Prince Rupert's Amy Dopson introduced as LNG Canada's Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer

One of the major LNG Proponents on the North Coast is tapping a Prince Rupert resident to provide for engagement with First Nations issues related to their proposed LNG development in Kitimat.

LNG Canada, the Shell Oil led consortium with plans for an LNG terminal in the Kitimat area announced the appointment of Prince Rupert's Amy Dopson to their team recently, highlighting the work that Ms. Dopson will engage in as the project moves forward.

In an introduction piece as part of the announcement, Ms. Dopson outlined her ambitions for the new position and how she sees it evolving as part of the process ahead.

“I have continued to live in Prince Rupert because it is so beautiful and I recognize its potential for growth and I want to contribute what I can to enforce positive change. I aspire to see my community thrive once again and offer ample long-term local opportunities. LNG Canada offers that hope and I am proud to be a part of a team that goes above and beyond what’s required to ensure that North Coast communities are a part of the process.” -- Prince Rupert's Amy Dopson, outlining the work ahead with her new position with Kitimat's LNG Canada.

Ms. Dopson is well known on the North Coast through her efforts with Pac 10 Tutoring in Prince Rupert and the number of achievement awards that she has received from the local Chamber of Commerce and other organizations in recent years.

She recently was recognized by BC Business magazine for her work with Pac 10 and pegged as a someone to watch in the future as part of their 30 under 30 celebrations of last year.

Clearly LNG Canada did some research took that advice from BC Business to heart, making Ms. Dopson part of their team as they look to move forward their LNG proposal.

Shell the lead company in the LNG Canada consortium recently made news as part of a massive business merger, with the oil giant purchasing the BG Group in a 70 billion dollar business deal.

You can learn more about Ms. Dopson's duties, as well as those of the rest of the Community engagement team from LNG Canada from this announcement.

We have more on the proposed LNG development in Kitimat available on our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

First Nations and Province complete Marine Plans for North Coast region

A partnership between the Province of British Columbia and 18 coastal First Nations has resulted in the delivery of a Marine management plan for coastal waters, put together under the Marine Planning Partnership known as MaPP.

The process provided for a number of key recommendations for marine management, looking at uses, activities and protection and is designed to provide for informed decision making when it comes to sustainable economic development and stewardship of the marine environment along the coast from Haida Gwaii south to Campbell River on Vancouver Island.

The final marine plans however do not address areas and uses that may fall under Federal jurisdiction, which will remain subject to further consultations with the Federal government.

Still, the four marine plans do represent a lengthy engagement process with stakeholders across the various areas. With much of the material delivered by way of town hall meetings and consultation with marine scientists and those that have the most knowledge of marine issues on the coast.

"Our coast deserves the world's best stewardship! This will take strong leadership. These plans are a reflection of our commitment to work with B.C. and stakeholders to secure a strong future for communities and ecosystems." -- Art Sterritt, Executive Director, Coast First Nations - Great Bear initiative

For his part Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister John Rustad highlighted the collaborative nature of the engagement between the participating groups, as they worked together to deliver the various plans for the region.

 “This collaboration recognizes the important role of coastal First Nations as stewards of the marine environment and as partners in supporting the health of coastal communities. The Marine Planning Partnership has engaged residents and stakeholders from Vancouver Island to Haida Gwaii, and is to the benefit of all British Columbians, now and for future generations.”

You can review each of the plans for the areas of the North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii below:

Central Coast
North Coast
Haida Gwaii

More background on the process involved and the results achieved from the project can be found from this information release from the Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District.

For more background on Regional District items see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Fraser Institute releases annual results from elementary school study

Spring time means it's review time for the Fraser Institute, as the Vancouver based organization once again prepares to outline its findings on education, both at the elementary level and secondary level.

Yesterday the  findings of the Fraser Institute Elementary School Report for 2015 were released, with local results provided for five of the city's schools.

On the North Coast  results from four schools that are part of School District 52 and one review of Annunciation, the Catholic Independent School made up the snapshot for the Prince Rupert area..

The results are compiled by the Fraser Institute mainly through the review of data collected through the Fundamental Skills Assessment Testing on Grade Four students. 

The report focuses on the key academic indicators of Grade 4 Writing, Numeracy and Reading. Other indicators compiled by the report look at trends from those schools reviewed as well as characteristics of the students that are enrolled in the school.

However, it is the focus that the Fraser Institute puts on ranking the schools that makes the annual review one of a bit of controversy in the province.

You can review the full report here, the opening remarks that outline how they compile their findings can be found from pages 2 to 8. For this years edition of the annual report, results were compiled and published for 978 schools across British Columbia.

As for the local schools on the North Coast, the results and notes on the five schools that were reviewed can be found on page 56.

Below we have provided the snapshot for each school. as published in the report.

Annunciation found itself with the highest ranking of the local schools on the provincial scene, scoring 7.4 on a scale of 10, which placed it at the 166th spot of the 979 schools surveyed.

The full reviews from each of the local schools can be found below

Annunciation

Grade Four enrolment 24 students

7.5 out of 10   166/978  

Up slightly from last year's score of 7.2

Conrad

Grade Four enrolment 26 students

4.9 out of 10  731/978  

Up from a score of 4.2 last year.

Pineridge

Grade Four enrolment 28 students

4.6 out of 10   782/978

Up from a score of 4.0 last year

Roosevelt Park Community School

Grade Four enrolment 32 students

3.8 out of 10  875/978

Up significantly from last year's score of 2.0

Lax Keen

Grade Four enrolment 33 students

3.4 out of 10   909/978  

Up slightly from last year's score of 3.2

There was no listing compiled for the Port Edward School.

However, there was one entry for Haida Gwaii.

Sk'aadgaa Naay
Grade Four enrolment 22 students
5.3 out of 10  647/978
Up significantly from last years score of 4.1

You can review the full report here.

The annual reports aren't particularly well regarded by a large number of teachers, or by the BCTF the union which represents public school teachers in the province.

The narrow focus of the Fraser Institute findings is just one aspect that many educators take issue with,  expressing a belief that little consideration is given to the larger issues that are putting pressures on the education system at this time.

As well, School Districts administrators rarely offer up comments related to the Fraser Institute findings, with many School Districts preferring to refer parents to the Discover Your School website, which provides a fair amount of background beyond just the FSA results.

Included in those reviews are both notes on parent satisfaction as well as for student achievement.

In recent years, the Fraser Institute has seemingly heard some of the concerns related to their reports.

This year, as part of the presentation of their report one of the authors, Peter Cowley has solicited comments, suggestions and criticisms of the public.

With the Fraser Institute seeking feedback on the perceptions surrounding the findings from their annual report.

You can make your contribution to that process through email at peter.cowley@fraserinstitute.org

The elementary report is the first of the two main reviews from the Fraser Institute, the report on secondary schools in British Columbia will most likely be delivered in June.

For more items related to education on the North Coast see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

LNG industry launches publicity push to spread corporate message

When it comes to the development of an LNG Industry in British Columbia, all eyes it seems are on the North Coast these days. And to spread the word on the latest of developments, film crews it seems have been making a bee line to the region in recent weeks, all arriving to record the LNG story from an industry perspective.

The corporate video presentations are not that hard to find, available through corporate websites, or social media options such as Facebook and twitter.

Most of them anchored on corporate Facebook, YouTube or Vimeo pages, designed to make sure that in a crowded media world that they're version of the story is getting its share of attention.

For the North Coast tours, both Port Edward and Prince Rupert have been the focus of some of that attention, claiming a fair amount of camera time from the industry proponents.

First we take you out to Port Edward, where Pacific NorthWest LNG has posted two videos related to their proposed Lelu Island development, one featuring Mayor Dave MacDonald outlining his thoughts on the proposed Terminal project.




The second offering from Pacific NorthWest LNG features their Community Relations Advisor Derek Baker, speaking to some of the background of the project and what it could mean for both the Port Edward area and the North Coast.



The larger industrial collective known as BC LNG also had cameras in place in the region recently.

Former television report Jas Johal, now the corporate spokesperson for the group toured the area featuring stops in Metlakatla and Prince Rupert as part of his trip to the North Coast.

The theme of his presentation a rather timely one, explaining the industry's commitment to engagement with First Nations and North Coast communities.




With the engagement process related to LNG development continuing to increase from the various proponents, the shift in focus towards the delivery of information by way of the corporate media sites will continue.

Countered of course, by more video presentations from those groups that still have concerns about any of the proposed LNG developments for the region.

All of it making for an interesting quest to win over the eyes and the minds of North Coast residents that suggests that the streets of the North Coast may soon start to look like the sets of Television productions, as each side seeks to share their message.

For more items related to LNG development in the Northwest see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Council's housing moves thus far trending to the upper end of the pricing spectrum

Concerns over Housing have been declared as a major issue for the current City Council this year, with many of the Council members having made it a major priority item for Council sessions.

For many, it's a carry over point from the November municipal election campaign, as they continue with their determination to bring discussion points related to housing issues into the agenda packages of their twice a month council meetings.

As we've noted on the blog in the past, so far, much of their focus has been targeted towards the collection of data and through conversations with stakeholders in the community, as council members try and come up with a plan to direct towards the issue that has been a fixture of Council sessions over the last few years.

However, while they discuss and work out the details of their social and community housing ideas, when it comes to actual creation of housing spaces, the price point of new housing options would seem to be trending away from the grasp of those looking for relief from the current local situation.

Last week Council moved forward a proposal to redevelop the former Baptist church on India Avenue into Executive Suites apartments.

Councillor Mirau outlined the city's move in that direction by way of his Facebook page with an entry posted to his social media portal last week that highlighted his enthusiasm for the India Avenue proposal.

Last Monday's Council session appears to have been a rather controversial one, the report on it from the weekly newspaper suggests that concerns were raised by some council members about the proposed development, with two councillors, Mr, Niesh and Mr. Cunningham in the end voting against the project.

As well, it appears that during the heated discussions, words were spoken during the council session that raised tempers and seemingly left the proponent of the project more than a little upset at some of the commentary of the council session.

Though, any comprehensive record of that exchange (or the rest of the April 27th council session for that matter) is still not available for public review. With the City to this point still holding back the video archive of the meeting from their public archive portal.

As for the now approved India Avenue development itself, the new units should they be constructed will have a rent value set at somewhere between 1800--2500 dollars per month.

Something that we suspect, is a little out of the reach for many of those currently caught in a rental crunch situation in the city.

The India Avenue project however is not the only development currently under consideration that is probably going to have a pretty high price point.

The west side development proposed for Park Avenue, currently working its way through the public process, is being outlined as similar in nature to the existing stock of housing on Graham Avenue.

The most recent public information session for that proposal highlighted homes that will be featuring large lots and harbour views, which probably would suggest a price point along the same lines as the housing along the Graham Avenue area.

Again, something a little beyond the reach of those looking for more modest accommodations today.

To its credit, Council has been trying to find solutions to their housing concerns,  dividing up the work load for two Committees related to housing issues in the community.

Most recently, Councillor Thorkelson offered up an idea to make use of smaller lots in the city to create social, or more modest housing options, though there has yet to be any indication as to how such units would be paid for and for now the concept is still not much more than an brainstorming idea.

One interesting option for housing that is starting to take root in other communities is to make use of shipping containers to create studio style apartments and other combinations of living space.

Something that might prove to be a workable idea for some of the land space that the city is considering for its own housing concepts.

Global BC has provided a fairly good overview of the proposals for container style housing in Vancouver, showcasing what the final result might look like when placed in city neighbourhoods and how it may address Vancouver's housing problems.




Considering the growing importance of shipping containers to the economy of the North Coast, it would be interesting to see if those same containers might one day be used to address an issue that has been the focus of Council since they took office in December.

For more items related to housing issues in the North Coast see our archive page here.

Update: Please note that the video archive of City Council for April 27th has now been made available through You Tube, you can review it here. The issues related to the India Avenue project arrive at the fifty five minute mark and continue through until just past the one hour thirty minute mark.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Lelu Island LNG opponents continue to push to stop development

A Map of Lelu Island the proposed
site for the Pacific NorthWest LNG
Terminal project

While Lax Kw'alaams residents consider their options and give thought to whether they wish to offer their support to the proposed LNG development at Lelu Island, those that are adamant that it's the wrong location continue their quest to build support for their cause.

Over the weekend, the T Buck Suziki Foundation and Prince Rupert Environmental Society released a new video on the topic of development at Lelu Island.

It's a presentation that highlights their main points of concern related to the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG Terminal development. Included in the collection of speakers on the topic, is Dr. Barb Faggetter, most recently hired as the City of Prince Rupert's resident scientist and a long time critic of the Lelu Island plans.

Of the number of participants in the 14 minute video presentation, she will be the name most recognizable for many on the North Coast, recounting many of her themes of recent months on the topic.





In addition to the new video from the Suzuki Foundation, a group known as Save Lelu Island has launched an online petition to express their opposition to the proposed development.

A quick scan of those who have signed the petition to this point provides for names spanning a wide geographical area, with a large number found far beyond the North Coast.

Beyond the current social media campaign of those opposed to the project, a number of groups with an interest in the Lelu Island project have taken advantage of Participant funding related to the Environmental Assessment process.

That funding allocated in the fall of 2013 was designed to support their participation in the process.

Locally the largest allotments of fund has been provided to the Metlakatla ($50,000) and Lax Kw'alaams First Nations ($49,200) with smaller funding amounts provided locally to UFAWU, World Wildlife Fund and Prince Rupert Environmental Society to name a few.

The full list of those that have accessed funds and how much they received can be found here.

As the debate over the proposed development continues on, a number of websites and social media pages have been created of late to share the information campaign.

You can explore their discussion points below:

T Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation
No LNG on LELU
Prince Rupert Environmental Society
Save our Skeena Salmon
Friends of Wild Salmon

You can review the latest news related to the Pacific NorthWest LNG project from our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

May 3-- CBC Radio's Cross Country Check Up --Is the global community getting better at responding to disasters such as in Nepal?

Rex Murphy reviews events related to the earthquakes in Nepal as part of this weeks edition of Cross country Check Up, asking the question "Is the global community getting better at responding to disasters such as in Nepal?".

May 3rd edition (audio)