Saturday, December 31, 2022

Blog Watching: The Year that was 2022!

YEAR IN REVIEW 2022

For our Blog watching feature for year's end we once again offer up a trio of headings to provide for a glimpse of some of the news highlights of the year soon to end.

Category number one will be the Overall Top story, as determined by the amount views the article received over the course of the last 365 days.

Category Two will feature those stories of note from Prince Rupert City Hall.

Our third category explores some of the key topics of the year from the Business or Industrial footprint in the community.

All of our results have been determined by the viewer count for the stories through the year.

At the bottom of each section you will also find links to additional blog resources to review themes in more detail, listed by the month.

Our Lists of the year, unfold as follows:

Overall top stories

2022 was a year where we exited the Age of Covid-19 for the most part, the virus still circulating but many of the measures in place to take it on were eased or eliminated.  

That easing of the measures, was something which reopened the community to visitors and allowed for more travel away for those who spent the last two years holding fast to the limits that had been put in place.

The year was one of some achievement on the local scene with progress on the new RCMP detachment and a completion for the much delayed Woodworth Dam to name a few, though other areas continue to be a focus of concern for the new council which took office in November. 

A large shadow crossed over the community in late November with a tragic murder at the Ocean Centre, an incident that left many in the region lost for words at the horror that marked the morning of the 21st in Prince Rupert.

It was also another year of significant fires, with more of the downtown core finding empty lots or rubble still be removed as we head into 2023.

The year closing with concerns once again over the city's water supply, something that has been somewhat of a Christmas/New Years theme in recent years. This time around related to the state of the pipes that take the flow under the surface of our streets.


September

Port Edward application for land use occupation sets stage for potential Recreation area near Galloway Rapids


October 

Registration period for Christmas Hamper program begins this Monday
November

Large Police presence at Ocean Centre

December

Finishing touches for Jehovah Witness Hall as new facility prepares for its debut 


See our right hand column feature North Coast Review Backgrounders for links to archives of the year on a range of topics of note for the region.

Also as part of our right hand column options we have a North Coast Review Extra Edition feature which offers more in depth reviews of some of the larger issues of the Northwest this year.

Tracking the year in politics is fairly easy as well from our right hand column listings as well, just check out our archives for both the House of Commons and Legislature for items of note from the North Coast and Northwest in 2022.

Those who have deeper interest in the federal and provincial scene will find our companion blog D'Arcy McGee of interest, where we have archived notes from both Ottawa and Victoria.  

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Municipal government

Infrastructure, housing and a change at the council table made for some of the narratives for 2022, with the ongoing work to rebuild our aging waterlines moving towards an urgent priority now and one that is up against a clock of late.

Housing continued to be a dominant theme for the year, with the lack of available housing a note of concern for politicians, as well as business and industrial leaders in the community.

At City Hall it was a fall for change, with the departure of Mayor Lee Brain and Councillor Blair Mirau, the election of October heralding the return of Herb Pond to the mayor's chair after a departure of his own a decade ago, the only new face for the Council chamber this year comes from Teri Forster, who broke the Boys Club theme of the last few years with her election victory.

The municipal election campaign itself notable not so much for a review of the last four to eight years for the previous council, or how the would be council members for 2022 would address the future. 

But instead, it became an election that was focused on the Scrapping of the Port Tax Cap legislation, that through a petition program introduced as the election period began.  

The topic one that dominated much of the discussion and shaped the narrative in the lead up to Election Day. 

What municipal themes caught the interest of the readers through the year looked as follows:

Most Read -- Municipal Government


January





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 Industry/Retail/Tourism 

As it has for a number of years now, Port development once again dominated much of the year's industrial review, with the container terminal expansion plans and other maritime developments framing much of the discussion this year.

Among some of the other port related items that grabbed attention on the year, the path forward for plans for another terminal on Ridley Island for the Dutch shipping giant VOPAK, Expansion for Trigon Terminals which will move into Hydrogen shipments in the years ahead. Also of note on the year the work on the Wolverine Marine Fuelling terminal, as well as  the completion of the Fairview-Ridley dedicated access route.

The City's own industrial development at Watson Island gained some national recognition, that for its environmental remediation work, however there were few updates towards how the Island is performing financially for the city, or how many new tenants have taken up spots at the Trade and Logistics Terminal lands.

The Tourism Sector saw a significant bounce back from the years of COVID, with the Cruise Industry set for some expansion in the year ahead, that following a new agreement for the Port with a Global Partner to operate the Northland Cruise Terminal and help shape the future for the industry in the region.

CityWest expansion continued forward in 2022 as well, with an expanding footprint for the Prince Rupert based company that now takes it south to Vancouver Island and east as far as Vanderhoof. 

With the expansion came a new Management addition late this year, with former Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain taking on Vice-President duties with the company, that following his departure from civic office in November.

Some of the stories of the year are as follows:

Most Read -- Business/Industry

January

Prince Rupert Port Authority commences with demolition of Northland Seafoods building on waterfront

February

Northern Savings Board of Directors calls for Nominations about to come to end 

March

New Tourism plan features new community signage and Indigenous imprint for Prince Rupert 
December

Lee Brain's parachute comes in Blue and while, as former Mayor is tapped for Vice-President post

For more background on the region's industrial, tourism and commercial sectors see the following:

Industrial Archive

Tourism Archive

To all our readers, we hope you have a very happy and enjoyable New Year's Eve as we all provide our own farewell to an unforgettable twelve months of 2022. 

We offer our wishes for all the Best in 2023. We're looking forward to seeing what stories will be the ones that resonate through the year when we do this all again on December 31st, 2023!


Our archive of weekly Blog Watching for the year now ending can be found here.  

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