Sixth Ave., with music by The Kickers. Cocktails at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. is schnitzel Oscar with new potatoes and glazed carrots, salad and dessert. Appies at 11 p.m.

Limited tickets on sale now, available in the branch or by phone with credit card at 250-562-1292. Event is for 19+.

Tickets are $55 for members, $65 for non-members.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE NYE at Crush Nightclub goes Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 9 p.m. at 1192 Fifth Ave. This is a black tie masquerade on New Year’s Eve with free champagne at midnight. Beats dropping all night long with DJ ANT and DJ BLAKASS going back-to-back on the decks. Pre-Sale tickets available now at https://www.showpass.com/ new-years-eve-at-crush/ New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance Party goes Wednesday, Dec. 31 at the Coast Inn of the North, 770 Brunswick St. and is presented by PG Social Dance Forum.

For more information and to get tickets call Cris at 250-640-3523 or Raigan at 250-617-2507. Tickets for adults are $75, children $45, under four are free.

New Years’ Eve Celebration goes Wednesday, Dec. 31 at the Prince George Senior Centre, 425 Brunswick St.

COMMUNITY

Doors open at 7:30, music by Long Rider starts at 8 p.m. Appies at 10 p.m. Tickets are $40 each and must be bought before Dec. 23 at the centre. No tickets at the door.

Looking for that special gift? The Hospital Auxiliary to UHNBC Gift Shop, open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the foyer of the hospital, has the best selection of stuffies in town, funky beaded earrings, beautiful money pots, baby apparel lovingly handmade by local volunteers, unique felted ornaments, curated jewelry pieces and Christmas décor galore.

Canadian Cancer Society is looking for Wheels of Hope drivers who make a significant impact on the lives of those battling cancer. By providing crucial transportation to treatment appointments volunteers offer not only

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

a ride but also a supportive presence.

This role involves flexible scheduling, confirming travel arrangements, ensuring client safety while adhering to CCS policies. For more information contact Wheels of Hope at 1-800-9393333 or email volunteer@cancer.ca or visit www.cancer.ca//living-with-cancer/ how-we-can-help/cancer-travel-and-accommodation-services-bc 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

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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.

Trivia Night at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday at 8 p.m., 1261 Third Ave. Book a spot by calling ahead at 250-562-8066. Open Mic at Nancy O’s goes every other Wednesday from 8 to 11 p.m. Open mic is hosted by Danny Bell and friends. Come on down and share songs, poetry, dance, stories, and anything else you can think to do on stage. All are welcome.

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

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

COMMUNITY

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Fur Out: The Robson Valley’s forgotten board game Players roam the board, claiming spaces to set traps ABIGAIL POPPLE

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Mike Tangedal knows board games.

Over the past few decades, he and his wife, Nadine Sehnert, have collected hundreds of games, scouring estate sales and thrift stores for rare finds.

They’re even members of the games-enthusiast group Association for Games & Puzzles International, with Sehnert preparing for the association’s 2026 annual convention to be held in their home base of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

So when he and Sehnert came across a board game that was clearly self-produced and based on illustrations done by hand at a Minneapolis estate sale in the mid-aughts, they jumped on it.

Titled Fur Out, the game was created by a couple in Dunster, BC — a tiny mountain town the couple had never heard of.

Nearly two decades later, Tangedal still remembers trying to play it for the first time.

“It was obviously unplayed. There was not a scratch on it,” Tangedal says.

“The rule book had not been touched… and I look at where it came from and it’s like 200 miles north of Vancouver.

You Google ‘Dunster’ and you go, holy macaroni.”

So how did an obscure board game from a community of just a few hundred people wind up in a U.S. city?

Fur Out can be described as a distant cousin of Monopoly

Dunster residents and former fur trappers Rod and Deb Reimer created Fur Out in the late ’80s, going through countless drafts of the rules and board itself. The game’s rule book, chock-full of tongue-in-cheek fur puns (“Yer ready ‘fur’ startin’ the game!”) belies the crucial role fur trapping has played in both their lives. Both made careers out of fur trapping, and Deb took a trapper’s boat down the Fraser River to meet Rod on

ABIGAIL POPPLE/LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER PHOTO

Deb Reimer, left, and her husband Rod Reimer, right, sign a copy of the “Fur Out” board. They still have a few hundred copies sitting around and may sell them at the Dunster General Store this winter.

their wedding day.

The tracks of the fur-trapping world are all over the game, and not just in puns. The Reimers say they’d hoped it would be an educational tool for kids to learn about the industry and brought it to schools throughout BC when speaking to students about their careers.

They even showed their business plan to members of the BC Legislative Assembly, hoping to promote it as a way to increase interest in fur trapping.

“We said our plan would work if we could get one game in every school in BC,” Rod said.

“This is a complete made-in-BC game, made in the Robson Valley. It’s historical, it’s educational, and if one could go into every school that would get the game off the ground.”

A sign advertising the Reimers’ 700-hour Fur Out marathon still sits propped up against a shed on their property. Above hangs the licence plate for the van they used to distribute copies of the game across Canada.

Fur Out could loosely be described as a distant relative of Monopoly. After

landing on certain parts of the board, players can draw “Yellowhead” cards, a reference to the 19th-century trapper Pierre Bostonais, nicknamed Tête Jaune — French for Yellow Head — and a fixture in Robson Valley history.

These cards are somewhat similar to Monopoly’s “chance” cards — there’s even a get-out-of-jail-free card. Most of them, though, are trapping specific: “Heavy snowfall.

Lose two traps,” or “Weasel chews on fur. ½ value on next catch.”

Once players have earned enough money, they can put a cabin on spots around the board, claiming that space as an area where only they are allowed to set traps.

On top of the Monopoly-esque mechanisms in the game, there are two more major mechanisms for players to contend with. Trapping a small “fur in” animal — so-called because they would traditionally be brought to market with their skin facing outwards and fur facing in — earns you a “fur in” card with a number on it.

In subsequent turns, a player can roll

two dice and see if the numbers match a “fur in” card, which doubles the money they earn from that catch.

A “fur out” animal — larger animals transported with their fur out — earns a “fur out” card with a letter on it. Players collect these letter cards until they can spell the name of an animal in the game, which also nets more money: the number of letters in the word, plus the numbers on the two dice, multiplied by the animal’s value indicated on score sheets included with the game.

Finally, the game contains specific roles for two players. The game warden can catch players poaching other people’s traps and send them to jail at the bottom of the board, and the anti-trapper can flip over traps — circular blue and white pieces — to render them unusable until a player spends a turn flipping them back over.

If you’re lost at this point, you’re not alone. Tangedal remembers him and his friends spending about two hours puzzling over the rule book the first time they cracked open the game, then giving up and deciding to create their own rules.

“I defy anybody not to get through the fourth page of the rule book without throwing your hands up in the air and going, ‘This is not a rule book for a game. This is a manifesto,’” Tangedal laughs. “It’s a fine effort, but I don’t think there’s any way a person could play this game as it’s written.”

Aside from a long, convoluted rule book, the game is also extremely specific to a particular type of player: people with knowledge of and emotional investment in fur trapping, Tangedal said.

“A universal truth of board games is that they’re social interactions,” he said.

“In order for it to be popular, multiple people have to like it and relate to it.”

A niche demographic

If anyone fits Fur Out’s intended audience, it’s Terrance Pallagi, who grew up playing the game by the light of a kerosene lamp in McBride.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

Dunster couple rolled the dice on their original idea CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE He comes from a fur-trapping family and vividly remembers how accurate some of the game’s plot points are — for example, players may draw a Yellowhead card that says a wolverine found their trap and put it out of commission, which Pallagi says is something that could easily happen in real life.

“Me and my sister grew up on a trap line, so we had an understanding of what the game was about,” he said. “In a roundabout way, it introduces somebody to what trapping is about.”

Even so, Pallagi and his family could never quite wrap their heads around the rules of the game as written.

“It’s a very complex game, so since we were children, we played it more on our own rules. We had a hard time following the instructions,” Pallagi said. “We decided to just sort of run it like Snakes and Ladders and just pick your own way as you go up and down the board.”

Despite Tangedal and Pallagi’s confusion over the rules, both agree that the game has a unique charm to it and could see it being more successful with a boiled-down set of rules.

The Reimers believe the game never took off because of increasing anti-fur sentiment in the ’80s and ’90s.

“Back in the day, the anti-trappers had a huge movement,” Deb said. “We thought we had countered that because we were actually trappers. I owned a trap line here in Dunster.”

The two were optimistic that Fur Out could make them money — maybe more money than fur trapping itself.

“We thought we were gonna change our life with this,” Deb said.

Rod and Deb invested about $30K in the game, plus a generous $16K in donations from relatives. They say some Robson Valley residents are still disgruntled after making investments in the game that didn’t pan out.

“We brought the prototype with us and we approached people and they could see our vision. ‘Yeah, it’s an educational thing, why won’t that work?

Of course that’s gonna work,’” Rod said.

“Little did we know it, the anti-trappers

23

the 1988 fur sale. A time capsule, that’s exactly what those values are.”

Scattered throughout North America

EDMONTON JOURNAL/ROBSON VALLEY SENTINAL CLIPPING

A photo of the Reimers’ 700-hour promotional Fur Out marathon was republished in the Robson Valley Sentinel, after being covered by The Edmonton Journal.

were pretty much like, ‘Nope,’ and changed everybody’s outlook on fur trapping.”

A rule book and time capsule

The real staying power of Fur Out — and why The Goat spent two weeks tracking down people who’ve played it — is in how it captures a way of life that’s become a distant memory for most people.

“Board games are a great snapshot of pop culture at the time,” Tangedal says.

“A common joke among board game collectors is the cover of Battleship, which shows the father and son playing the game while the wife and daughter are dutifully doing the dishes.”

Part of what makes the Reimers’ game stand out is that it was produced in a dark age for board games, Tangedal added — few new games were produced in the ’80s and ’90s. And as a Minnesotan familiar with harsh winters, Tangedal can imagine the cabin fever that might drive a person to produce such a long rule book.

“It’s a small town, it’s the ’80s, the winters are long… all he’s doing is thinking about how he likes board games, he likes trapping and he obviously likes

ABIGAIL POPPLE/LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER PHOTO

The creators of the game still have a a sign advertising that event leaning against a shed on their property.

writing,” Tangedal said. “You gotta embrace the idiosyncrasies of people.”

While the historical value of Fur Out might not be apparent to people outside the Robson Valley, locals will recognize how it memorializes decades of history.

Rod pointed out how the illustrations on the box and the board depict the Dunster and McBride area in the 20th century.

“That’s the McBride Hotel — it doesn’t look like that now, but it used to look like that when the game was made,” he gestures to a building on the bottom-left corner of the box. “The values for the animals are all based on

In the decade following Fur Out’s inception in 1987, Rod and Deb spent weeks traveling across Canada in a van stocked with dozens of copies of the game and took it to multiple trapping conventions, including in Richmond, Virginia.

Countless copies have likely ended up in far-flung corners of the U.S. and roadside shops in Saskatchewan, they say.

“All across Canada, we put a couple games here, a couple games there,” Deb said. “We got some good orders, we got Hudson’s Bay’s northern stores that got copies into the Yukon and Northwest Territories.”

In November 1989, Rod, Deb and their friends Jacob Grin, Tommy Power and Eric Gunster played the game for over 700 hours at the West Edmonton Mall. That’s 29 days straight. The stunt was partly meant to raise funds for the Variety Clubs of Northern Alberta, and partly to get publicity for the game.

“We did it to break the Guinness World Record,” Rod said. “We broke the Monopoly record, which was 660 hours.”

A photo of the Reimers’ Fur Out marathon was republished in the Robson Valley Sentinel, after being covered by The Edmonton Journal.

Ironically, Fur Out was rejected from the Guinness Book of Records because it was too obscure. Deb still has a rejection letter from the book’s editors.

Still, it’s a memory they look back on fondly, and a board painted with the Fur Out logo advertising the marathon still sits propped up against a shed on their property.

Rod and Deb say if there’s renewed interest in the game, they may supply more copies to the Dunster General Store.

“Nothing has come of it, but we’re not giving up,” Rod said. “To this day, we haven’t completely given up. We still have several hundred copies of the game.”

This story originally appeared in The Rocky Mountain Goat.

24

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New water, new life flow into Cottonwood Island Park A half-decade of effort has removed a barrier between the Nechako and the park’s channels MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Visitors to Cottonwood Island Park may notice increased water levels, clearer water and more wildlife in the park’s channels thanks to the efforts of the Spruce City Wildlife Association, Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and many community volunteers and workers.

The Spruce City Wildlife Association and local volunteers watched on Dec. 5 as workers excavated the barrier separating the Nechako River from more than a kilometre of one of the park’s channels, filling it with clean, clear water from the river.

Excavation work has been ongoing since mid-October and has dug out low-lying channels in the park to the same level as the Nechako River, ensuring water flows smoothly and improving both wildlife mortality rates and park aesthetics.

More than 50 volunteers and contractors have been working nonstop since October, excavating the park’s channels with workers from Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and planting native willow, red willow and long-stemmed diamond willow along the sides of newly excavated channels.

These willows were planted along the banks in hopes of protecting fish from sunlight and predators, as well as providing useful spawning grounds, with the added benefit of improving local biodiversity in the park.

This stretch will now be directly connected to the Nechako, meaning the local fish population will no longer be stranded when river levels drop, greatly reducing mortality among the aquatic creatures that call the Nechako River home.

Wildlife safety has also been a constant concern with this project, as

CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

Water flows into Cottonwood Island Park from the Nechako River behind Jesi Lauzon,operations manager for the Spruce City Wildlife Association, after a new channel was excavated on Dec. 5.

volunteers and workers from Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada previously rescued more than 5,000 fish from the channels in Cottonwood Park and returned them to the Nechako before excavation began, due to concerns they might be harmed while work was underway.

The excavation of the barrier separating the river and the park was a triumph for Jesi Lauzon, operations coordinator for the Spruce City Wildlife Association, who originated the idea during her time studying at UNBC and has been working on the project since 2020.

“It’s absolutely amazing. For a long time, I wasn’t sure this was actually going to happen and now that it’s come to fruition, it’s a very, very good feeling,” she said.

Lauzon emphasized the impact the completion of this project will have on local fish populations in the Nechako River and hopes the benefits will be seen for decades to come.

“This is going to have an extreme benefit in reducing stranding and the mortality that’s been happening in here for decades,” said Lauzon. “That should not be a problem moving forward.

Of course we’re going to be in here

monitoring to make sure that this has been successful, but I believe it’s going to be great for fish moving forward.”

She added that the completion of this project will not only impact local wildlife but also improve the quality of the park itself.

“The benefits are going to be huge,” said Lauzon.

“This park is extremely popular in town and now you can actually stand on these beautiful bridges and see clean water flowing through instead of these isolated, dirty pools. I think it’s a great opportunity for some recreational activities in the summer next year — floating, swimming and fishing. It’s going to be great.”

Lauzon was particularly touched by the efforts of workers and fisheries technicians from Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, whose constant efforts both before and during the 37 days of excavation made this project possible.

“Thank you to Lheidli T’enneh for putting in a lot more work than was originally expected in this project and being here so diligently every single day in the rain, the cold, the wind and now the snow. It’s been an amazing group to work with and I’m looking forward to

seeing what happens in the spring next year with all these levels,” said Lauzon.

While this is the capper to a five-yearlong project, Lauzon said there is still more work to be done.

“Following the excavation and everything being completed, Spruce City will be doing some post-construction monitoring, seeing the difference in water quality, monitoring temperature throughout the year, and again trapping and seeing what type of fish are coming in here now that there’s way more access and year-round access,” she said.

The project has cost approximately $350,000 and was supported with funding and volunteer efforts from organizations including the ones listed below and more: • CNC Forest Legacy Fund • Rio Tinto • Pacific Salmon Foundation • Pacific Salmon Commission • BC Wildlife Federation’s Watershed Team • TC Energy • Coastal Gas Link • Spruce City Wildlife Association • The Department of Fisheries • Lheidli T’enneh First Nation

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Meals on Wheels given $40,000 boost by PG Ford CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Prince George Ford donated $40,000 to the Prince George Council of Seniors Meals on Wheels program on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, helping to offset the cost of providing nutritionally balanced meals to seniors in need.

The local Meals on Wheels program is the number one provider in British Columbia that served more than 16,000 meals last year.

The program currently has 162 clients.

“We’ve supported the Meals on Wheels program for about four years now and we’ve met with the Council of Seniors staff about the need, taken a tour of the facility and we are aware of the growth in the seniors population and the increase of what’s needed, so to help when we can is an important thing to do,” Chris Wall, general manager at Prince George Ford, said about the donation.

“The Council of Seniors does a lot for a lot of people.”

When Andrew Agbenin took on the duties as Wheels on Meals coordinator in late 2024 there were 46 seniors in need on the waiting list. Just a few short months later Agbenin was able to meet the demand and quickly expanded the

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHRISTINE DALGLEISH

Prince George Ford donated $40,000 to the Meals on Wheels program provided by the Prince George Council of Seniors to seniors in need. From left are Malhar Kendurkar, executive director of the Prince George Council of Seniors (PGCOS); Garth Miller, PG Ford sales; Cheryl Riddle, PG Ford controller, Betty Bekkering, PGCOS board chair; Chris Wall, PG Ford general manager, Andrew Agbenin, Meals on Wheels coordinator, and Terry Bodner, Better at Home coordinator at PGCOS.

program to offer the service not only in the bowl area of Prince George but also to the North Nechako area and into parts of College Heights.

“We hit a milestone recently where we served 106 meals in one day about two weeks ago and it was roast beef,” Malhar Kendurkar, executive director of the Prince George Council of Seniors, said.

In the rented kitchen facility in downtown Prince George they have a staff of two people making the magic happen, the chef and the sous chef.

“So with the donation from Prince

George Ford it helps us keep the program running and the meal cost affordable despite the rising cost of food,” Kendurkar said. “Thank you so much PG Ford. Your donation is incredible.”

The Meals on Wheels program provides the much-needed service that offers affordable, nutritious, hot midday meals, which are more the size of a big dinner, delivered to each client’s door.

Agbenin has managed to recruit volunteer drivers to deliver all the meals but there’s always room for more people to help out so the program can continue to grow.

Betty Bekkering, Prince George Council of Seniors board chair, reflected on what she thinks is the reason there is such a big demand for services for seniors.

Back in the early 2000s when Prince George residents retired many would move south to enjoy a less wintry climate, Bekkering explained, but nowadays that isn’t an option for those on a fixed income so they stay in Prince George where demand for seniors services has increased with the population.

“Now we have 16,000 plus seniors in Prince George so what’s happened with that is the services available to seniors have not kept up with demand,” Bekkering said.

“The Council of Seniors has really been on a treadmill trying to keep the services going. The number of people that walk in here every day is unbelievable.”

Kendkurkar said last year there were 15,617 visitors who came to the Council’s Seniors Resource Centre.

“That’s the highest number we have ever had because the need is so great.”

For more information about the programs available at the Prince George Council of Seniors, especially the Meals on Meals program, visit https://www. pgcos.ca/ or visit 1330 Fifth Ave. or call 250-564-5888.

Take a winter solstice walk through Moore’s Meadow CHRISTINE DALGLEISH Citizen Staff

Taking a walk to celebrate Winter Solstice at Moore’s Meadow Park is an activity highly recommended by the dedicated volunteers who promise trails laden with visions of the season.

“It is so much fun,” Cheryl Wehr, of Moore’s Meadow Preservation group, said about taking a winter’s walk in the park.

Winter Solstice is traditionally celebrated on the shortest day of the year and the official first day of winter, which falls on Sunday, Dec. 21 this year.

“People talk about different ways of

celebrating, bringing life into the season when people feel all closed in and I think this is just one way of gathering many people together to enjoy the trails, to see something a little different to brighten their season.”

It can also be a social occasion, Wehr added.

“People come there as strangers and can’t help but stop and chat about the beauty around them and they end up being friends,” Wehr said.

“This is where you come to leave the stresses of the day behind. So it’s sort of a quiet place where people can take time to reflect and walk in nature.

Sometimes I’ll see a half a dozen people walking their 10 dogs and others are walking alone or in twos and threes but everybody seems to be enjoying themselves.”

Wehr said she loves it when the snow lightens the trails.

“And then when the moon is bright and you gaze up to see the stars it’s quite beautiful,” Wehr said, an obvious fan of the park.

“And when we have a few flickering lights you can see through the trees here and there as part of it, your walk becomes very magical.”

Wehr recalls a special moment. “Last

year there was groups of people coming through so filled with the cares of work and everything and they shared that they didn’t feel very full of Christmas spirit at all but when they caught us in the act of sprucing things up on the trails we were told they could feel the Christmas spirit,” Wehr said.

“And I know they left happy.”

For more information about Moore’s Meadow Park, including its history, visit www.mooresmeadowpreservation.com or visit the city’s information page at www.princegeorge. ca/parks-recreation/parks-trails/ moores-meadow-nature-park

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Witness Blanket: Art installation at CNC until Dec. 23 MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

The Gathering Place on CNC’s Prince George campus was filled with more than 60 visitors, members of BC First Nations and CNC staff to celebrate the opening of the Witness Blanket on Monday, Dec. 1.

The Witness Blanket is a large-scale art installation created by Indigenous artist Carey Newman.

The installation is made of hundreds of items from residential schools, survivors, churches, governments and other cultural sites across Canada, woven together like a blanket to recognize the impacts of the residential school era, honour survivors and symbolize ongoing reconciliation in Canada. On loan to CNC from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, it will be on the college’s Prince George campus until Dec. 23.

Members of Lheidli T’enneh First Nation spoke at the opening and shared their experiences with the residential school system and the generational trauma it created throughout First Nations in Canada.

One of these speakers was Lheidli T’enneh Elder Darlene McIntosh.

“More than 115,000 Indigenous children were forcefully taken from their families and communities between 1870 and 1996,” said McIntosh. “Including my mother, who went to the Lejac residential school. Their experiences, their loss and their resilience are woven into the very fabric of this monument. The Witness Blanket holds over 880 objects reclaimed from the residential schools, churches, government buildings and the cultural spaces from every province and territory. Each one is a silent witness to a part of our shared history. Like a woven blanket, these fragments come together with strength and purpose.

Individually, they are pieces of a painful and often silent narrative. Together they tell future generations the story of truth, a story of loss, strength, survivors, reconciliation and enduring pride.”

Lheidli T’enneh Coun. Crystal Gibbs, who has family members who have been impacted by the residential school

CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

The Witness Blanket will be on display until Thursday, Dec. 23 at the College of New Caledonia.

system, also spoke at the opening and emphasized what this installation asks of those who view it.

“The Witness Blanket does not ask us to be comfortable — it asks for honesty, it asks us to acknowledge the pain. It asks us to recognize the courage of survivors and asks us to carry the responsibility of ensuring that the harms of the past are never repeated,” said Gibbs.

“Education is a vital part of the responsibility. By bringing this exhibit to CNC, you are creating a space where truth can be seen, heard and understood. A space for students, faculty and community members to learn not only what happened but about what healing and reconciliation can look like.”

The opening was also emotional for CNC president Cindy Heitman, who spoke to the media about the impact of seeing the support this installation received.

“It is truly an honour that we get to host the Witness Blanket here at CNC,” said Heitman. “I think the journey towards reconciliation is still beginning — I think what’s really beautiful about this event is an opportunity not only for CNC but for the community to come and learn here from elders, to observe artifacts that came from residential schools. When you think about the fact that the last one closed in 1996,

that doesn’t seem that long ago. It is emotional. I felt strength from the elders and the survivors who are here to tell their stories, and I’m really proud of the community here and how we came together.”

She added that the silence around residential schools, particularly in the education system, is one of the reasons she was so impacted by the Witness Blanket.

“For many, many years, nobody knew about residential schools; it wasn’t taught in school,” said Heitman. “As a former educator myself, I didn’t teach it because I didn’t know about it. I think it brings about much emotion because we are learning the truth. To have something tangible, something that people can see, really helps to deepen the learning and deepen the understanding of residential schools and the impact on Indigenous peoples here in Canada.”

Survivors and descendants from First Nations across BC also spoke at the opening and shared their experiences of surviving the residential school system and the impact it had on generations of First Nations in Canada.

One of these survivors, Gary Williams, whose traditional name is Simmogget Asdewal, is a member of the Gitxsan First Nation and was sent to a

residential school in Edmonton.

He spoke to The Citizen about why he believes that hearing and sharing the experiences of those who have suffered these systems is so important.

“It’s really necessary,” said Williams.

“One of the vice-principals here wanted to talk to me. He asked me, ‘What’s it going to take to change things? What should we teach the kids now?’ And I said, ‘Fella, you’ve got to dig down deep into the roots of the tree from people like us, the elderly people that have been there and changed things.’

If you don’t do that, all you’re going to get is a spinning wheel. That’s what’s happening. We’ve got a serious thing to do and we’re not doing it because we’re just spinning wheels. The government’s got a lot of money there that they throw out, but it doesn’t do anything at home.

If you attract success at home, you may flow down to the bottom.”

Williams also shared his experience of being taken so far from his home and the experiences he and his family shared in the system.

“They picked my brother and me — all we knew was our own language back then,” said Williams. “Back in 1955, that was the only language we knew.

We were taken by rail all the way for 23 hours to Edmonton, and the reason they sent us all the way to Edmonton instead of the Lejac school in Fraser Lake, it was too close and some of the local people would go there and run away. It was closer to home. I think back then they had the idea of taking all these kids all the way to Edmonton just so they wouldn’t run away. But I had two of my cousins run away. They hopped a coal train and came westward. That was the idea of sending us all the way down there. It was horrific. I mean, the first year I was there we had a riot at the school simply because of the food that was given to us.”

The Witness Blanket can be seen until Dec. 23 in the college’s Gathering Place: • Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

• Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Saturdays from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

• Sundays: Closed

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Throwback Thursday: Week of December 18

Dec. 18, 1974: The Citizen featured BC Tel operator Loretta Greenby, photographed looking up a long-distance number for a customer on the line, in a story about planning ahead for holiday long-distance calling by gathering loved ones’ numbers yourself.

This would help avoid stressing out operators during the busy season. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MILNE

Dec. 17, 1963: Player-coach Al Pyett of the Prince George Mohawks smiled out from the front page for a story about how local dentists were supplying custom-made late rubber mouthguards to the roughly 100 young hockey players (13-16) playing in the city, free of charge. The goal was to help the kids avoid the kind of dental damage Pyett and other older players had experienced. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY PETE MILLER

Dec. 18, 2008: Izaak Smith, who had recently placed in the top six of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, performs during the first intermission of a Cougars game.

Smith is back in his hometown to star in The Nutcracker, running Thursday, Dec. 18 to Sunday, Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Vanier Hall, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets at www.pgso.com/ concerts/The-Nutcracker. CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Dec. 18, 1989: Mayor John Backhouse conducted the Prince George Symphony Orchestra during one of two sold-out Christmas concerts at Vanier Hall. The performances were sponsored by The Citizen and featured guest conductors.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO BY BROCK GABLE

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

31

Measles cases on the rise, Northern Health board hears MATTHEW HILLIER Citizen Staff

Toxic drugs, doctor shortages, service closures and measles were part of Northern Health’s busy 2025.

These issues and many others were discussed during the health authority’s final public board meeting of the year.

Dr. Jong Kim, chief medical health officer for Northern Health, reported that so far this year, there has been no increase in influenza A and B cases compared to last year. He also told the board that respiratory syncytial virus has seen a slight increase in cases among children but has had lower overall activity.

He also noted that COVID-19 case numbers remain moderate, although there has been an increase in cases in the first week of November.

One of the primary concerns for Kim this year was the increase in measles cases in the area, with a total of 292 confirmed cases in the past year, along with 22 probable and 17 suspected. Out of the 292 cases, 16 resulted in hospitalizations, with 91 per cent of cases stemming from those not immunized.

He told members of the board and the public that the majority of these cases occurred in northeastern BC. The highest number of areas exposed was in acute care facilities, with a total of 41 cases, followed by the general community with 32 and in schools with 36. He explained that these 41 exposures were due to those sick with measles attending medical facilities.

Northern Health president and CEO Ciro Panessa stated that the focus should be on immunization following this yearly wave of exposures.

“I think measles is going to be something that’s here to stay for a while,” said Panessa. “At this point, we’ll just need to continue to encourage everyone to get our immunization rates up; we have to be increasing our access and availability for the measles vaccine.”

In an interview with The Citizen, he clarified why he believes measles may remain a concern for people in the North.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

The Northern Health board meets at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel for their final board meeting of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

“Measles is one of the most infectious diseases that we face as humans,” said Panessa. “It’s a disease that’s transmitted by air, it’s highly contagious and you need a really high herd immunity to prevent the spread within a community and among a population because of how infectious it is through an airborne route. The reality is, right now is we don’t have that herd immunity level.

We would need to get well into the 90 percentiles right now and we just don’t have that kind of coverage in any of the communities across the North.”

Northern Health has seen an increase in the number of people being immunized: • Northeast: 202 per cent increase in immunizations • Northern Interior: 139 per cent increase in immunizations • Northwest: 63 per cent increase in immunizations Another focus for Panessa was the toxic drug crisis, with Northern Health remaining the health authority with the highest annual rates of unregulated drug poisoning in BC. In total, there have been 116 deaths in the Northern Health region due to this crisis, with 48 in Prince George.

However, from January to September in the Northern Health region, there has

been a 38 per cent decrease in deaths compared to the same period last year.

This decrease has been seen in all age demographics except the 0-18 group, which has seen a slight increase in deaths.

Kim noted that the overall decrease has given the health authority time to coordinate a response to this crisis going forward.

“It’s giving us some time to review our response and update our response with some stabilization we’re seeing this year,” he said.

Panessa, in his interview, noted that they will continue to work with health partners in the region to address this crisis and adapt to changes in treatment.

“We’re noticing a real shift in people using inhaling versus injecting unregulated drugs,” said Panessa. “We’re looking at how we can continue to shift to create different environments and settings where people can use or inhale substances as safely as possible and be linked and create opportunities to link people to recovery treatment.

Other substance stabilization options is something that’s a real big change in shift we’ve seen.

“Then of course the premier recently announced that there will be secure psychiatric care based in Prince

George — there’ll be a lot of work over the course of next year, following up, working closely with the government on that announcement and looking to get something set up here in Prince George related to that as well.”

Issues around closures of ERs and health service centres have been another concern.

During the board meeting, members reviewed new major recruitment and training initiatives seen in the past year, including: • New graduate nurse recruitment: 166 hires in 2025 (25 per cent increase from 2024) • Employed Student Nurse Program: 181 hires in 2024-25; 68 per cent converted to RN roles • Internal and external recruitment: 24 new hires in 2025 with 19 more pending immigration, in addition to 1,994 external hires in 2025 across nursing, facilities, community and paramedical Northern Health has also used provincial incentives to support recruitment and retention. These include the Rural Remote Recruitment Incentive, which offers $30,000 to new staff for a two-year return of service.

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HEALTH

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Northern Health board wraps 2025, looks ahead to 2026 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Since the program rolled out in March 2024, it has seen 327 new hires receive these benefits.

A total of 127 new hires were also brought under the Northern Health banner thanks to the GoHealth BC Recruitment and Incentive, where nurses and medical lab technologists new to BC receive $15,000 in incentives for a 12-month return of service.

As well, 110 new graduate nurses will be hired in 2025, the board heard.

Panessa mentioned that the gap in nursing staff has mostly been filled, with the health authority now looking for physicians to help prevent further closures.

“Nursing-related vacancies used to be the No. 1 reason why we had to close an ER. That’s no longer the case,” said Panessa.

“The vast majority of our closures are because we can’t find a physician to work in an emergency room — a lot of what we’re seeing there is the marketing that the province is doing, especially in the states. We’re getting a lot of interest from the states. We’ve been working closely with the colleges and the province to streamline requirements that it takes for someone internationally to become licensed here in BC and to fast-track and streamline those efforts.”

He added that Northern Health is now doing pre-implementation work to assess the feasibility of using advanced care paramedics to bolster gaps in the ER, along with looking at the feasibility of providing virtual services to more remote communities.

While recruitment is still top of mind, Northern Health also wants to focus on keeping local staff local.

One of the most important methods of retention this year was the Provincial Rural Retention Incentive, which gives eligible staff in all northern BC communities, except Prince George, up to $2,000 quarterly with a maximum of $8,000 annually.

As of July 2025, 4,433 Northern Health and GoHealth BC employees have

CITIZEN PHOTO BY MATTHEW HILLIER

Northern Health CEO and president Ciro Panessa speaks to board members on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

benefited from this program, with the incentive currently being reviewed for extension into the new year.

There are a total of 10,789 employees working for Northern Health, with an average tenure of 6.6 years.

David Williams, vice-president of human resources, noted during the board meeting that he has seen a shift in positions and availability since the pandemic.

“Post-COVID, we saw a deep decline in the number of positions,” said Williams. “We actually saw more people leaving than we saw coming back into the North. But in 2024, for the first time, we saw a reversal of that trend.

In 2024 we saw a net gain in the first nine months of about 17 positions.

If you compare that to the first nine months of this year, we’ve seen 51 positions — a net gain in the North.

We’ve seen post-COVID, particularly for that market, that many professions at the moment, including physicians, are definitely working fewer hours than they used to work. Secondly, they also changed the pattern of how they work. In the past, we’ve had physicians who cover all the services. Now some

physicians are only focusing on clinical work.”

The board was also provided with an operational budget update for Northern Health and an overview of the costs associated with the more than 100 projects currently ongoing across the health authority.

Currently, the main expenditure for Northern Health is acute care, which takes up 56.7 per cent of total expenses.

Total revenue taken in by the health authority for 2024-25 is $1,672,372, with total expenses listed as $1,688,433, resulting in a net operating deficit of $16,061.

The Northern Health board also reviewed its 2025-26 capital expenditure plan, approved in February 2025, with amendments made in April 2025.

The plan approves total expenditures of $542,200,000, with 63 per cent funding support from the Ministry of Health, 31 per cent from six regional hospital districts, one per cent from foundations, auxiliaries and other entities, and six per cent from Northern Health itself.

As of October 2025, $211,100,000 of the funds were spent on major capital

projects and associated equipment.

Additional funds were also spent on other equipment and project needs and information technology for the region.

Currently, there are approximately 117 significant capital projects underway and/or completed for the 2025-26 period across the Northern Health region.

These projects range from major upgrades to existing facilities such as the acute care tower planned for UHNBC to minor projects like equipment replacements, renovations and everything in between.

The final board meeting also reviewed the existing Child and Youth Service network in Northern Health, along with its associated programs and services, and provided an overview of the progress of a new program aimed at Indigenous self-identification for Northern Health patients and staff.

Northern Health noted that the primary driver for Indigenous self-identification is to ensure proper support by mobilizing Indigenous patients.

The board also celebrated raising $4,000,000 for the construction of an MRI suite in the new Dawson Creek and District Hospital and $1,500,000 for annual staffing and maintenance.

Although it was a stressful and often difficult year for Panessa, he told The Citizen that this difficulty allowed for innovation across the entire Northern Health Authority.

“In a time of difficulty, in a time of crisis, one of the things it creates is space for innovation,” said Panessa. “I think we’re seeing that and it’s really exciting to have the opportunity to help move some of those positive changes forward. Also getting the opportunity to get out to communities with clinical teams, being at lots of great events over the course of the year — we continue to have different facilities that are redeveloped and some really significant renovations and grand openings. Most recently with the new Nats’oojeh Hospital and Health Centre in Fort St. James. To be able to be with the community during those big milestone events is pretty awesome.”

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

HEALTH

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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Residency program prepares doctors for rural practice ETHAN READY Northern Health

For Dr. Bron Finkelstein, returning to Northern BC wasn’t just a career move — it was a homecoming.

Finkelstein, who grew up in Quesnel and trained at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and Loma Linda University in California, is now chief of staff in Chetwynd and site lead for the Chetwynd Rural Immersion Program.

The initiative, run in partnership with the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Family Practice Department, is designed to train family doctors in the communities where they’re most needed.

“I’m a rural family doctor, first and foremost,” Finkelstein said. “I wanted to do full-service family medicine after I finished medical school, and Prince George was a very natural fit. It was close to my home, but also had a really strong program and a good reputation for training up rural doctors.”

After exploring several communities with his wife, a pharmacist, Finkelstein chose Chetwynd for its scope of practice and the support offered by Northern Health’s alternate payment model.

“That particular payment model was a major decision-making factor for us in choosing our community,” he said.

The Rural Immersion Program, now in its second year, places residents in communities like Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge, where they learn everything from emergency medicine to long-term care. The goal: to immerse trainees in the realities of rural practice, rather than sending them to larger academic centres.

“If we want people to train for rural practice, we should train them in rural practice,” Finkelstein said. “We immerse them — thus the name rural immersion — in a community that is similar in size or context to how they want to practise medicine.”

Residents rotate through clinics, emergency departments and home visits, sometimes travelling to Dawson Creek or Prince George for specialized

NORTHERN HEALTH PHOTO

The Rural Immersion Program, now in its second year, places residents in communities like Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge.

training, such as in maternity care. The academic curriculum is shared with other Northern sites, ensuring robust support while maintaining a local focus.

Along with Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge, the program is also offered in Mackenzie, McBride, Quesnel, Smithers, Terrace and Valemount.

However, capacity is limited. Each rural site hosts just one resident per year, a decision driven by the need to maintain high-quality training.

“We only have so many physicians in our rural community, and of those physicians, some are more experienced or involved as preceptors than others,” Finkelstein explained. “Our primary care clinic can only hold so many physicians physically at a time, and there’s only so much bandwidth to train individuals.”

The program attracts trainees who are passionate about rural medicine and eager to put down roots. “We get a selection bias of people who like rural and want to practise rurally,” Finkelstein said. “They can make community connections and actually start putting down some roots in a community that they could choose to stay in once they’re finished their training.”

Dr. Yonabeth Nava de Escalante is an international physician from Venezuela and is currently enrolled in the Rural Immersion Residency Program.

“I am a rural physician by heart,” Nava de Escalante said. “I really care about the people. I love living and working in a small community. I like that I know the person, I know the parents, I know the children. I can take in the entire family, and that gives me such a different context because I know a little bit more about those social determinants of health that I have learned in my public

health training. This is such a different approach to medicine.”

While the program is still young — its first senior resident will graduate in July 2026 — Finkelstein is optimistic about its impact on recruitment and retention.

“It’s not just about recruiting the trainees who graduate, but it actually also helps retain physicians in community when they are fulfilling their sense of a higher calling to actually train the next generation of physicians,” he said.

The presence of resident doctors has been embraced by the community,

even though the concept was initially unfamiliar.

“We’ve had incredible buy-in from the community,” Finkelstein said. “They see this potential of training people in the North for the North, in the rural community for the rural community.”

He credits local Northern Health partners and clinic staff for making residents feel integrated and welcomed.

“The normal stream is block-based where you rotate through different areas, but here we are training residents right in the rural communities,” he said. “So I become familiar with the resources that I have, with the constraints that I have. I know a little bit of the politics in the area, which, you know, even if we don’t want to, that influences also the way we practise. I really like the way we train. I like the fact that it’s a longitudinal approach to family medicine, so it’s not like every block I’m going to have exposure to something specific here. Every day is different and every day I’m learning.”

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Local Sports

Teddy bears fly after ‘mystery’ Cougars goal Stuffed animals and winter gear hit the ice as Cats score second of two weekend wins TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Lee Shurgot couldn’t bear the thought of waiting any longer.

He and the crowd of 6,016 people, many of whom brought armloads of stuffed toys to toss over the glass Saturday on Toque and Teddy Bear Toss Night, wanted to end the suspense then and there, and with one swipe of his stick the Prince George Cougars centre scored the goal everyone was waiting for.

Or did he?

It took nearly two periods but it appeared Shurgot potted the rebound after Townes Kozicky’s initial shot was stopped by Kamloops Blazers goalie Logan Edmonstone. Dmitri Yakustenak also was there with his stick and he made sure the puck crossed the line 16:49 into the second.

Whether it was over the line before Yakutsenak touched the puck remains to be determined. Even the overhead camera shot at CN Centre was inconclusive, but they awarded the goal to Shurgot.

“We still don’t know, it’ll go to video review I think,” said Shurgot.

It didn’t matter to the fans which Cougars forward scored the goal. They littered the ice with hundreds of stuffed gift offerings that will go to kids at UHNBC and the BC Children’s Hospital.

The Cougars players and cleanup crew sprang into action and bagged the bears and the remaining 3:12 was tacked on after the second intermission.

That tied the game 1-1 and the Cougars went on to defeat the Blazers 4-1, their seventh consecutive win on home ice.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Blazers defenseman Dryden Deobald reaches around Cougars forward Patrick Sopiarz as he tries to make a dash for the goal Saturday, Dec. 13.

Shurgot was around the action all night centering a line with Yakutsenak and Townes Kozicky and the 18-yearold Saskatoon native had a season-high eight shots on net, finishing with a goal and an assist. He was also sharp on faceoffs winning 15 of 21 draws.

“It’s awesome with all the fans and the support here, the atmosphere is unreal and it’s so fun to be part of, it was a great experience all around,” said Shurgot, who now has six goals and 22 points in 30 games in his second full WHL season.

“We just had to stick to our game plan and keep playing the right way and we knew it would come eventually. “(Goalie Alexander Levshyn) was a huge part of that win, he made some very nice saves at the right times.”

Kooper Gizowski, Yakutsenak, Artemii Anisimov, into an almost empty net, notched the other Cougars goals.

It was tight game until the teams came out of the second intermission, and the Cougars showed why they’re giving Medicine Hat a run as the hottest team in the WHL. They scored three goals coming out of the break to compete the weekend sweep of the Blazers.

Now 30 games into the season, the Cougars (22-8-0-0) have been dominant in third periods, outscoring their opponents 38-19, and they got two in the final frame after Gizowski scored late in the second.

His game-winner came 55 seconds left in the second period. Kayden Lemire fanned on his shot and the puck trickled

to Gizowski, standing just off the post, and he lifted the puck high into the net for the go-ahead goal.

The Blazers got burned for three goals in the first period of Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Cougars and they were much better from the opening puck drop.

Both teams appeared cautious and there weren’t many chances at either end in that opening 20.

The Blazers finally managed to test the waters in the second period. Winger Nathan Behm fooled the goal judge who flicked the red-light switch when he fired off a backhander that hit both goalposts in the opening minute, but the puck never crossed the line.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

SPORTS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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Sold-out crowd helps send Blazers home without a win Owen Cooper and Madden Tymchak each managed dangerous shots in rapid succession that were deftly saved by Levshyn before Lafreniere found the net for his 23rd of the season, rifling a wrister in off Levshyn’s chest to give Kamloops the lead, 7:06 into the period.

Levshyn traveled most of the day Friday to get back to Prince George from Slovenia, where he played for his native Ukraine in the IIHF Division 1 Group A Word Junior Championship.

It was a long day but he showed no signs of jetlag in his first WHL action since Nov. 29.

“My team played strong like bull, everyone did a great job and it’s actually very impressive,” said Levshyn, who had to amp up his game considerably, compared to the four games he played earlier in the week in Slovenia.

Shurgot fed the puck to Yakutsenak for the third Cougars goal and Anisimov capped it with 59 seconds left when he lifted a high shot from his own zone just as Edmonstone was heading to the bench for the extra skater. The shot sailed over three lines and caught a piece of the goalie before it went in.

Friday night’s game

New goalie Lewis grew up in Salmon Arm, about hour down the road from Kamloops, where he learned how to stop pucks playing in the Thompson Blazers organization, so he grew up a fan of the Kamloops Blazers.

After he what he did to them Friday night at CN Centre playing for the Prince George Cougars it’s safe to say those partisan ties are forever severed.

In the first WHL game of his goaltending career, Lewis made 24 saves through regulation time and five minutes of overtime, then stopped two of three Blazers snipers in the shootout to guarantee a 5-4 Cougar win.

“I went to a couple of their games and I was a fan for sure and it feels really good to beat them,” said Lewis.

His Cougars teammates jumped off the bench and mobbed Lewis after he made what he considered his best

stop of the night to deny Nathan Behm in the shootout.

Called into service as a replacement with both of the usual Cougars goalies unavailable, the 19-year-old Lewis made the trek to earlier this week to Prince George from Leduc, where he was in his second season playing in the Alberta Junior Hockey League for the Xtreme.

The Cougars listed him last year on the advice of then head coach Kelly Buchberger, a friend of Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb, and that connection paid off in big way.

Brock Souch led the Cats with a goal and two assists and scored in the shootout. Gizowski had three assists.

Yakutsenak fired a single and also found the net with the deciding shootout goal.

Kayden Lemire and Bauer Dumanski also scored for the Cougars.

Tommy Lafreniere was the big gun for the Blazers with two goals, while Cooper Moore and JP Hurlbert got the other regulation goals.

After blowing a three-goal lead the Cougars came out on fire to start the third period. They held the zone and generated 15 shots on goal in the first seven minutes of the period before they finally got what they were after, scoring on the power play. Gizowski collected his third assists, finding Yakutsenak standing just off the post and he fought to get his stick on the puck to tap it past goalie Ivans Kufterins.

The Blazers hadn’t had any luck gaining the Prince George zone until Lafreniere got the puck in deep and got to his own rebound, dragging it wide to find the net with a backhander.

Overtime settled nothing. The Cougars had two shots on goal and Gizowski had both of them. The best save of OT came when Lewis got his blocker in the way to deny Hurlbert.

The Cougars reached a season-high 46 when regulation time ended and got two more in OT. They outshot the Blazers 48-27.

The Cougars were missing two of their top forwards, Terik Parascak and Jett Lajoie, and their best defenceman, Carson Carels, in addition to goalies Josh Ravensbergen and Alexander Levshyn.

CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT

Prince George Minor Hockey players head out onto the ice to bag up and cart away the thousands of toys and winter clothes that were thrown over the glass to the ice surface following the Cougars’ first goal of the night on Saturday, Dec. 13 at the CN Centre.

Prince George Transit

Service Change Effective Sunday, January 4, 2026  New Sunday trips on 5 Victoria.  More frequent weekend trips on 15 UNBC/ Downtown, 88 Westgate and 89 Hart.  Return of school trips on Routes 12, 15, 55, 96 and 97.

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

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

SPORTS

Spruce Kings split weekend road games TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

The Langley Rivermen scored once in the second period and added three more in the third to defeat the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings 6-2 Saturday, Dec. 13.

Harsaan Kila led the Rivermen with a goal and two assists.

Darius Bachler, Andreas Mikrogiannakis, Zachary Benayon, Sam Allaby and Tanner Winegard also scored for Langley.

Spencer Master and Ryan Wachtel were the Spruce King’s marksmen, both striking in the opening period.

Former Spruce Kings goalie Dylan Johnson earned the 34-save victory.

Colin Reay took the loss in goal for Prince George, stopping 23 of 29 shots.

With the win, the Rivermen (15-12-0-0) moved to within a point of the second-place Spruce Kings (15-10-1-0), who started the day Saturday tied in points with the first-place Coquitlam Express.

The Express (16-7-1-0) beat the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 3-2 Saturday in Port Alberni to move two points up on Prince George atop the BCHL Coastal East Division standings.

Langley was scheduled to host the Chilliwack Chiefs on Sunday but that game has been postponed due to flooding in the Chilliwack region.

Friday’s game

The Spruce Kings left it to the last tenth of a second, but Marcus Lougheed beat the buzzer off a faceoff in the final minute of the third period for the game-winning goal in a 4-3 victory over the Coquitlam Express on Friday night.

Ben Vreugdenhil won the puck forward, and Lougheed snapped it upstairs into the net to send the Spruce Kings off the bench just as the buzzer sounded.

It went to video review but the officials deemed it a good goal.

That extended the Spruce Kings’ winning streak to five games as they improved their BCHL Coastal East Division record to 15-9-1-0. They’re now tied in points with the first-place Express (15-7-1-0), who hold two games in hand

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Pair of Kings to play for BCHL Team World at all-star game TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

LANGLEY RIVERMEN/FACEBOOK PHOTO

Former Spruce Kings goalie Dylan Johnson hits the ice with the Rivermen as the Prince George Spruce Kings warm up behind him on Saturday, Dec. 13 in Langley.

over Prince George.

The Express pulled the trigger on the Teddy Bear Toss when they scored the opening goal 13:46 in as Georgios Stavrianeas hammered a one-timer past goalie Ryder Green on an Express power play.

The Spruce Kings responded at 17:20 when Trent LeDrew’s blocked shot was tracked down by River Arnason, who sent the puck on goal for Carter Hesselgrave, who pushed it towards netminder Ryan Parker. Parker thought the puck was in his possession, but it was actually loose and Hesselgrave poked it over the line to tie the game.

The Express responded just 36 seconds later when Shaenen Long forced a Spruce King off the puck and sent it to Cole Bieksa, who beat Green for a 2-1 lead.

Prince George was lucky in the middle frame to escape a couple of messy sequences in the defensive zone, and

at 17:16, Michael Denney and Jackson Froysland worked the puck into a 3-on-2 opportunity. As Denney found Froysland over the blueline, he spotted Ryan Wachtel entering as the third man and found him with the pass. Wachtel made no mistake to the top corner to tie the game at two.

At the end of a major penalty to Tai Ushio, Evan Bellamy found Mason Loewen in the neutral zone, and Arnason, who was serving the penalty joined the odd-man rush and beat Parker with a one-timer to give the Spruce Kings a 3-2 lead.

Coquitlam responded just under a minute later as Carson Lesiuk poked a loose puck home as this game looked destined for overtime.

The Spruce Kings will be back on home ice at Kopar Memorial Arena Friday, Dec. 19 and Saturday, Dec. 20 when they host the Coastal West Division-leading Cowichan Valley Capitals.

The Prince George Spruce Kings have always cheered for Canada, but a global shift is coming and they will switch allegiances next month at the BC Hockey League all-star game in Spruce Grove, Alta.

That’s because two Spruce Kings — right wing Tai Ushio and defenceman Ozbej Rep — have been named to the Team World roster for the game against Team Canada, Jan. 17.

Ushio will wear the ‘C’ for the Team World, a selection of players from the United States, Europe and Asia currently playing for BCHL teams.

Ushio, 20, currently leads the Spruce Kings in scoring with 14 goals and 31 points in 20 games and is seventh in the BCHL scoring race. He had two goals and four assists this past weekend in a pair of wins over the Victoria Grizzlies at Kopar Memorial Arena. Ushio scored the gamewinner in Friday’s 5-4 victory.

The native of Hokkaido, Japan, committed to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks beginning next year and is averaging 1.55 points per games, second only to former Spruce King linemate, Kazumo Sasaki. Sasaki had 31 points in 17 games (1.71 points per game) when he left the Kings three weeks ago to join the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. Rep, a 20-year-old native of Jesenice, Slovenia, has four goals and 23 assists for 27 points in 24 games in his first season in the BCHL. He’s among six defencemen named to the World team on Tuesday.

No Spruce Kings were selected for Team Canada.

The league announced that Langley Rivermen 20-year-old forward Aaron Reierson, picked for Team World as an alternate captain, left the Riverman to join the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves last week.

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

SPORTS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

Two Cougars chasing Team Canada spots in Ontario TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

Josh Ravensbergen and Carson Carels said their goodbyes to their Cougars teammates and are off to Ontario to the world junior camp.

They won’t be seeing their friends in Prince George for at least another three weeks, they hope.

If all goes according to plan, Ravensbergen and Carels will suit up for Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship starting Dec. 26 in Minneapolis-St. Paul., Minn.

Ravensbergen is one of three goaltenders invited to the camp, which gets underway with the first practice sessions Saturday in Niagara Falls.

Just two goalies make the team.

Ravensbergen, 19, is in his final year of world junior eligibility and will do what he can to upstage the incumbents, Jack Ivankovic and Carter George. Both were part of the Canadian team that finished fifth at last year’s world junior tournament.

“It was real exciting when I got the call, it was something I thought a lot about in the summer and I worked really hard for this opportunity, so I’m excited to go and see what I can do and try to have fun doing it,” said Ravensbergen.

“I think pretty much know everybody there, which is good going into this. I’m excited to see everybody again, I think it’ll be a lot of fun there and I’ll try to put my best foot forward. I’ll just go and try to be the best goalie there and have fun with it.”

Ravensbergen played five games for Canada White in the six-team World Junior Summer Showcase July 29-Aug. 2 in Minnesota and put up the best numbers. Of the four Canadian goalies — Ivankovic, George and Evan Gardner — Ravensbergen had the stingiest goalsagainst average (2.84) and the highest save percentage (.899).

Picked 30th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2025 NHL draft, Ravensbergen has been on top of his game for weeks now. He was the WHL’s goaltender of the month for November and

CITIZEN PHOTO BY TED CLARKE

Prince George Cougars goalie Josh Ravensbergen and defenceman Carson Carels pose for a photo before they left for Canada’s world junior team camp on Friday, Dec. 12.

currently sports a league-leading 16-6 record with two shutouts. His 2.50 GAA ranks second in the WHL and his .921 save rate is third-best.

“I’m a year older and I know what to expect this year and I had a good off-season and worked on some things and improved and it’s all come together,” he said. “The guys have been playing really well in front of me and that’s a big factor as well and it’s been a lot of fun this year.”

Canada will finalize its roster at the conclusion of camp on Monday, Dec. 22.

Ravensbergen, who hails from North Vancouver, said his parents, Ken and Charlene, and his brother plan to be in Minnesota if he makes the cut.

Carels is among a group of nine defenceman battling for eight positions on Canada’s blueline at the 10-day camp. He and d-man Keaton Verhoeff are both 17, are the only underagers among the 27 invited players.

“It wasn’t really on my bucket list this year for sure but I’m excited, everyone dreams of it and I’m going there to make the team so we’ll see what happens,” said Carels.

“It’s a 19-year-old tournament but age doesn’t really matter when you’re in that tournament. You’re going there to help the team win and that’s what I’ll try to do.”

Carels played this year in the U18 world championship and the Hlinka

Gretzky tournament so he knows what to expect playing in an international event against the best of his age group peers.

Carels is from Cypress River, Man., near Brandon, and if he makes the team he’ll likely see his parents, Ryan

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and Stacey, and a group of family and friends who are willing to make the seven-hour drive from Manitoba to the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

“It’s not far at all, it’s closer to there than coming up here, so we’ll see how many people come if I do make it,” Carels said.

Carels is not surprised his good buddy Ravensbergen will be with him at the world junior camp.

“Berg has been our rock this season,” he said. “He’s stolen us a few wins and in a competition like that you need a goalie who can do that.”

The Cougars, with two, and Brampton Bulldogs (OHL), with three, are the only teams with more than one player invited to Canada’s camp. The Cougars were close to having a third with right winger Terik Parascak also receiving serious consideration from Hockey Canada.

Canada’s tournament opener on Boxing Day is in Minneapolis against Czechia.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

SPORTS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Otway to host International Biathlon Union competition March event combines regional races with Western Canadian/BC championships

KELLY BERGMAN PHOTO

Seunghee Han of Korea lines up her shot on the Otway Nordic Centre biathlon range. Han finished third in the women’s sitting 10-km biathlon race at the Para Nordic World Cup Finals in March 2024.

TED CLARKE Citizen Staff

After suffering the shock of losing the right to host the Nordiq Canada Olympic Trials races for cross-country skiing due to a lack of snow, the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club announced Thursday, Dec. 11 that Prince George has been selected to host an international biathlon competition in March.

The four-day event, set for March 3-6 at Otway Nordic Centre, will be a combined International Biathlon Union (IBU) regional (Continental Cup) event that will also serve as the Western Canadian and BC provincial biathlon championships.

Between 200 and 250 athletes, with the potential for as many as 300, will be coming to the city for the races. The event, which will include athletes from the United States and other countries, is expected to provide a million-dollar boost to the local economy through accommodation, food services, transportation, retail, and tourism-related activity.

That would outstrip the $770,000

lost economic impact of the Olympic Trials, a four-day event that would have started this Saturday and ended on Tuesday.

The Caledonia club learned on Nov. 27 that the Olympic Trials races would be moved to Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre near Vernon. At the time there was very little snow at Otway and temperatures were not cold enough to utilize the club’s snowmaking equipment, spoiling months of planning, sponsorship opportunities and the involvement of Caledonia’s volunteer force.

Club volunteers and funding partners already in place for Olympic Trials have indicated they will support the IBU/ Western Canadian/provincial races.

“We are incredibly humbled by the response from our partners,” said Kevin Pettersen, past event chair of the 2026 Nordiq Canada Olympic Trials.

“When we began discussions about the cancellation, we shared that we were already preparing to host a major international biathlon event in March. What happened next was truly remarkable. Our funding partners and

presenting sponsor Canadian Tire Prince George enthusiastically agreed to redirect their support to this event.

This overwhelming show of confidence in our club and our community has transformed our disappointment into renewed determination and excitement.”

The Government of BC, Tourism Prince George, Northern Development Initiative Trust and Canadian Tire Prince George, the presenting sponsor, have all agreed to redirect their Olympic Trials support to the March event.

The club is awaiting word from two other major sponsors on whether they will be involved.

“When we committed to supporting the Olympic Trials, we were investing in Prince George, in our athletes, and in the future of sport in our community,” said Selen Alpay, Canadian Tire Prince George associate dealer. “That commitment hasn’t changed just because the event has.

“This biathlon championship represents an incredible opportunity to showcase our community on an

international stage, support world-class athletes, and create lasting economic and social benefits for Prince George.

We’re proud to stand with Caledonia Nordic Ski Club and continue our role as presenting sponsor for this exciting event.”

The event will be open to athletes starting as young as 11, through to youth, junior, senior and masters competitors and it will include the top provincial team athletes from across Canada.

Biathlon Canada will be sending senior national and Next-Gen team members as well as youth/junior national team athletes. Former World Cup and IBU Cup athletes are also expected.

That will give local biathletes from the north-central Interior a chance to compete on the trails where many of them learned how to race.

The host club will livestream the event and provide an in-stadium video screen wall to enhance the race experience for spectators The International Biathlon Union has shown renewed commitment to developing North American sites as host cities of international events and the exposure of the March event and the community support it will generate will highlight what Prince George has to offer. That could lead to larger-scale races in future years coming to the city such as IBU World Cup events, Youth/ Junior World Championships and Para Biathlon World Championships.

“Few communities in Canada have the venue readiness, organizational capacity, and proven event-hosting expertise that Prince George does,” said Pettersen.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to showcase that capacity to the IBU and Biathlon Canada. While we were deeply saddened by the loss of the Olympic Trials, we are now energized by what lies ahead. Our volunteers, our sponsors, and our athletes are fully committed to making this event a signature success for Prince George”

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

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13 Play dough?

16 Observe 17 Concepts 18 Sailor 19 Peevish fit 20 Hardy lass 21 Winner’s gesture

23 Seaboard 25 Sneaky laughs 26 Mediocre 27 Actress Gasteyer 28 Flinch, say 30 Gratuity 33 Work week start, for

many 36 Some Algonquians 37 Smidgens 38 Where the action is 39 Family 40 Chang’s brother 41 Solo in space

DOWN 1 Trailblazer Daniel 2 High hairstyle 3 Giving form to 4 Uganda neighbor 5 Things 6 Nitwit 7 Loafer, for one

8 Apartment sign 9 City on the Loire 10 Apt. divisions 12 Breadmaking need 14 Norse god 15 Decade parts (Abbr.)

19 Serena, to Venus 20 Eastern “way”

21 Snake poison 22 “The Woman in Me” singer Twain 23 Couturier Chanel 24 African bird 25 Scene stealer 26 “The Metamorphosis”

protagonist 28 Asian noodles 29 Gawking at 30 Giant 31 -- uproar 32 Film ratings 34 Challenge 35 The Big Easy

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

41

Life Events Cy Fortin

Harry Dennis Backlin

March 29, 1929 - December 2, 2025 Backlin, Harry Dennis passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, with his loved ones by his side.

During his more than 50 years in Prince George, Harry became one of the most recognized realtors in British Columbia and across Canada.

Although his business card stated Harry Backlin, BA, LLB—Commercial Realtor—he was known for so much more. Everywhere Harry went, he left a lasting impression. His vibrant personality, quick wit, and sharp mind made him bold, memorable, and endlessly entertaining.

Harry was deeply committed to both his personal life and the career he loved. His contributions to the growth and development of Prince George are still enjoyed by residents today, and his impact will continue to be felt for generations. He will be forever cherished by the many thousands of people whose lives he touched.

Over his remarkable 96 years, Harry lived through three generations, gathering countless stories that the community still shares—stories that often bring a smile, if not laughter. This is because Harry Backlin was truly no ordinary man.

At Harry’s request, no service will be held. He wished to be remembered as he was—through moments of joy, smiles, and laughter.

Lois Evelyn DeBin

February 1936 - November 2025

Fortin It is with greatCy sadness that we are sharing news ofFebruary the passing Lois- Evelyn DeBin. She was born 23, of 1939 October 13, 2025 in Saskatchewan Feb 1936. She moved to Prince George in 1959, where she met and married the love of her life, Louis. They had a wonderful life together, spending time with friends and family whenever possible.

An avid sewer, quilter, and knitter, she loved to share her creations. Her quilts, scrubbies, and bags were handed out to friends, family, and many others who she became acquainted with in her everyday interactions.

Lois is survived by her daughter Jan-Marie (Russell) Penner and her son Randy De Bin, Debi McGillivray, 3 granddaughters, 3 grandsons, 5 great grandsons, 1 great granddaughter, a huge extended family, and many friends. She was Lois, Mom, Grandma, Nana, Auntie, Great-Aunt, and Great-Great-Aunt.

Mom fell ill suddenly and passed peacefully on Nov. 15th. Many thanks to the Chase paramedics and the emergency staff at RIH in Kamloops. Your gentle care and respect was much appreciated.

We would also like to thank Dr. Fredeen and the staff in his office, and Dr. Hunter, for the many years of care she received from them.

A celebration of life will take place in the spring.

Honouring

those who have touched our lives email: frontdesk@pgcitizen.ca or call 250.562.2441

Scan here to view View local Obituaries online

Geoffrey Clarke February 23, 1939 -Graham October 13, 2025 November 26, 1963 - November 12, 2025 With deep sorrow, Geoff’s family announces his passing in Prince George, BC, on November 12, 2025, after a brief illness.

Geoff leaves to mourn his loving wife of over 39 years, Randi, his adored sons, Jason and Thomas with Thomas’s wife Kenzie, as well as brother Cameron Clarke (Janice), and sisters Robyn Fowler (Chris) and Allison Clarke-Hubner (David). Nieces Ainslie and Beth Fowler, nephew Tobin Hubner, and nieces Amelia Hubner, and Nadia Clarke share in this loss. Geoff is also survived by his stepmother Tove Clarke and is predeceased by his father, Charles Robert Clarke and mother, Hazel Violet Ellen Clarke. Many dear, long-time friends in Geoff’s hometown of North Vancouver as well as more recent friends in Prince Geoge and elsewhere feel this loss terribly.

A mechanical engineer (UBC 1990), Geoff spent many years in North Vancouver, designing and testing steering systems for ships. This work took him to many places in the world. Since 2006, Geoff was an Industrial Technology Advisor for the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program in the Prince George region.

Geoff earned an MBA to facilitate more adept handling of the business side of entrepreneurial clients’ projects.

Geoff’s engineering proclivities carried over to projects at home and at the family cabin. He was never happier than when he was rebuilding his 1975 TR6, or an old canoe, a decrepit family sailboat, a beautiful cabin deck, or laying water pipes, building a raft, rebuilding an outhouse— the list of projects is endless. His meticulously organized home workshop was a project in and of itself! In most of these endeavours Geoff had either his sons Jason and Thomas or his friends, especially Chris Gilmour, working alongside (or taking orders!). An exacting technician, Geoff was also a fun-loving, musical, caring person, who wore his heart on his sleeve. His interests ranged widely to include fishing, camping, reading history and poetry. Geoff was a true Renaissance spirit who loved his family beyond measure. Celebration of Life TBA at a later date. Rest in peace dear Geoff.

Feb

42

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

LIFE EVENTS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Feb

Albino Astorino

William (Bill) Thomas Price

Avis Cassidy

January 10, 1936 – November 30, 2025

December 9, 1932 - November 10, 2025

September 25, 1927 - November 29, 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Albino Astorino, aged 89, on November 30, 2025.

William (Bill) Thomas Price was born on December 9, 1932, in Houston, BC, and passed away peacefully at the Prince George Hospice, with family by his side, on November 10, 2025.

Bill grew up on the family farm in Houston, where they raised cattle and sawmilled lumber. From an early age he developed a strong work ethic and a keen business sense. He later struck out on his own with a dozer, skidding trees and building roads. In Cy Fortin Smithers he met the love of his life, Helmy, who February 23, 1939 October 13, 2025 started worked at the Royal- Bank.

They married, their family, and together built a life based on hard work and mutual support.

Through honesty, integrity, and perseverance, Bill grew his business into a successful highway construction company, becoming a general contractor on major projects across the province.

From a very young age, his older son Jack was by his side, working and learning the business, and later his younger son Dean also became involved. Bill was equally proud of his four daughters, who became hardworking and successful, shaped by the example set by their parents.

He enjoyed family trips, international travel with Helmy, and later pursued his passion for flying— earning his private pilot’s licence, building an airstrip and hangar at their Mud River farm, and owning several airplanes. He loved flying to the Norman Lake cabin and landing on the ice in winter. When not flying, he enjoyed growing hay, plowing fields, and tinkering with engines and old trucks on the Mud River farm he and Helmy shared.

It is with deeply saddened hearts that the Cy Fortin family of Avis Cassidy announce her passing.

February 23, 1939 - October 13, 2025 Avis passed away peacefully on November 29th, 2025 at the age of 98. She is survived and greatly missed by her daughter Shirley Vhal, granddaughters Melody (Dan) Kidd and Shay Vhal, great granddaughters Latika Kidd, McKenna Kidd and Cordelia Vhal, sister Faith Horning, niece Deryl (Earl) Henderson and many other nieces, nephews and friends. As per Avis’ request, there will be no service.

Albino was born on January 10, 1936, in Lupia, Scigliano, a small town located in the province of Cosenza, Italy. He was predeceased by his parents, Antonio and Filomena, his brothers Carmelo, Giuseppe, Francesco, Mario, Domenico, Emilio, his sisters Maria, Giuditta, Sandrina, and many other relatives.

Albino was the second youngest of 11 children and immigrated to Canada when he was nineteen years old. He worked for CN, lumber mills, in paving, and finally as a locomotive mechanic where he finally retired.

Albino was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and will be remembered for his generosity, kindness, devotion to his family, enduring strength, and his work ethic. Albino enjoyed his garden, loved his family and friends, and volunteered in his community.

Albino will be deeply missed by his loving wife of 62 years, Algidia Astorino, his children, Johnny (Loredana) Astorino, Roger Astorino, Michael (Natasha) Astorino and his cherished grandchildren Lucas, Matteo, and Alessio Astorino. He is survived by his brother Raimondo and sister-in-law Esterina Astorino, sister-in-law Elfida Astorino, and many nephews, nieces, all other relatives, and many friends. Albino will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

His greatest joy was his family, and his love will continue to live through them.

Prayers were held at Sacred Heart Church, which is located at 887 Patricia Blvd, Prince George, BC, on December 7, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Mass took place at the same venue on December 8, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. Entombment followed at Memorial Park Cemetery, which is located at 3300 Memorial Park Lane.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Diabetes Canada, and The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, in memory of Albino Astorino.

To send a personal condolence, please visit www.assmansfuneralchapel.com

Bill was predeceased by his parents Jack and Claudia, brothers Ron and Cliff, sister Gloria, and grandson David. He is survived by his beloved wife Helmy, his wife of 68 years; children Bev (Mike), Cheryl (Duaine), Julie, Linda (Richard), Jack (Terina), and Dean (Lauren); sisters Nancy and Mavis; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be planned for a later date in the spring. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all who knew him.

Honouring

those who have touched our lives email: frontdesk@pgcitizen.ca or call 250.562.2441

Harold Jonas Sandberg

February 5, 1938 - December 6, 2025 It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Harold Jonas Sandberg on December 6, 2025, at age 87. Harold will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 64 years, Ruby Sandberg; his children Joanne Burgess (Jeff), Annette Altoft, Jacqui Lloy, Harold Sandberg (Sara), and Jeffery Sandberg (Tania); his cherished grandchildren Justin, Nicole (Ryan), Mitchell, Lynden, and Brieah; and many beloved relatives. He was predeceased by his grandson Carlos (Tito). Harold will also be deeply missed by friends, colleagues, and his spiritual family of Jehovah’s Witnesses; especially in his home congregation West Hart where he served as an elder for many years Born in Thicket Portage, MB, Harold worked as a trainman with the railway from age 16 until his retirement in 2003. His life was marked by faith, family, and generosity.

A memorial service honouring Harold’s life and faith will be held Saturday, January 17, at 11:00 a.m. at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 6720 Dagg Rd, Prince George, BC. A gathering to share memories and honour Harold’s life will follow from 1–3 p.m. at the Prince George Conference & Civic Centre, 808 Canada Games Way

Feb

LIFE EVENTS

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Edward (Ed) Orser

December 13, 1948 - December 4, 2025

Linda Jane Sawicky

Ed was born in Kelowna, BC, and spent nearly his entire life in Prince George. He loved sharing stories about his childhood in Willow River and his years in Prince George with his brothers and sister.

Ed dedicated 35 years to his trade as a heavy duty locomotive mechanic at BC Rail.

He was a devoted husband to his wife, Carleen, with whom he shared 43 wonderful years.

Together, they raised their son, Dan, and created countless cherished memories camping with family and friends. Ed and Carleen also enjoyed traveling to Mexico and Vancouver Island .

Ed will be deeply missed by his wife Carleen; his son Dan (Alex); and his beloved grandchildren, Morgan and Averie. He is also survived by his brothers Howard (Shelagh) and Sheldon (Emma), his sister Linda (John), and his nephews Clayton (Carla) and Sean (Kayla). His great-nephews and niece, along with many friends, will remember him fondly.

Thank you to the staff at UHNBC and Hospice House for their exceptional care and compassion.

A memorial service will be held for Ed at College Heights Baptist Church 5401 Moriarty Cres.,

It is with profound sadness that I announce the passing of my wife of 56 years and the mother of Craig and Jennifer Sawicky. After suffering the ravages of Lyme disease for 20 years, as well as cancer and recent strokes, Linda succumbed on December 13, 2025 at home with her family at her side.

She was my coach and mentor, my moral compass, and my best friend. She was a cheerleader for her children, and she will be sorely missed by her family.

We are fortunate to have wonderful, life-long memories of our travels as a family. As a couple we traveled extensively on trips that were meticulously planned and organized by Linda.

She was grateful for all the friends and acquaintances she had and in the latter years eagerly corresponded with all through her I-pad. She did not seek attention in life and took pride in helping her children become wonderful adults. In life, she was very uncomfortable with funerals, and requested that her friends be notified of her passing and wished to be remembered individually by her friends after her passing.

She was a great supporter of diabetic research and of the Palliative Care Society.

Linda requested cremation and hoped that some of her ashes might be spread in Africa, her favourite destination.

She specifically wanted us to thank all of the wonderful nurses and care-aids in Prince George that worked in Home Care and who worked privately. She considered them all friends. Our family is grateful for the kind and compassionate care that was provided to Linda and to us.

Prince George on Jan 3 at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the charity of your choice in memory of Ed.

Honouring

those who have touched our lives email: frontdesk@pgcitizen.ca or call 250.562.2441

View local Obituaries Scan here to view online

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

43

Marie Helene Juliette Assman (née Poulin) April 6, 1934 - November 26, 2025

Julie, as sheCy wasFortin known to all who loved her, February 23, 1939 - October 13, 202526, 2025, passed away peacefully on November at the age of 91. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 65 years, Herb Assman, on November 21, 2024.

Born on April 6, 1934, in Leoville, Saskatchewan, Julie was one of ten children born to Arthur and Gabrielle Poulin. In her early twenties, she moved to Prince George, where she met the love of her life, Herb. They married in 1960, and together they built a life centred around family. Julie embraced life with gratitude and joy; she was the steady heart of our family and supported Dad through many adventures and a successful business. She cherished her children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, and her many siblings, nieces, and nephews and countless friends. With a spirit that saw the glass as always full, she taught us patience, kindness, strength, and most of all love.

Julie is lovingly remembered by her children: daughters, Beverly Assman (Michael Noonan) and Judy Neiser (Richard George), and her son, John Assman (Maureen); her grandchildren Michael (Angie) Neiser, Steven Neiser, Jennifer Neiser; Kenedy (Melissa) Assman, Bowen Assman, and Benett Assman; and her great-grandchildren, Hudson, Weston, Gracen, and Shea. She is also survived by her sisters Muriel Leblanc and Jeannine Albach; brother-in-law, Ken Kania; and sister-in-law, Donna McBurney (Terry). Julie was predeceased by her son-in-law Cal Neiser; her grandson Sean Noonan; her brothers, Candide, Laurier, Lionel, and Philip; and sisters Carmel Seierstad (Frechette), Alice Bourassa, and Louise Kania; along with her parents. She was also predeceased by members of Herb’s family who she was very close to: his parents, John and Kate Assman, and her sister-in-law Mary Jane Assman.

At this time, the family has chosen to honour our mother’s memory privately. To those who knew her, we invite you to raise a toast in her honour and remember her warmth, gentle humour, kindness, and generous spirit.

Mom, we miss you dearly. We smile knowing you, Dad, and those who went before you are together again in eternity.

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” David Viscott Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.springfieldfuneralhome.com.

Feb

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

Classifieds NAME CHANGE NOTICE

BigSteelBox Corporation located at 5495 Hartway Dr, Prince George, BC. claims a PPSA Lien against Mary Ann Carter of Prince George, BC, for arrears of container rent amounting to $1,684.48, plus any additional costs of storage that accrue. If not paid in full, the contents of the storage container filled with what we believe to be household items, boxes, and other miscellaneous items, will be sold via online auction, on Ibid4Storage.com on December 18, 2025.

I, Karamjit Kaur Janjua W/o Sarabjit Singh Khatra R/o 2994 Ospika Blvd. S. Prince George, BC, V2N 2M1, have changed my name Karamjit Kaur Janjua to Karamjit Kaur Khatra.

FOR SALE

TO d O H P A ADDost your a to bo

IN THE MATTER OF THE BANKRUPTCY OF ROGER THOMAS STYLER NOTICE is hereby given that Roger Thomas Styler filed an Assignment in Bankruptcy on December 5, 2025, and that John S. Beverley & Associates Inc. was appointed as Trustee. The first meeting of creditors will be held on the 24th day of December, 2025 at the hour of 10:00 o’clock in the morning, at the office of the Trustee, 1240 5th Avenue, in the city of Prince George, in the Province of British Columbia.

Dated at Prince George, BC this 8th day of December, 2025.

Call 250.562.2441 to place your Classified Ad

BUSINESS DIRECTORY GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Call 250.562.2441 to book your space now.

BUYING CASH FOR GOLD & SILVER Coins, jewelry, nuggets, bullion sterling, etc.

Also buying entire COIN COLLECTIONS Todd 250-864-3521

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Booking deadline: Friday noon Approval deadline: Monday at noon

frontdesk@pgcitizen.ca 250.562.2441

NOTICE TO REMOVE PRIVATE LAND FROM WOODLOT LICENCE W0298 Please be advised that Number 146 Holdings Ltd. is proposing to remove private lands from Woodlot Licence 298: N1/2, DISTRICT LOT 947, CARIBOO DISTRICT; and SE 1/4 and NE 1/4, DISTRICT LOT 941, CARIBOO DISTRICT. The total area of the private lands is 249.5 ha. The subject lands are located in the vicinity north of Hwy 16W and Cluculz Lake, adjacent to Finmore Road and Young Road.

Inquiries/comments to this proposal must be submitted to: S.M. Forrest and Assoc. Ltd. 2113 Ogilvie St. S., Unit 201, Prince George, BC, V2N 1X2 by: January 20, 2026 Only written inquiries received by the above date will be responded to.

Information about this proposal can be obtained by contacting; Scott Forrest: sforrest@netbistro.com tel: 250-961-4880 NOTICE TO REMOVE PRIVATE LAND FROM WOODLOT LICENCE W1199 Please be advised that Number 167 Holdings Ltd. is proposing to remove private lands from Woodlot Licence 1199: NW ¼, SW ¼, and SE ¼ of DL 7708 CARIBOO DISTRICT. The total area of the private lands is 194.1 ha. The subject lands are located in the vicinity east of Hwy 97N and south of the Salmon River along Kinney Road.

Inquiries/comments to this proposal must be submitted to: S.M. Forrest and Assoc. Ltd. 2113 Ogilvie St. S., Unit 201, Prince George, BC, V2N 1X2 by: January 20, 2026 Only written inquiries received by the above date will be responded to.

Information about this proposal can be obtained by contacting; Scott Forrest: sforrest@netbistro.com tel: 250-961-4880

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER

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PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

* On Dec. 29, 1609 or 1610, Count Gyorgy Thurzo • On Nov. 11, made 1831, an Natinvestigative Turner, an visit ordered byand King Matthias to American slave educated minister who believed that been and chosen by Csejthe Castle in he’d Hungary made God to lead discovery: his people Countess into freedom, a horrifying was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, Elizabeth Bathory overseeing the for leading a revolt withAlready 75 followers torture of young girls. known through Southampton County, killing for her abuse and murder of servants

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 ARIES (March 2130 tonewspapers, April 19) Ansayold ing that “The Army says he [Calley] adversary wants to make amends over deliberately at least 109 is the Christmasmurdered holiday. The decision Vietnamese civilians during a searchyours.

But wouldn’t it be nice to share and-destroy mission in March 1968, the upcoming year with another in a Viet Congnew stronghold known as friend?

‘Pinkville.’”

• On Nov. 13, 1979, Philadelphia TAURUS (April 20 toDawkins May 20)leaped As news 76ers center Darryl over Kansas forward of your work City gets Kings around, expectBill to Robinzine for a memorable slamfrom dunk receive a special holiday “gift” that shattered the who fiberglass influential contacts could backhelp you board.

His equally memorable launch your new projects in thecomnew ment on the move, which was not his year. last and the sound of which spectators likened to a bomb going off: “It wasn’t GEMINI (Maything 21 to 20)itInstead really a safe toJune do, but was a of fussing over what didn’t do to Darryl Dawkins thing you to do.” prepare for the relax Frank and • On Nov. 14,holidays, 1882, outlaw “Buckskin” Lesliefor shot andtruly killedwell Bilenjoy the kudos a job ly “The Claiborne, hadyou pub-early done.

A Kid” happy surprise who awaits licly year. challenged him, in Tombstone, next 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 Bolsheviks went on to become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. © 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

45

and peasants, her title and high-ranking relatives had previously given her impunity, but her atrocities eventually led to her being cited as one of history’s first vampires.

to stop outsourcing work to nonunion plants and to establish a fair minimum wage scale, a grievance system and a set of procedures to help protect assembly-line workers from injury.

rogue waves recounted by sailors for centuries were finally proved when a freak 85-foot-high wave was measured hitting the Draupner oil platform off the coast of Norway.

On Dec. 30, 1936, autoworkers occupied the General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan, in one of America’s first sit-down strikes, which lasted 44 days. Their aim: to win recognition of the United Auto Workers as the only bargaining agent for GM’s employees.

An additional goal was for the company

On Dec. 31, 1879, inventor Thomas Edison delighted onlookers with the first public demonstration of his incandescent lightbulb in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company even ran special trains to the city for the event.

On Jan. 2, 2006, an explosion in the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia, trapped 13 coal miners. Tragically, all but one eventually succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. The cave-in launched scrutiny and criticism of the media, the company that owned the mine and then-president George W. Bush’s administration.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) The best way to shake off lingering holiday blues is to join loved ones in the fun and festivities of this special time.

A confusing situation starts to make sense in upcoming weeks.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Be assured that your efforts to make this holiday special for everyone won’t go unnoticed by those who could make some important changes in your life.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Special emotional rewards mark this holiday time for LEOs and LEOnas who are able to open up to new relationships and the possibilities they offer in the upcoming year.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Your efforts to make the holidays especially memorable for some people will be rewarded in some unexpected (but very welcome) ways in the upcoming year.

On Jan. 1, 1995, the tales of giant

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Lots of folks want you to light up their holiday parties. But try to take some quiet time ‘twixt those glittering galas to spend with some very special people.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) While the current round of holiday revels has your social life on the fast track, someone special might want to keep pace with you next year as well.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Enjoy all the fun you deserve at this holiday time. However, don’t lose sight of the need to check out some of the changes the new year is expected to bring.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) What happens during this holiday time can help clear up some of the confusion jeopardizing a once-stable relationship. Follow your instincts on what to do next.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your holidays are brightened by new friends eager to become part of your life. But don’t forget to spend time with that one special person. (You know who.)

46

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Homes & Living

Add automatic timers to your Christmas lights for convenience Adding timers to your Christmas lights is a simple upgrade that can make your holiday decorating safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable.

Timers take the guesswork out of turning lights on and off each day, ensuring your displays shine brightly when you want them to and shut down automatically when you don’t. Whether you decorate indoors, outdoors, or both, using timers can help reduce energy costs, extend the life of your lights, and add convenience to your holiday routine.

One of the biggest advantages of using timers is energy savings.

Leaving lights on overnight or during daylight hours wastes electricity, especially if you use multiple strands or large outdoor displays. A timer

allows you to schedule your lights to come on at dusk and turn off before bedtime, providing the right amount of illumination without unnecessary usage. Many modern timers even include light sensors that automatically detect darkness, making it even simpler to maintain a perfect holiday glow.

Timers also help protect your lights from overuse. LED lights are longlasting, but traditional incandescent strands can burn out faster if left running constantly. By limiting operating hours, timers reduce wear and tear, helping your decorations last longer season after season. Outdoor timers are particularly helpful, as they ensure lights aren’t exposed to prolonged operation during harsh

winter conditions.

Safety is another important benefit.

Forgetting to turn off lights can cause overheating or increase fire risk, especially with older cords or indoor lights placed near fabrics or holiday décor. Timers eliminate this worry by shutting off your display at the same time every night. For outdoor setups, weatherproof timers provide safe control even in snow, ice, and freezing temperatures.

Installation is usually quick and beginner-friendly. Plug-in mechanical timers work well for indoor trees, garlands, and window lights—just set the dial to your preferred hours.

Digital timers offer more precise scheduling and are great for complex displays. Outdoor timers should

Front Lights 4pm-10:30pm Backyard Lights 4pm-10:30pm Christmas Tree 5pm-11:00pm Porch Lights 6pm-10:00pm

always be rated for exterior use and connected to properly protected outlets.

With timers in place, your Christmas lights become truly effortless: they illuminate your home exactly when you want them to, create a welcoming holiday atmosphere, and help you conserve energy—all while giving you one less thing to worry about during the busy season.

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A division of Home Building Centre

250-562-0365 www.centraldoorandwindow.ca

OR STOP IN AT 1552 S. LYON ST.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Plan ahead for holiday traveling Planning ahead for safe travels over the holidays is one of the best ways to reduce stress and protect yourself and your loved ones during one of the busiest times of year. Whether you are driving across town or traveling long distances, preparation and awareness can make a significant difference in ensuring a smooth journey.

If you are driving, start by checking weather forecasts and road conditions well in advance. Winter travel can bring snow, ice, fog, and reduced visibility, so allowing extra time is essential.

Make sure your vehicle is winter-ready by checking tire tread, tire pressure, windshield wipers, and fluid levels.

Keep an emergency kit in your car that includes blankets, a flashlight, extra gloves, water, snacks, and a phone charger. Clearing snow and ice completely from your windows, mirrors, roof, and lights before leaving is also critical for visibility and safety.

For those traveling by air, train, or bus, booking tickets early and

monitoring travel alerts can help you avoid last-minute disruptions. Pack essentials—such as medications, important documents, and chargers—in your carry-on in case of delays or lost luggage. Arriving early at terminals allows time to navigate crowds, security lines, and potential schedule changes without rushing.

No matter your mode of travel, fatigue is a common holiday hazard. Get adequate rest before departing, take regular breaks on long trips, and share driving duties when possible. Avoid distractions by limiting phone use and setting navigation systems before you leave.

Finally, let someone know your travel plans and expected arrival time, especially if you are driving in winter conditions. Thoughtful planning, patience, and flexibility go a long way in keeping holiday travel safe, comfortable, and enjoyable.

Finding Homes for Families

47

Your Real Estate Needs are my Priority!

& olidays Happy H est for B All The 0 2 26 RE/MAX Core Realty

Karen Thompson

Aggie Thompson

independently owned & operated northernbcproperties.com

250-981-2008

250-612-8326

We’re Always Looking for Listings!

7136 Hillu Rd $698,000 MLS # R3054184

#1204-1501 Queensway 37729 Upper Fraser Rd $113,500 New Price $485,000 MLS # R3039278 MLS # R2931714

D L SO 454 S. Ogilvie St $525,000 MLS # R3054873

Property & Strata Management

596 Harper St $623,000 MLS # R3056863

4118-4122 1st Ave $465,000 MLS # R R3055075

Aspire Realty

1625 – 4th Ave Prince George • 9-5 Monday to Friday

Call to obtain an application and book and appointment to view. 250-596-8150 ext.4 rlpaspirepropertymanagement.ca or email rlpaspirerentals@gmail.com for more info 2938 Hopkins Rd. “The Adalyn” 2 beds 2 baths Starting at $2050 3 beds 2 baths Starting at $2200 Underground parking and Outside Parking- (based on availability) Laundry in unit.

Each office individually owned and operated

1819 13th Ave

2442 Rush Plc Unit B $1350 2 Beds 1 Bath, Laundry, off street parking.

Inc utilities.

2212 Redwood St. $1200 +util 2 bedrooms 1 bath Units 3, 5 & 6

7031 Irene Road $2600 u/incl 3 bds 1 bth Laundry, Upper unit, incl. Gar

#2 1829 Hegert Road

$1300 2 beds 1 bath Util incl. Shared Laundry in Building Off Street parking

309-2478 Upland $1350, 2 Beds 1 Bath, Coin Laundry in building off street parking. Top Floor unit

$2000 +util 3 beds 1.5 bath Laundry in unit off Str parking

851 Harper St. Unit B $1450 p/m 2 Bed 1 Bath Middle Unit shared laundry 751 Tabor Blvd Coin Laundry in Building #201 $1350 2 Beds 1 bath

We have office’s covering areas in Quesnel, Terrace, Burns Lake, Valemount, McBride, Chetwynd and Dawson Creek

1827 13th Ave

$2100 +util 4 beds 1.5 bath Laundry in unit off Street parking

Season’s Greetings and All the Best for 2026!

48

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025

250-562-6228 Mike Hurrell Realtor® P.R.E.C. Managing Broker 250-981-3100 10 yrs MLS Sales Award Winner 2007, 2009-2022

LAND FOR SALE

Matt Petkau Realtor® 250-617-8179

1

LOT B MIWORTH RD., R3029674 $119,900

MLS# R3050510

8487 PETER RD. $289,900 MLS# R3036882

#11-5164 HART HWY $299,900 MLS# R3043869

MLS# R3044388

7788 THOMPSON DR., $580,000 MLS# R2985052

16685 CHIEF LAKE RD $849,900

out .95% FULL SERVICE MLS LISTING* Check full listing SERVICE information FREE FULL AT A at MARKET FAIR PRICE MaxSave.ca EVALUATION ®

*No extra costs, No upfront fees - Full Service MLS Listing at just 1.95% of sale price if Buyer unrepresented OR represented by Listing Realtor Subject to Minimum of $6,495 OR 2.95% if buyer represented by another Realtor subject to minimum of $7,495.

Zaviery Dodd Realtor® 250-649-8097

Grace Purdey Realtor® 250-612-2238

Amit Luthra Realtor® 250-981-9090

D SOLCT IN O

7170 GUELPH PL. $449,900 MLS# R3061187

D SOLCT IN O

#115-4393 COWART RD., $620,000 MLS# C8073032

393 CARNEY ST., $1,100,000

2845 VISTA RIDGE DR.- City Services R3049220 - $159,900

MLS# R3053625

D SOLCT IN O 824 GILLET ST., $359,900

MLS# R3054343

D SOLCT IN O

Joy Paul Realtor® 778-681-8474

MLS# R3054738

D L O S

MLS# R3046873

288 N. NICHOLSON ST., $424,900

PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN

Linda Stacey Property Manager 250-562-6228

Western Properties

***All Lots fully City Serviced, 0% Financing available O.A.C for Licensed Builders, Cash Discounts available.*** Located on Western Rd.

LOT 2 COLUMBIA RD - 4.15 AC R3029704 - $395,000

MLS# R3046088

10315 GLENMARY RD $395,000 MLS# C8068791

D SOL V O IN N

686 DOUGLAS ST., $360,000

7346 BEAR RD $389,900

MLS# C8073664

MLS# R3041191

D SOLEC IN D

2440 - 15TH AVE., $224,900 MLS# R3051667

169 AITKEN CRES $419,000 MLS# R3071827

9147 NORTH KELLY RD. $499,999

SOLD SOLD

SOLD

MLS# R3061922

FOR SALE 42 RESIDENTIAL LOTS 2502 LAURENTIAN PL., $769,900

1917 SPRUCE ST., $659,000

18745 TROUT RD., $740,000

MLS# C8073638

MLS# R3062657

MLS# C8072664

PG Motor Court 867 17TH AVE., $1,350,000

3900 15MILE RD., $1,407,700

4900 W AUSTIN RD $2,499,900

D SOLEC IN D

Lot 1, $219,900 - 1.2 Acres R2837615 Lot 2, $219,900 - 1.13 Acres R2837574 Lot 3, $219,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837575 Lot 4, $219,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837578 Lot 5, $219,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837583 Lot 6, $219,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837586 Lot 7, $199,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837601 Lot 8, $189,900 $174,900 R2837609 Lot 9, $219,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837613 Lot 10, $219,900 - 1.06 Acres R2837615

STARTING AT $250,000

PRE-REGISTER AT www.TynerRidgeEstates.ca