MLA's office reopens for business following Tuesday closure

The lights were off and the doors
locked on Tuesday at North Coast
MLA Jennifer Rice's constituency
office in Prince Rupert

Things appear to be back to usual at the  constituency office for North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice today, with the lights on and doors unlocked to constituents, that after a day long closure on Tuesday.

Residents of the North Coast who may have stopped by the Ocean Centre offices yesterday would have found the  office locked up, with a sign on the door indicating that access to staff would be by appointment only.

However, the status of the office for the day was not relayed through the MLA's social media streams of Facebook and twitter, leaving questions as to why the doors may have been locked to the public.

The Tuesday office closure took place on the same day as local, provincial and nation wide protests were underway following the arrest of fourteen participants of a checkpoint at the Morice  River bridge near Houston.

The checkpoint was in place in response to plans to move forward with pipeline development on Wet'suwet'en territory, a project that while approved by elected members of the Council,  has been rejected by hereditary officials.

The fourteen were arrested following the serving of a court injunction by the RCMP on Monday, that after Coastal GasLink had taken the issue to provincial court in December in Prince George.

As the day of protest took place including a Prince Rupert gathering at the city's RCMP detachment, some of those that were angered by both the arrests and any progress for LNG by the provincial government, took their concerns to the the offices of a number of the NDP government's  MLA's .

To seek some clarification on the Tuesday closure in Prince Rupert, the North Coat Review contacted Ms. Rice's office and received the following reply.

The Community Office is open to the public Tuesday to Friday 9-4 pm. The same office hours have been in effect for the past 5 years (and I believe these are the same public hours held previously under the former MLA) 

The office does close from time to time for various reasons – staff meetings, breaks, leave, sickness, attending meetings held outside of the office and when staff travel to other parts of the North Coast constituency. 

The office was open for appointments only on Tuesday, January 8th. 

 Regular office hours are in effect today. 

 Jennifer Rice


For more items of interest related to the work of North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice see our archive page here.

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Cross posted from the North Coast Review.