Prince Rupert Council to tackle issue of Commercial Marijuana dispensaries at Monday Session

The prospect of a Commercial
Marijuana industry in
Prince Rupert  is on the Agenda
for Monday's Council session

Those in Prince Rupert that may have been looking forward to the arrival of marijuana dispensaries in the community may have to temper their enthusiasm for at least a year, as Prince Rupert City Council prepares to explore their options when it comes to the prospect of the Commercial Marijuana Industry coming to town.

The return to work for Prince Rupert Council on Monday will see the city's elected officials wade into the debate on marijuana sales, with Council set to review a report from Hans Seidemann, the city's Manager of Community Development.

The Report for Council for Monday provides some background on the current Federal regulations and the Federal plans to introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in 2017.

The report also explores themes related to any potential impact on the city and how Council may wish to respond to that prospect, providing Council with some notes for further discussion.

Among the major points:

The City is currently protected against the development of commercial retail marijuana operations within the municipality due to the illegality of those operations. However, upon legalization from the federal government, the City's existing zoning and business licensing bylaws would not impose any additional regulations on a commercial marijuana retail or production operations. This could result in marijuana operations becoming established in residential neighbourhoods, or near to schools or substance abuse treatment facilities. 

It is not possible for the City to enact fair and effective regulations of commercial marijuana operations within the community without first understanding the Federal and Provincial regulations which may apply. 

However in the absence of any regulations, the City faces the risk of marijuana businesses establishing themselves in a manner which does not serve the public interest. Given this, it is recommended that Council adopt the Interim Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 3408, 2016, which will prohibit all commercial marijuana operations in all zones until January 1st, 2018. 

Adoption of this bylaw will protect the City from unregulated development of marijuana businesses in the City, and provide Council and City staff the opportunity to develop fair and effective regulations once the Provincial and Federal regulations for recreational marijuana are introduced.

Council will have their first opportunity to discuss the issue on Monday,  with two options available, the first to move forward with the staff recommendation to put in place the zoning amendment bylaw which in effect would be a one year moratorium on the issue, as well Council will be asked to consider the recommendation to host a Public Hearing on the issue for January 23rd at 7PM.

Council could also decide to receive the report for information purposes, but not act on it at this time.

You can review the full report below (click to enlarge).

It's also available from the City's Agenda Package for Monday, January 9th which is available here.:

The first option would appear to give the City time to get a lay of the federal legislation and to address the issue further, once more information is available.

To this point no commercial operator has indicated that they have plans to put down roots in the community and the city's moves would be step towards ensuring that the city continues to have some level of control over any potential development in the community, once any Federal legislation is put into effect.

In late 2016, the Northern View featured a story noting that there was some interest expressed last year by The Medicinal Cannabis Resource Centre Inc., a medical marijuana company which has indicated it was looking to open a clinic in the city by the end of 2017.

With Council preparing to return to their duties, we will once again be tracking this year's civic developments from our Council home page here.

More background on items of interest from the City of Prince Rupert can be found here, while we also host an archive of issues and discussions related to City Council sessions here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Government and BCTF work out the details on 50 million dollars in returns to education

SD52 officials have not outlined
their plans as of yet for any additional
funding from the province as a result
of an agreement signed Thursday

School Districts across the province will soon be in the process of a bit of number crunching over the next week, as officials look to make use of an additional 50 million dollars, to be distributed across BC as part of an agreement between the provincial government and the BCTF yesterday.

An announcement from the Provincial government on Thursday notes that the funding is for the current school year of 2016-17 and will be the equivalent to compensation for approximately 1,100 teachers.

Though the actual number of teachers to be hired by each district will be determined by local districts, unions and the current hiring process in place.

There are three priorities outlined by the province towards the funding allocation, they include:

Hiring additional classroom teachers this school year where it is feasible to do so given current timetable, physical space and labour supply limitations. 

Hiring additional specialty teachers this school year where it is feasible to do so. This includes, but is not limited to, teachers employed as special education teachers, speech language pathologists, behaviour intervention specialists, school psychologists, Aboriginal support teachers, counsellors including for mental health, ELL teachers, and teacher librarians. 

Where it is not feasible to add additional teachers during the current school year, the funding may be used to fund district-level capacity building opportunities such as upgrading existing teacher qualifications during the 2016-17 year, teacher recruitment programs and teacher mentoring programs.

The funding agreement is the result of a recent Supreme Court ruling which was delivered in favour of the BCTF's position on past actions by the provincial government when it comes to education funding.

The BCTF noted how the developments from Thursday are just the first step in implementation of the Supreme Court Decision and offered up its own observations on the announcement through its own media release yesterday.

“Since the BCTF won our court case back in November, we have been moving forward with two goals,”  ... “The first goal was to get as many teachers as possible back into schools and classrooms as quickly as possible. This $50 million agreement is the first step. It means hundreds more teachers will be in schools working with students across the province in a matter of weeks. The second and most important goal- full implementation of the 2002 collective agreement language-will now be the focus of talks between the two parties.”

Officials from School District 52 have not as of yet outlined what impact the additional funding will have on the local school system on the North Coast.

Some School Districts in Northern BC have already outlined their plans for the funding,

Terrace -- Coast Mountain School District to hire more teachers
Prince George -- School District, Union to Start Hiring Talks next week
Prince George -- Province Commits Money to Hiring Teachers

The government's announcement can be reviewed here.

The province has posted the full package related to the memorandum of agreement online, you can review the background to the agreement here.

Some notes on the announcement of Thursday can be found below, we'll add updates to the listings as they become available:


$50 million for New Hires a 'First Step' to Restoring Contracts, Say BC Teachers
B.C. reaches agreement with teachers' union to fund hiring of up to 1,100 full time employees
Province, BCTF agree on $50M for new teachers
B.C. teachers, government reach $50 million interim deal following Supreme Court ruling
1,100 teachers to be hired in interim staffing deal
B.C. public schools to hire 1,100 teachers, counsellors, librarians
Province and BCTF reach $50M funding deal

More notes on education in the Northwest can be found on our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

If the phone rings, it's not a telemarketer ... it's the Finance Minister!

Residents of the North Coast will have an opportunity to have their say on the provincial budget preparations next week, as Mike de Jong the province's Finance Minister hosts a Telephone Town Hall for Northern BC.

The Telephone Town Hall Forum is scheduled for Monday evening at 7 PM and Prince Rupert has been slotted in with a range of other northern communities for a chance for some access to the Finance Minister and a discussion on issues in the lead up to the Provincial Budget.

The notice outlining how to participate was released through an information statement on the Government of BC website  today, providing a link to a registration form for participants.

You will only be called if you register for the Telephone Town Hall, with the registration process a fairly simple thing requiring only a few details before you're added to the call out list.

And while it's easy to sign up, whether you will have much success in asking any questions will probably depend on the level of participation across the North.

Besides Prince Rupert, communities set to take part in the Budget discussion include:

Prince George, Vanderhoof, Williams Lake, Terrace, Kitimat, Quesnel, Chetwynd, Fort Nelson, Tumbler Ridge, Lillooet, Cache Creek, Ashcroft, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.

Something which makes for a potentially large pool of participants, all of them with a fairly diverse range of local interests looking to try and grab some time with Mr. de Jong.

If you don't get a chance to ask a question during the phone in portion of the forum, you can still get your comments through, by submitting them by email through an engagement forum at citizenengagement@gov.bc.ca. 

As part of that process, Minister de Jong is expected to respond to many of the questions and post responses following the telephone forum.

You can also share some thoughts on a number of Discussion topics that the Government is looking for feedback on, with three Discussion issues currently listed and seeking contributions.

Those themes include:  Housing Affordability, Government priorities and Economic Growth and BC Jobs Plan.

You can find out more about that engagement process here.

Should residents of the province wish to be kept up to date on the budge preparations they can also sign up for Updates from the province from the Budget 2017 home page.

More background on Provincial politics can be found on our Legislature archive page here.

The 2017 budget will be the last one before the province's voters head to the polls in the upcoming May British Columbia election, you can find the latest items of note on the North Coast election trail from our North Coast Votes Election archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Victoria Viewpoints: Thursday, January 5, 2017

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene.

Vancouver's Winter Woes

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson expresses sympathy for those dealing with icy streets and sidewalks
Are icy conditions keeping Vancouver from providing basic duties to taxpayers?
Desperate to melt the ice? Don't use beach sand, says Vancouver
Vancouver Mayor absent as councillor calls for snow removal inquiry
Rich Shaughnessy homeowners guilty of not shovelling their snow
For the first time in 20 years, Vancouver residents can skate on Trout Lake


$50 million for New Hires a 'First Step' to Restoring Contracts, Say BC Teachers
Court Review of Clark's Conflict of Interest Rulings Delayed
Court to Consider Hearing Challenge to Conflict Rulings that Cleared Premier Clark
NDP MLA Sue Hammell's retirement leaves a hole for those who value B.C.'s diversity
City of Vancouver promotes thermal imaging to help homeowners achieve energy savings
Vancouver street dealers seen more as symptom than problem of overdose crisis
B.C. reaches agreement with teachers' union to fund hiring of up to 1,100 full time employees
Media mogul David Black makes another pitch for his northern refinery
MMIW inquiry gets low grades in 1st report card
Province, BCTF agree on $50M for new teachers
2017 British Columbia election: Esquimalt-Metchosin riding profile
Frostbite a growing concern for Fraser Valley's homeless
Democracy watch asks court to hear Christy Clark conflict case
Metro Vancouver municipalities spread the word about property tax deferment
Getting Site C to point of no return a damning progress report, so far
BC Hydro facing federal owner, heavy fines for Site C sediment and erosion problems
Dramatic gains in B.C. assessed property values mean twice as many homeowners no longer qualify for grant
Heat seeking cameras coming to a Vancouver neighbourhood near you
B.C. teachers, government reach $50 million interim deal following Supreme Court ruling
1,100 teachers to be hired in interim staffing deal
B.C. public schools to hire 1,100 teachers, counsellors, librarians
Victoria eyes deadline slip on major goals such as ending homelessness
Workers over 65 should keep health plans

Province and BCTF reach $50M funding deal
Former School Trustee seeks provincial Green Party nomination

Ottawa Observations: Thursday, January 5, 2017

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for Thursday, January 5, 2017.



Canadian Forces won't commit to probing support of veteran in apparent murder-suicide
Play the Trump cards right, and Canada's auto sector will benefit
Canada open to global economy amid rising threat of protectionism: Freeland
Why Canadian norms and values matter
Canadians patriotic but not yet engaged with 150 celebrations: poll
What is electronic travel authorization and who needs to worry about it?
MMIW inquiry gets low grades in 1st report card
Foreigners who sign up to fight ISIS now face wrath of Turkish Army
Patchwork of care for veterans under scrutiny after apparent murder-suicide
Lawyers urge government to hire judges to fix 'unacceptable delays' in criminal justice system
Decades of deficits could be ahead for Canada, federal analysis warns
Ontario woman held in Turkey on charges of 'insulting' president, lawyer says
Ex-army medic injured in training mishap 'dumbfounded' by military's refusal to launch inquiry
Canadian arrested in Turkey for 'insulting' president on Facebook, lawyer says
Canada must do much more for troubled veterans
A decade of inaction on indigenous child welfare
Still opportunity for Canada despite protectionism abroad, Freeland says
Tory leadership hopefuls must lead the fiscal charge
Liberals agree shocking fiscal scenario 'could occur'
Ethics watchdog won't clarify timing around $200,000 Trudeau foundation donation
Trudeau leaves his BC MPs hanging by approving wave of projects
Review taking place in light of apparent murder-suicide in Nova Scotia
Military watchdog calls for better transition services after murder-suicide in Nova Scotia
Transport Minister convenes aviation summit after arrest of Sunwing pilot

Woodworth Lake Water Transmission bid process now underway with late January Deadline

The City of Prince Rupert is hosting
a meeting for bid applicants for the
Shawatlans Water Supply project today

The first of the major infrastructure projects for Prince Rupert has reached the request for bid stage, with the City now in the process of accepting bids for the Woodworth Lake Water Transmission Project, a first step towards rebuilding the city's aging water infrastructure.

The request for Bids was posted to the BC Bid site in December and as this month moves forward, those firms interested in submitting their proposals for the project will be providing their plans to L & M Engineering, the Prince George engineering firm that is overseeing the bid process.

Upon receipt of bids later this month from interested applicants, the City will decide which company offers the best presentation for work that will see the replacement of the raw water supply Woodworth Lake to Shawatlan pumping station.

The project will see some 2,100 metres of water transmission main installed along the current route, with the decommissioning of the existing water main, as well as associated road construction and other elements of the work among the list of duties that will be required.

A review of the work to be done as part of the project is available on the BC Bid site a document which features an outline of twenty five contractor notes that list a range of conditions and substitutions that are associated to the work.

A collection of diagrams and maps is included in the bid propectus to give bid applicants a better understanding of the scale of work that will be required as part of the project.

The City of Prince Rupert is in the final stage of accepting bids
for its water supply project for 2017.
(Map from BC Bid information package)

The Bid package provided by the City notes that today, January 5th is the day put aside for interested contractors to get an overview from the City on what the project is all about and to to take to a field trip to the Woodworth Lake site of the Dam.

The mandatory site meeting starts at 10 AM at City Hall with the trip to Woodworth Lake to follow after the city's presentation. Attendance at the session should give the city an indication as to what kind of interest their project is receiving, as the bid request notes that attendance at today's meeting is mandatory and those not in attendance will be excluded from the tender selection.

And while the group lay in provisions for the trek inland later in the day, we suspect that Mayor Lee Brain won't be leading the expedition into the Prince Rupert backcountry this time around, a journey he and the city's Director of Operations Richard Pucci took in the Spring of last year.

At that time the two put together a video presentation on the nature of the city's water woes at Shawatlans. That production provides us with a look at what the bid applicants might be learning today, as they explore the challenge of rebuilding the city's water infrastructure.





The deadline for submission of tenders for the project is January 23rd, with the tenders to be opened in private session; with results to be made available at the discretion of the City of Prince Rupert following a review period.

The city is currently in the process of putting together grant applications for the two other phases of their larger water supply rebuild program, though how far along in that process the city had not been outlined in a public session of Council by the end of 2016.

You can find more information on infrastructure issues for the city in 2017 from our archive page here, a look back at some of the topics of discussion from last year can be reviewed here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Victoria Viewpoints: Wednesday, January 4, 2016

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene.

Vancouver's Winter woes

Snowpocalypse brings out worst in some people
Vancouver asks where's the road salt? Coquitlam's Richard Stewart refuses to give up his stockpile
Free salt is too little, too late, Vancouver residents say
B.C.'s 4th biggest municipality doesn't require home owners to shovel their sidewalks
Free salt frenzy as Vancouverites scoop up city offering
Salt, fertilizer, kitty litter? What's best for defrosting sidewalks in a pinch
Axe-wielding dad shows frustration with snow and ice in Metro Vancouver
Salt shortage forces stores to look south for supply
Icy sidewalks inspire rush of free salt supplies at Vancouver fire halls


Spiking home prices in British Columbia bite into property-tax relief
Nanaimo B.C. files suit against Mayor Bill McKay
New teaching staff could be in classrooms soon: B.C. teachers' union
'An epidemic': Flu outbreaks in 20 B.C. care facilities over holiday season
2017 British Columbia election: Burnaby North riding profile
Longtime NDP MP MLA Sue Hammell to step down
Record breaking power usage as cold snap continues
Former Victoria mayor Peter Pollen dies peacefully at home
City of Nanaimo files lawsuit against its own mayor
Province's attempt to tackle housing affordability still a work in progress
Vancouver home price gains still among world's highest despite slowdown
Five things to know after receiving a massive increase in your 2017 B.C. property assessment
RCMP tab for B.C. Royal Visit tops $2 million, no final government costs
Veteran Surrey MLA Sue Hammell to retire from provincial politics
Split happens in Peace River, but will it also happen in election?
Dubious highlights of another wacky year in B.C. politics
Former Mayor Peter Pollen who shaped modern Victoria dies at 89
Nanaimo sues its own Mayor over alleged sharing of confidential data
Unfinished business awards in 2017
Former four-term Victoria Mayor Peter Pollen dies peacefully at home
Did Christy Clark Pull a Too-Fast PR Stunt on LNG?
At least two complaints made about LNG TV AD Withdrawn by Government