An archive of the At Issue features from the CBC's Flagship News program The National.
December 17: Year End Issue
Thursday, December 17, 2015
New Collective agreement provisions posted to City of Prince Rupert website
Though unless you were an employee of the City, or a member of City Council or city management, you might not have been aware of that milestone, as no official announcement was made at the time.
Unusual for a City Administration that shows no shyness when it comes to proclaiming their achievements, yet there was no mention of the successful conclusion of negotiations during the course of the public forum of a Council session.
To go along with the under the radar theme, no update was provided by way of a media release, or even through the growing number of popular social media services that the City and some of our local politicians have been making use of lately.
As we outlined on the blog back in September, this has been a year of labour settlements across the province, with community after community haling the ability to come to terms on a new agreements, frequently outlining the details after the signatures were exchanged.
And while we don't have any public acknowledgment of an agreement such as this one that the City of Fort St. John provided to its residents to look over, we have noticed that the new collective agreement has been posted to the city's website, providing a glimpse for residents into the kind of work required to navigate such a lengthy and complicated arrangement.
From the notes provided as part of the collective agreement, it would appear that the contract which is retro-active to the start of 2015 has provided for a 2 percent increase for this year, with an increase of 2.25 percent in 2016 and another increase of 2 percent for 2017.
Those numbers would be fairly similar to the average of what other communities have negotiated through the year. The contract between the City of Prince Rupert and CUPE Local 105 was signed on May 25th and will expire on December 31, 2017.
There does not appear to be any indication as to the nature of any signing bonuses that may have been included as part of the final agreement.
The document also provides a fair bit of background into the range of items that make for a collective agreement, providing the road map for both employer and employee as to the conditions for employment with the City of Prince Rupert.A few selected items of interest and where to find them can be reviewed below:
The first ten pages of the document start with an overview of the various management rights, union recognition and various processes available as part of the human resources aspects of employment with the city.
The Use of Casual workers and Seniority provisions, Layoff and Bumping elements as well as the minimum staffing requirements for Public Works are outlined from pages 10 through 21
Hours of work, Job Sharing, Overtime, Vacation items, Assorted benefits to name a few of the topics can be reviewed from pages 21 to 53.
While the Job Security provisions in the new document can be found from pages 54 to 55. Those details outline how the City makes use of its work force and lays out the conditions related to civic work and that work which is contracted to outside suppliers, with a focus on the those areas that may be beyond the scope of the collective agreement
The extensive listing of job classifications and Pay schedules for them and other items of background on the hours of work required can be found from pages 59 to 65.
Background to the City's Apprenticeship Program can be reviewed from pages 68 to 72.
You can review the full Collective agreement document from the City's Career page.
For more items related to developments with the City of Prince Rupert see our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Victoria Viewpoints: Wednesday, October 16, 2015
Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene.
Critics decry B. C. advisor on aboriginal child welfare in wake of Plecas report
Don't get your hopes up over Christy Clark's open-government promise
B. C. Premier Christy Clark says 'triple-deleting' e-mails will be prohibited
Christy Clark promises ban on triple-deleting emails by government employees
Clark promises to bar public service from triple-deleting emails
Stop Deleting, Cool the Shredding: Loukidelis to Clark
B. C. to build 10-lane toll bridge to replace 'bottleneck' Massey Tunnel
Plans unveiled for $3.5 billion, 10-lane toll bridge to replace Massey Tunnel
B. C. Government unlikely to clean up its act in wake of document-destruction scandal
You'll just have to trust the Liberals
Former Privacy Commissioner report tells B. C. to stop triple deleting emails
Report recommends B. C. government should stop triple deleting emails (video)
Controversy over new bridge replacing Massey Tunnel (video)
Ottawa Observations: Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for December 16, 2015.
Liberals fear Alberta economic meltdown
Mike Duffy already admitting to a faulty memory under cross-examination
Prosecution scrutinizes Duffy's expense claims, living arrangements
Mike Duffy's 1st day of cross-examination marked by testy exchanges
Trudeau to ask Pope Francis to apologize for Catholic Church's role in residential schools
Trudeau says he'll engage Pope on apology for church's role in residential schools
So much for bringing the CF-18 jets home
Harper's halt this year to UN-referred refugee processing lasted over two months
Canada taking its time to ratify TPP deal
Liberals call opponents to assisted dying-deadline extension naive
Trudeau defends soft-power governing style in town hall
Paris compromise reflects constraints of global realities
Why Paris climate summit was a useful fraud
Ottawa confident 10,000 Syrian refugees will arrive by Dec. 31 deadline
'Colossal effort' underway to bring 10,000 Syrian refuges to Canada by year's end
Indigenous voter turnout was up - and Liberals may have benefited most
Trudeau, Aboriginals hold 'historic meeting'
The campaign autopsy of Stephen Harper
Lelu Island LNG opponents continue media push against proposed terminal
The opponents of the proposed terminal project had a busy Tuesday, as the Skeena Watershed Coalition provided an exclusive opinion piece for the Vancouver Sun, published in print and on the newspaper's website.
While over on the radio side of the media push for the day, CFNR was featuring the the views of a collection of Lelu LNG opponents including the SWC and the Tim Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation.
The Vancouver Sun Opinion piece was submitted by Greg Horne of the Skeena Watershed Coalition and carries the attention grabbing title of Faulty Science muddies waters of LNG plan for Lelu Island.
The main thrust of the commentary was used to find fault with a number of items related to the material provided by Pacific NorthWest LNG when it comes to their research into the proposed development for Lelu Island.
With the Skeena Watershed group suggesting that the Pacific Northwest LNG work had been rejected three times in the quest to provide what Mr. Horne calls credible science.
An interesting turn of a phrase, though the term rejected seems designed more for impact than for detail, as there has been no actual declaration publicly proclaimed by the Federal body expressing their outright rejection of that data.
Now to be fair, the process was put on pause a few times through 2015 as the CEAA requested more information, or clarification of information that had been provided, something that is not uncommon when it comes to a wide ranging and long running review of major environmental issues related to proposed industrial developments.
Beyond the parsing of words steeped in rhetoric, the Skeena Watershed article does highlight some of the key concerns related to the proposed development, particularly when it comes to the Flora Bank area and the importance that the estuary has for those that oppose the development.
Some of the commentary was also reserved for the political ambitions of the provincial government and its welcome to Petronas the parent company of Pacific NorthWest LNG, which the author describes as notorious for its international image.
The presentation in the Sun ends with a call to not jeopardize one of the most prolific wild salmon runs in the world, with the final notes of the opinion piece calling on the regulator to reject the concept of an LNG plant on Lelu Island.
You can review that article here.
The CFNR item focuses on allegations made by the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation and the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition with both groups suggesting that advertising from Pacific NorthWest LNG is misleading.
Mr. Horne once again served as the spokesman for the collective, noting that the groups have concerns related to the maps that were used in recent advertising by the LNG company, as well as what they say are misleading statements related to the Pacific Northwest 3D modelling of Flora Bank.
The range of comments form Mr. Horne as relayed through CFNR can be heard here.
The twin media themes of this week come as the community awaits the end of the CEAA process. And while some may still think that the CEAA decision will be delivered before the end of the year, the more likely scenario still seems to be pointing towards an announcement some time in early 2016.
The nature of the importance related to the upcoming CEAA decision is clearly on the mind of many around the Northwest, with both those for and against the proposal looking for some form of indication as to what the CEAA will announce.
As we outlined on the blog yesterday, Prince Rupert Port Authority CEO and President Don Krusel touched on the Pacific NorthWest project at last month's Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Observing that no decision has been made to this point when it comes to the proposed LNG development, Mr. Krusel also made note of the volume of studies that Pacific NorthWest LNG has conducted over the last few years as part of the assessment process related to any impact on the Lelu Island area as they investigate the potential of development for the area.
He also pointed out that if the work conducted by the proponent of the LNG terminal is not up to the standard of the CEAA then the project will not receive a permit or be approved, suggesting that as a community what we should do is wait as the process continues to examine all of the evidence that has been provided.
Towards that decision the Port CEO noted the rigorous amount of modelling, research and scientific data that Pacific NorthWest LNG has delivered to the CEAA as part of that process.
His commentary on the Lelu Island process can be reviewed from the Chamber of Commerce presentation available on the Port of Prince Rupert's You Tube page, the LNG discussion starts at just before the 27 minute mark.
Last week, Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain also offered up some background on the City's position related to the Lelu Island proposal, noting for the weekly paper that the City is still waiting to see what the CEAA process is going to come back with.
Seemingly leaving things until that process is near an end, before the City offers up any public comment or indication as to what it thinks about the development of Lelu Island as a location for an LNG export facility.
For more background on the path of the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal proposal to this point see our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review
Mayor Brain welcomes Fairview expansion prospects, seeks consultation on traffic concerns
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| Mayor Lee Brain had a few thoughts on Tuesday, following a major announcement from DP World and the Prince Rupert Port Authority |
As we noted on the blog yesterday, the Port and DP World will be looking at the prospect of a southern expansion from the current site, a project that would significantly increase the potential throughput of containers that make use of the Prince Rupert Gateway to the world.
In a media release from Tuesday (see here), the Mayor managed take some of the spotlight from the Fairview expansion announcement, connecting the major news development of the day to his recently released Hays 2.0 vision plan.
"A threefold increase in throughput at Fairview Container Terminal fits well within the City’s Hays 2.0 Vision for Prince Rupert. “As we head into 2016, the visions of the PRPA, DP World and the City are well aligned,” Mayor Brain acknowledged."
As well as promoting the City's Hays 2.0 vision document, the Mayor also offered up some observations on the nature of the proposed expansion and the impact that it may have on traffic to and from the terminal facility.
With the Mayor pointing to his desire for more study into the issue and apparently set to make plans to invite the Province to partner with the City, bringing together all of the stakeholders to examine the impact of any potential increase to traffic through the heart of the city.
“in this investigation we would have to take into account the eventual re-development of the downtown core of Prince Rupert. Future plans for the City’s core would have to examine the viability of maintaining a provincial highway with increasing car and truck traffic routed through the downtown of the City.” -- Mayor Lee Brain with a little long range planning in the wake of Tuesday's Fairview Terminal announcement
However, before the Mayor launches another vision study, or strikes a committee to investigate traffic issues and the redesign of the downtown core, he might want to wait a bit and see what exactly the Port Authority and DP might have in mind when it comes to the design of the southern portion of Phase Two.
Previous concepts that have been suggested for the much anticipated major Fairview expansion, would seem to suggest that a good portion of the access and focus on the development will approach from the Ridley Island Access road area.
That is an area of of the industrial lands which has already captured the attention of the Port, which as we noted earlier this year has already given some thought towards development for a container yard facility.
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| The Port of Prince Rupert and DP World Ports will be working together on a study into the potential of a southern expansion of the Fairview Container Terminal, a project which could unlock a large portion of South Kaien Island and Ridley Island for further development. |
That is something has been mentioned in the past and a project which would actually reduce the amount of truck traffic passing through the downtown streets.
The southern shift would also tie in nicely with main selling point of the Fairview Terminal concept, that of direct from ship to rail transit for the majority of the cargo that passes through the port and also offers up the prospect for expanded use of the Road, Rail and Utility corridor on Ridley Island, infrastructure that is already in place and was designed with port expansion in mind.
With the expansion planning that is in mind taking the Port Authority towards their 2024 Gateway vision, the city will probably receive some indication before too long, as to what it all may look like once the two transportation partners formalize their concepts.
Until then, City officials might be more interested in some of the commentary from Port CEO and
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| Should the Prince Rupert Port Authority Gateway Strategy reach its full potential, municipal revenues could grow significantly as more and throughput totals expand |
During that overview of the Port's development plans for the Chamber, Mr. Krusel noted some staggering financial possibilities for municipal revenues in the region.
The Port CEO and President noted that should the Port's larger blue print of expansion, both for Fairview Terminals and for other elements related to Ridley Island move forward, the share of revenues that would be delivered to municipalities in the region could reach close to 60 million dollars year, a ten fold increase from those delivered to the City of Prince Rupert in 2014.
A significant development that would definitely be worthy of a press release from the Mayor.
You can review some of the background on Port development from our archive page here, while notes related to City council discussion points can be found On our City Council Archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Victoria Viewpoints: Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene.
Eliminating Turpel-Lanfond's office would be a betrayal of B.C.'s vulnerable children
B. C. Auditor general faults province for lax computer security
B. C. government systems vulnerable to hacking: Auditor General
Province rebuffs Metro Vancouver calls to reform Translink
B. C. Minister rejects bid by Vancouver area Mayors to run Translink
Child services review overlooks social workers disregarding rules: BC lawyer
Internal report sheds little light on B. C. Health Ministry firings
Highway of Tears Transportation safety plan a 'start'
B. C. Minister Stephanie Cadieux defends track record after Plecas report
Ferries make headway as B. C. lobbies for Federal cash
Plecas delivers insider's point of view
Christy Clark's chief of staff 'stepping back'
Christy Clark on greenhouse gases and government ads
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