Moneysense magazine still not convinced things are turning around for Prince Rupert

The summer edition of
Moneysense magazine features
their annual community rankings

Prince Rupert's standing with the financial publication Moneysense has dropped from last year, with the North Coast manned at 197 out of the 209 communities surveyed, a decline of two spots from last year when the city was notched at number 195.

The placement finds Prince Rupert as the second lowest ranked location in the province, with only Port Alberni keeping us from the BC cellar.  

Part of the shift can be attributed to the inclusion of eight  new communities to the annual rankings, their success has it appears resulted in the further decline from previous years.

Though many of the areas of concern from previous years for Moneysense evaluators continue to place Prince Rupert high on their negatives list.

Among some of the data items that provided the Moneysense reviewers with their placement points were a declining population, high unemployment rate and weather, with our rainfall amounts once again marking on the negatives (Perhaps this May's streak of sunshine will change that dynamic for next year) 

However, while the rain is considered a negative, our days above zero helps to balance off the check list when it comes to the the weather listings.

As for the positives, the compact nature of the city and the ease to get around on foot, bike or transit was considered a plus, as was the level of taxes in the community, something that might surprise many residents who are used to yearly tax increases each April. 

When compared to other communities in the survey, Prince Rupert still fares well when it comes to the property tax burden.

As well, the price of real estate still considered affordable compared to other communities was of some assistance towards the positives, placing Prince Rupert towards the middle of the listings for affordability.

Below are the data findings for Prince Rupert, which highlight the range of factors used by Moneysense to determine their rankings from year to year.

Indicators from the Moneysesnse Review for 2015
places Prince Rupert at 197 out of 209 communities

You can review the methodology that Moneysense uses to calculate its rankings here, it makes for an interesting mix of economic and social factors, with a weight given to a range of areas from weather, to housing to vehicles to name just a few.

The snapshot of the annual edition can be examined here, providing a short overview of some of the highlights from the statistical collection and what it delivered in the way of rankings.

Terrace was the only other community from the Northwest to be ranked by Moneysense it received a placement of 122 on the list of 209, down from 2014 when it was rated at 110.

The positive items from the survey for Terrace highlighted a low unemployment rate with Terrace's rate among the most impressive of all of the 209 communities surveyed.  

Low taxes and ease of getting around the community by walking, biking or use of transit were also key factors for the survey when it came to Terrace's ranking. 

And while the Northwest considers the Terrace region to be a fairly heated housing market, the affordability issue again was key to their ranking, with Moneysense still finding good value in the Terrace real estate market, compared to other locations in the survey.

Moneysense placed Terrace in the 122nd
spot in their annual ranking of 209 communities

The full list of communities from 1 to 297 can be found here.

You can compare this years findings with those of past years below.

2014
2013
2012

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Eagle Spirt Energy heralds First Nations support for proposed development

The prospect of oil shipments out of the Prince Rupert area is getting a bit of news bump this week, with word of a Memorandum of Understanding between Eagle Spirit Energy and 30 First Nations communities across this province and into Alberta.

Yesterday, Eagle Spirit Energy provided this media release, outlining the scope of the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Vancouver event.

With Eagle Spirit officials noting in the information statement that  "a very large delegation of representatives attended from the community of Lax Kw'alaams."

The statement also provided some additional background on the importance of Lax Kw'alaams to the overall plan to ship Alberta Oil to world markets.

Lax Kw'alaams is a key to the proposal because it could host the port near it at Grassy Point. Grassy Point, due to its close proximity to open water, is considered the safest location for such a port since oil tankers are only a threat to the environment when they are close to land. Key representatives from the nine tribes of Lax Kw'alaams and elected councilors participated.

Group photo of those participating in this week's Gathering of Chiefs event
Marking the signing of an MOU with Eagle Spirit Energy

Three representatives from the Lax Kw'alaams delegation were nominated to speak to the topics of engagement and offered up some of their impressions of the proposal.

Gitxoon (Alex Campbell) was requested to speak for the nine tribes and stated "Eagle Spirit has met with and informed our community members what they were proposing from day one. They have shown great respect for our culture and protocols by coming to us from the very beginning, and really listening to our concerns. We do not like big companies coming in and giving us take-it-or-leave-it ultimatums in our traditional territories which we have looked after for over 10,000 years."

Ski-las (Jack White) who represented the elders commented, "We like the fact that the Eagle Spirit project put the environment first. Many of our elders are in need and we want our legacy to our children to offer something more that gives them opportunities." 

Youth representative Corey Wesley noted that "There are no opportunities for young people in our community. We want a better way of life with real jobs and business prospects so we too can offer our future kids more hope." Elected councilor and matriarch Mn'gadn wii hayetsk (Helen Johnson) said "Eagle Spirit has widespread support in our community because it shows a real way forward for our members."

A video featuring some background to this week's event can be found below:

More details and resources related to the Chiefs Gathering Ceremony can be reviewed here.

The approach that Eagle Spirit Energy is taking in moving forward it's proposed development has started to catch the attention of the province's larger media outlets.

Following this week's signing ceremony, Global BC's Keith Baldrey outlined some of the interesting notes on the latest agreement, as well as some moves out of Alberta that might provide for some forward momentum for the proposed development.

Eagle Spirit Energy recently took their plans for a proposed shipment terminal at Grassy Point near Lax Kw'alaams to that community, holding a community meeting where they announced a measure of support for the project.

However, there is at the moment, no word provided on either the Lax Kw'alaams Band Council website or Facebook page suggesting as to what kind of progress Eagle Spirit proponent Calvin Helin has made with the Lax Kw'alaams government when it comes to the development.

For more items related to that proposed shipment terminal see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Nathan Cullen makes plans for telephone town hall on Bill C 51 and security issues

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP, Nathan Cullen wants residents of the Northwest to circle June 16th on their calendars, that is when he will be holding a telephone town hall to discuss Bill C-51, a controversial bit of legislation from the Federal Government that will provide unprecedented powers to a number of Government Departments, Police Forces across the country and CSIS the nations Spy Agency.

Much of the concern related to that Bill has been in the way the Conservative government introduced it and then kept debate and discussion to a minimum on its way to Commons approval, with the Conservatives and Liberals voting in favour, the NDP against. 

It is expected to become law before Parliament takes its summer break starting on June 23rd.

In a household mailer to the residents of Skeena-Bulkley Valley this week, the MP outlines his belief that "this bill endangers many of the basic rights and freedoms that all Canadians hold dear."

The purpose of his Telephone town hall, to further deliver his thoughts on the issue and to take questions from the public on the nature of the legislation and what impact it may have on the day to day lives of Canadians.

Those looking to participate can call in at 6 PM on Tuesday, June 16th through the toll free number of 1-877-229-8493  Using the ID Code of 112621

You can review the path to this point of the Bill in Ottawa from the Parliament of Canada home page.

To prepare you for Mr. Cullen's Telephone Town Hall, below is some background on the nature of Bill C-51 and the political discussion that it has spawned:

The prelude and passing of the Bill

National Post -- House of Commons passes controversial anti-terror bill - putting it on track to become law by summer

National Post -- Bill C 51 state of play: Everything you need to know about the debate over Harper's controversial anti-terror act

CBC -- Stephen Harper stresses importance of Anti-Terrorism Act during Montreal visit

CBC -- Bill C-51 passes in House of Commons

The Tyee -- Sorry Liberals, 'Oversight' won't fix menace of a Terror Bill

The Tyee -- How Bill C-51 Eviscerates Privacy Protection

Maclean's -- Critics Fear Bill C-51 could lead to unintended consequences

Globe and Mail -- Bill C-51: Soon to be law and as murky as ever

Globe and Mail -- Conservative anti-terror bill passes final vote with Liberal support

Globe and Mail -- Privacy, security and terrorism: Everything you need to know about Bill C-51

Global News -- With Support from Liberals, Conservatives pass controversial anti-terror bill

Some of the reaction since the Bill passed:

Terrace Standard -- Cullen takes swing at Trudeau over anti-terror bill
Global BC -- Conservative groups' last minute plea to Harper: Stop C-51

Toronto Star -- The global debate over security and privacy may yet wound PM

CBC -- C-51 could trigger NDP-Liberal coalition, conservative critics warn

CBC -- Bill C-51: How Trudeau's support of the anti-terror bill could help the NDP

Vancouver Sun-- Award-winning library director calls terrorism bill this generation's 'most repressive'  legislation

The Tyee -- Kill C-51 or Risk a Fractured Base, Right-wingers Tell Tories

As the date for Mr. Cullen's Telephone Town Hall gets closer more background on the event can be found from his Constituency home page or Facebook page 

For more items from Mr. Cullen's work at the House of Commons and other notes from the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Province to make more Open textbooks available for post secondary students

An announcement from last week by Andrew Wilkinson, the Advanced Education Minister should help reduce the cost of education for some students and their parents, as they prepare to make their plans for post secondary studies this fall.

The Province's Open Textbook program was the focus of a government announcement of May 29th, which outlined the latest  expansion of the program, which will provide for an additional fifty text books to be added to the inventory in time for the start of classes at universities and colleges this fall.

“Educators from throughout the province are embracing open textbooks as a tangible way to help lower the cost of higher education for students in British Columbia. In addition to reducing student costs, open textbooks allow new models of innovative teaching and learning practices to emerge, and they position British Columbia as a worldwide leader in the use of open educational resources in higher education.” -- Clint Lalonde, senior manager of open education at BCcampus noting the shift to technology as part of the education support offerings in British Columbia.

The program started in 2012 when the BC government made 1 million dollars in funding available for the Open Textbook program, with fifty Open Textbooks starting off the program, in 2013 another 20 textbooks were added to the listings.

According to the review of the program from last week, more than 50 faculty members at public post-secondary institutions throughout the province currently participate in the project, and it is estimated that 5,400 students in B.C. have saved up to $700,000 to date by using open textbooks.

A participation rate and savings that go with it, that is expected to grow as the program expands.

You can learn more about Monday's announcement and the new additions here, the listings of the fifty books to be added this fall can be found at the bottom of the media release.

For background on how the Open Textbook project works  see the BC Campus website here.

The listing of Open Textbooks now available can be found here.

More background on post secondary education items and issues can be found on our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Prince Rupert's Alaska Ferry woes may get worse by July

The Gates to the AMHS Terminal
in Prince Rupert could remain
locked after July 1st as Budget
Issues continue to rage in Alaska

Things may go from bad to worse for Prince Rupert's tourism season this summer with the potential for a complete shutdown of the Alaska Marine Highway System looming for this summer.

As we outlined in May, amid ongoing budget concerns for the service the AMHS has already announced plans to cut the number of sailings to Prince Rupert in half, announcing the removal from service of the Alaska Ferry Taku for the summer.

Now, larger State budget concerns and a showdown in the Alaska Legislature may see the entire fleet tied up as early as the end of the month.

That would be something that would have major tourism repercussions up and down the Alaska coast and into Prince Rupert, which is a major transit point for many on their way to, or coming from an Alaska adventure.

The prospect of the shutting down of the entire fleet  was a scenario that Alaska Marine Highway officials outlined for Alaska Public Radio yesterday, with the Ferry service looking to put their vessels into ports between June 29 and July 1st depending on where they are as the deadline nears.

The AMHS service is among a number of state services that could see cuts from the Administration of Alaska Governor Bill Walker, as the Alaska Government tries to come to terms with what the Governor calls the Legislature's inaction on a proposed budget.

Much of Alaska's budget woes can be traced back to a reduction of revenues over the last year, owing to the current state of the oil industry amid dropping oil prices.

To highlight the seriousness of the situation at hand, on Monday, the Alaska Government issued more than 10,000 layoff notices to state workers, covering a wide range of services to Alaskans.

Further updates on the prospect of the shut down of Marine Highway Service will be provided through the month, though travellers who have reservations past the end of the month will not be notified in person, they are advised to follow the AMHS website for further information on service issues.

Some background related to the Budget controversy can be found below:

KTUU -- Walker taps mediator, mails 10,000 layoff notices amid Alaska budget standoff
Reuters -- Alaska governor issues 10,000 layoff notices amid budget wrangling
Juneau Empire -- State workers to get layoff warning
Alaska Dispatch News -- As clock ticks toward shutdown, Alaska Legislature can't resolve budget
Sit News -- Governor informs Alaskans of impacts of a partial Government Shutdown
Newsminer -- Layoff notices, shutdown plans go out amid Alaska budget gridlock

See our Archive page for past items about Alaska Marine Highway Service in Prince Rupert.

Update: On Wednesday, the AMHS posted this notice to their website, providing an update for passengers that use the marine highway service.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Province looks to help BC communities with airport infrastructure issues

The Province of British Columbia rolled out a new financial program on Monday, designed to provide funding for required infrastructure issues at the provinces airports.

The Program called the British Columbia Air Access Program is designed to support the connection of communities across the province and build British Columbia's aviation sector's long term potential.

The BCAAP guidelines note that the program will assist airports with funding towards capital infrastructure that meet  a number of key conditions.

Help to maintain safe and reliable airport facilities and/or Result in significant, incremental economic benefit.

Projects that are approved for funding will be able to invoice eligible incurred costs from the time an annual call for applications occurs. The province provides its contribution at the completion of the project, or with more complex projects, through milestone payments that will be phased in.

You can review some background on the  new BCAAP initiative here, it is part of a larger overview of Aviation by the Government called "Connecting With the World: An Aviation Strategy for British Columbia.

More on that blue print for the future on aviation in BC can be found here.

The deadline for submissions related to the BCAAP funding availability is June 22nd. Some of the projects that are eligible for the funding are such items as runway enhancements; lighting; navigation systems, runway extensions; and apron and taxiway improvements.

Many of  those items have been part of the list of past and recent work that has taken place at the Digby Island airport, where that leaves Prince Rupert when it comes to the new funding initiative makes for an interesting situation.

It could be that for this new funding program, the prospect of accessing any funding is limited owing to the project timeline already in place, an unfortunate bit of timing considering that the bulk of the work would have fit nicely into the program guidelines.

As noted over the last few years the Prince Rupert Airport Authority, through Prince Rupert City Council borrowed seven million dollars for much needed airport work, some background on the borrowing process and the launch of the renovation project can be reviewed below.

November 2014 -- Councillor Cunningham seeks update on Airport renovations timetable
September 2014 -- Council hears review of Prince Rupert Airport renovation projects to date
July 2014 -- Federal Government provides 10 million dollars towards Airport Runway safety
April 2014 -- Airport loan repayment plan, to cover off portion of city's airport transportation requirement this year
March 2014 -- On buses, boats and planes and the financial pain of airport access
November 2013 -- Airport Approval Process is ready for take off
October 2013 -- A little direction required from City Hall on Airport authorization process
October 2013 -- Airport Loan Authorization Bylaw next up on the city's consultation list
October 2013 -- Council split on airport loan authorization process
August 2013 -- City Council puts Airport Regionalization issue further down the schedule
August 2013 -- City Authorizes agreement with Airport Authority for Airport rehabilitation
March 2013 -- Many kind words, but little funding for airport access initiatives

If the funding window for the current renovation project is closed owing to the application process, the potential to access further funding for future projects will no doubt catch the eye of City officials.

In recent months the challenges in place facing the Airport and its Transportation system between Prince Rupert and the airport have made for a fair bit of discussion.

The scale of the those concerns might fit under the Major projects section of the Air Access Program guidelines, providing the opportunity for Prince Rupert to find a way to at least access some of the new funding for airports that the province is making available.

January 2015 -- Councillor Thorkelson takes issue with some of the Chamber of Commerce Airport Ferry Report findings
December 19 2014  -- Chamber of Commerce Airport Ferry study provides more material for City Council to Review in 2015

More items related to Transportation in the Northwest can be found from our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Go Plan Survey information campaign launched

The City of Prince Rupert has officially launched the information campaign related to their upcoming Go Plan Housing study, with a notice regarding the much discussed survey project posted to the City's website appearing late on Friday afternoon.

The Friday advisory may have slipped by more than a few people owing to the busy weekend just past, which included a pair of Grad celebrations, the Relay for Life, First Cruise ship of the year and a number of other events taking place over the last 72 hours.

For those that may not have had the chance to review the city's information review from Friday, here's a short thumbnail sketch of what's to come.

The Go Plan Survey will take place from June 8 to 18, with residents of the city able to take the survey online, or by way of canvassers who will going door to door in the community.  Those that arrive at your door over the ten day period will be asking a number of questions related to the project, with all responses as part of the Go Plan Survey to remain confidential.

The City will be making use of the data that they receive from the survey to better understand and manage impacts related to major projects that may at some point arrive in the community.

As well, the City plans to make use of the information to preserve affordable housing options and to prioritize development efforts for housing and infrastructure.

As we outlined last Wednesday, Mayor Lee Brain reviewed some of the items on the Go Plan Survey by way of a short information session at last Monday's City Council session.

Included in his talking points was some background on how those that wish to become compensated enumerators for the project can get involved with the survey process and a quick overview as to what the City hopes to achieve from the collection of the data.

You can learn more about the Go Plan Survey from this advisory from the City, those that wish to take the survey online can access that link here.

As for the actual LNG Go Plan, a document that Mayor Brain has discussed a fair amount in recent months through the media, no official release of background information related to the project has been provided to the public as of yet.

The closest thing that we have had to an overview on the LNG GO Plan, has been through an interview with CBC Radio Vancouver's Rick Cluff in April, you can review that conversation here.

More items related to the LNG Go Plan, as well as other notes from City Council can be found on our archive page here.

Update: The Mayor expanded on some of the plans in place to pay those that offer their time to the City to conduct the enumeration.

The City is looking for enumerators who want to help collect critical information on housing and other related items, offering pay of $2 per household, plus $2 per person in the household.

As well, there will be a $500 bonus to the person who collects the most survey information.

The City will be hosting a  training session this Sunday June 7th from 4-8pm at the Ocean Center Mall (next to the Bank of Montreal - 290-309 2nd Ave West). Food will be provided as part of the training session.

More background on the training program and the survey can be found on the Mayor's Facebook page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review