Monday, August 31, 2020

Victoria Viewpoints: Monday, August 31, 2020




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for   Monday, August 31, 2020 


Coronavirus response in BC





Globe and Mail



CBC



Vancouver Sun




Victoria Times-Colonist



Victoria News




Global BC


Ottawa Observations: Monday, August 31, 2020




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Monday, August 31, 2020


Canadians held in China / China tensions




The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)


                                                                           
Globe and Mail




CBC
    




Toronto Star



Toronto Sun

 

National Post



Maclean's




Global


Miscellaneous                            
         



Time to slow down social interactions, says Dr. Bonnie Henry as weekend numbers spike to near 300 reported cases of COVID-19


British Columbians are about to bring an end to the summer of 2020 and perhaps that isn't but a moment too soon, as the daily numbers of August continued with their upward trends, this past weekend delivering 194 new cases of COVID-19 making for 1100 active cases and an increase in hospitalizations.

The weekend overview was delivered by Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix this afternoon, with the Public Health Officer for the Province observing that the time is once again here to begin reducing our social interactions, that as a way towards reducing the impact of a potential second wave of the coronavirus and other challenges ahead.

“Today, we are providing case updates for three 24-hour reporting periods. In the first reporting period from August 28 to 29, we had 86 new cases, from August 29 to 30, we had 107 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we have had a further 101 new cases."  

This represents 294 new cases, including three epi-linked cases, since we reported on Friday, for a total of 5,790 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 1,107 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 2,723 people who are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases, and 4,466 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Currently, 28 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, 10 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation."

The cross province break down found additions in all of the Health Authorities across BC this weekend.

1,900 cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 3,042 in the Fraser Health region, 175 in the Island Health region, 440 in the Interior Health region, 154 in the Northern Health region an increase of twelve since Friday.

79 cases of  COVID have been recorded in the province from people people who reside outside of Canada.

“There have been four new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 208 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been no new community outbreaks, although there continue to be community exposure events. The Northern Health region has issued a community alert for the Prespatou region. Anyone who has attended events, services or gatherings in August are asked to monitor themselves for symptoms and contact health teams to get tested should any symptoms develop."

With the August increases of note, Dr. Henry and Minister Dix outlined the approach British Columbians must return to this fall in order to bring down the rising curve of late.

“As we look to the fall, we are entering a new phase of B.C.’s COVID-19 response, and to be successful, we need to step back to allow us to safely move forward. 

The increase in the number of new cases is a concern for all of us. We must to do our part and support public health teams to quickly manage new cases so we can contain the spread of the virus and ensure community spread remains low. 

After many months of restrictions, we all felt the need to reconnect with our family and friends this summer, but now we must slow down on our social interactions and prepare for the respiratory season ahead. 

We need everyone to pay attention and step back from the social interactions we have had this summer, so when the cooler weather and respiratory season arrives, we are ready for the challenge. 

As we go back to our offices, workplaces and schools, we need to get back to the basics with our layers of protection and personal COVID-19 safety measures. This will allow us to protect our most vulnerable during the colder months. 

This means all of us washing our hands regularly, keeping our groups small, giving others the space to stay safe in uncontrolled environments, especially when we are around people we don’t know, wearing masks when needed and always staying home when ill."

You can review the full COVID 19 report for Monday here


The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:


Federal Government site

British Columbia Government site

The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.

More from  Northern Health can be reviewed here 

You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.

Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, the string of statements that came quickly at the end of the week can be reviewed here.

For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee

Ottawa Observations

Victoria Viewpoints 

Connected Coast Project reaches new benchmark, with Request for Proposals issued by CityWest and Regional District of Strathcona

A look at the proposed footprint for the fibre optic project known
as the Connected Coast Project, a partnership between CityWest and
the Strathcona Regional District on Vancouver Island
(Map from Connected Coast Project)


After a fair bit of silence on its progress of late, Prince Rupert based CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District on Vancouver Island have issued a Request for Proposals for the much anticipated Connected Coast Project,  with the two organizations seeking out the services of a contractor towards the ambitious fibre optic communication infrastructure development.

That work will see a fibre optic backbone put in place between Prince Rupert,  to northern and central Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii as well as a network connection to Vancouver.

The RFP was posted to the BC Bid website on Friday afternoon and highlights the key elements of the project, one which will provide for additional fibre optic redundancy for internet users in Prince Rupert and along the CityWest network in Northwest BC.

The addition of a second source for communication services, will serve to ensure that Northwest users will be better protected from potential outages along the current network as was seen earlier this year.

Towards the development of that new fibre optic backbone, CityWest has created a subsidiary company, to be known as CityWest Connected Coast Network Corporation, which will construct and operate its section of the Connected Coast project.


click to enlarge


As part of the project description, CityWest observes that they and Strathcona Regional District are the sponsors of the project, with both the Province of British Columbia and Federal government having indicated their receptivity to offering financial support for the Connected Coast Project, subject to formal application and approval.

As well, both levels of government have requested their support align with the responsibilities of the local governments who are sponsoring the Project.

Interested contractors will be expected to provide four key elements of the services required: 

Final Design

Source and provide all materials required in the Final Design and As Built design

Construction Services

Warranty Services

Click to enlarge

The original RFP was posted on August 14th, with an amended version posted on Friday. 

The deadline for proponents to deliver their bids and express interest is 2PM on September 8th.

You can review the full BC Bid package here.

More on the project can be reviewed here.

We last made note of the project back on July 10th, with a look at some of the consultation that was conducted by Strathcona Regional District towards the project.

Earlier this summer we also provided a thumbnail guide to the progress of the project to early July, the RFP process that is now underway takes the project one step closer towards development.

For more notes related to CityWest see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

When it comes to the City's two Major summer road infrastructure projects; One down, one to go

It's been a summer of infrastructure challenges for the
City of Prince Rupert

Motorists along the McBride/First Avenue roadways can finally make use of all the travel space of the city's roads, that after the City's Public Works Department put the finishing touches on a lengthy bit of infrastructure repair underneath the pavement of the downtown core near the Court House.

The work came to an end late last week with paving the final bit or repair to take place before the roadway was reopened to the public after a period of just under two months.

Before and After work on infrastructure issues below McBride St.

And while the City can celebrate the wrap on that project, as we outlined earlier this month, the other long running repair work at the Intersection of Fulton and Sixth Avenue West seems destined to carry on for a period of time yet.

The intersection work at Fulton and Sixth will continue
on into September and beyond

Over the course of the last few weeks the city has dug up significantly more roadway than it has repaired at the Fulton location, advising the public that the work on that particular infrastructure issue may be a bit more of a long term one.


Those who manage to navigate the off road like course set up around the Fulton intersection however aren't quite out of the woods on their travels. 

Just a few blocks west of that site the road again poses challenges with some suspension testing holes in the road along Summit, those however seem soon to be addressed as the city's summer paving program moves into the home stretch into September.

For more items of note on infrastructure see our archive page here.

Further themes from City Council can be explored through our Council Discussion archive.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.


AltaGas gains regulatory approval for second level of LPG shipments

AltaGas Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal

With the pace of production and shipments at the Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal delivering impressive results to date in 2020, Alberta bases AltaGas has found success with a second request of the Canadian Energy Regulator to export an additional 46,000 barrels per day  of propane out of their Prince Rupert facility.

The initial application to seek the second level of propane shipments was submitted in November of 2019, the process delivering the positive assent on August 21st.



The most recent statistics released by the  Prince Rupert facility indicate that RIPET had shipped an average of 41,000 barrels per day this year, that from their initial export licence with the initial volume more than meeting the parameters in place from their original permit.

As we outlined in June, the success of AltaGas was noted by both the Prince Rupert Port Authority and CN Rail, the latter realizing additional freight movements through the addition of the Propane export facility on the North Coast.

In July, the company released their Second Quarter results and in a year full of challenges for the energy sector, the strong performance of RIPET was included as part of the highlights of the overview for shareholders and would be investors.

"Performance at RIPET remains strong. We continue to deliver on our goals, setting a record in the second quarter with 41,460 Bbls/d of Canadian propane exported to Asia on seven ships. We are pleased with the progress we continue to make at RIPET and we remain on track to hit 50,000 Bbls/d before year-end." -- From the AltaGas Second Quarter Report.

AltaGas won't take advantage of their second export permit just yet, as they await further guidance from the Federal government there has been no timeline announced for the introduction of additional shipments through Ridley Island.

For more notes related to AltaGas in Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Victoria Viewpoints: Saturday/Sunday, August 29/30, 2020




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for   Saturday/Sunday, August 29/30, 2020 


Coronavirus response in BC





Globe and Mail



CBC


Vancouver Sun




Victoria Times-Colonist



Victoria News


Global BC



Georgia Straight

--

The Tyee

--


Vancouver Courier 

--

Miscellaneous


Ottawa Observations: Saturday/Sunday, August 29 & 30, 2020




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Saturday/Sunday, August 29/30, 2020


Canadians held in China / China tensions




The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

                                                                           
Globe and Mail




CBC
    





Toronto Star



Toronto Sun



National Post


Maclean's

--



Global


Miscellaneous                            
         


Nisga'a Valley Health Authority issues notification of suspected COVID-19 exposure in the Nass


A number of health protocols have been put in place for residents in the Nass Valley and for those who may have travelled into the area between August 17th to 28th that after the announcement of a suspected COVID-19 exposure in the region.

The advisory issued on Saturday notes that all attendees of a funeral/feast for a community member  between August 21 and 25th should contact the NVHA  clinic in their area, as well as to notify their respective Village government chief Administrator, as well as to self isolate.


The period in question included the community ceremonies for recently deceased Nisga'a leader Dr. Joseph Gosnell. 

The Nisga'a Lisims Government had already put in place significant travel restrictions through the summer towards keeping the spread of COVID-19 in check in the Nisga'a Nation. 

Officials have added on to those guidelines in the wake of yesterday's advisory.

The full list of important information related to the advisory can be explored here.

More items of interest on the Nisga'a Nation can be explored here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.


Friday, August 28, 2020

Victoria Viewpoints: Friday, August 28, 2020




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for   Friday, August 28, 2020 


Coronavirus response in BC



Globe and Mail


CBC



Vancouver Sun



Victoria Times-Colonist



Victoria News



Global BC


Ottawa Observations: Friday, Saturday, 28, 2020




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Friday, August 28, 2020


Canadians held in China / China tensions




The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)





                                                                           
Globe and Mail




CBC
    


Toronto Star


Toronto Sun






National Post



Maclean's

--



Global



Miscellaneous