Week 23 – June 5
Mayor, council up own salaries
District of 100 Mile House councillors voted to give themselves and the mayor a pay raise.
As of June 1, Mayor Mitch Campsall’s annual remuneration became $15,000 (including $5,000 for expenses), and councillors went to $7,500 annually (including $2,500 for expenses). Both had one per cent increases added annually until further notice.
Campsall noted it had been six years since they had any pay raise, so the increases didn’t catch up with inflation.
Grad earns illustrious medal
Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) graduate Jillian Matlock won the prestigious Governor General’s Bronze Medal for her outstanding academic achievements.
She was presented the coveted medal at the 2013 graduation awards ceremony.
Said school principal Vic Brett: “We couldn’t ask for a better role model and ambassador for PSO.”
Province declines on pipeline
Many First Nations, environmental groups and others applauded Premier Christy Clark when the province’s final written submission to Ottawa stated it did not support the Northern Gateway (NG) Pipeline Project as it stood.
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett noted she wouldn’t personally support Enbridge’s NG project until her government’s five “stringent” conditions have been met. However, she said she remained hopeful the conditions and remaining issues could be sufficiently addressed.
Week 24 – June 12
Corbett: Bring back the train
Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association chair Pat Corbett asked Canadian National Railways (CN) representatives about the potential for returning regular passenger service to the South Cariboo.
At a meeting for local rail service stakeholders, Corbett told CN assistant superintendent Mike Peterson and track supervisor Wade Thompkins that this passenger service is needed back on the rails.
He called the more costly Rocky Mountaineer a “cruise ship on rails.”
Clark runs in Okanagan byelection
Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart gave up his seat so Premier Christy Clark could run in a byelection to secure her required legislative position.
After Clark lost the Vancouver-Point Grey constituency in the May 14 provincial election, she needed a “safe seat” where she’d be a shoo-in to win.
Up-to-date ultrasound
Emergency doctors in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region learned the essentials of how to use an up-to-date ultrasound machine to look for critical, life threatening conditions.
The South Cariboo Health Foundation had purchased the Emergency Department Echo (EDE) equipment for 100 Mile District General Hospital, providing an ultrasound technique that allows doctors to make emergency, patient-care decisions in minutes.
Week 25 – June 19
Safeway sold to Sobeys
Canada Safeway was sold to Sobeys for $5.8 billion in an all-cash transaction.
About 175 employees in the three Safeway stores across the Cariboo could have been potentially affected by the sale.
The parent company, Empire Co. Ltd. of Nova Scotia, was not yet sure if it would re-brand the Safeway stores. In June, its Canadian brands included Sobeys, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods and some IGA stores.
Cadets excel, commander changes
The cadets did well when the 2887 Rocky Mountain Rangers Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corp underwent its 41st Annual Ceremonial Review at the Horse Lake Road training centre.
Commander W.S. (Stan) Bates travelled from Esquimalt as the reviewing officer.
Since his three-year term was completed, former 2887 RMR commanding officer Capt. Kevin Seal handed over his post to former DCO Training Capt. Dale Bachmier at the ceremony.
Land-use plans eyed
The potential for opening up the Cariboo-Chilcotin Land Use Plan (CCLUP) to mitigate mid-term timber supply shortages seemed to be gaining ground.
Cariboo Land Use Strategy Committee project leader Keith Dufresne made a presentation on timber-supply issues to District of 100 Mile House council. The group was joined by representatives from West Fraser, district staff and a handful of community members.
Week 26 – June 26
Junior gym stays open
While most folks understood 100 Mile Junior House Secondary School was closing for good once classes let out for the summer, School District #27 (SD27) announced its gymnasium would temporarily remain in use.
It was kept open for Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) students, who would be transported over for physical education classes while their own was under construction, as well as for the community at large.
Prosperity hearings planned
The federal review panel for the proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Project announced the public hearings would begin in Williams Lake on July 22.
Both Taseko corporate affairs vice-president Brian Battison (proponent) and Tsilhqot’in National Government tribal chair Chief Joe Alphonse (opponent) were looking forward to welcoming the panel, although Alphonse expected it to be a “difficult process.”
Canim Lake resort flooded
A stream at Canim Lake burst its banks upstream from, and at, the Ponderosa Resort on June 20, and washed out the resort’s beach and flooding its condo rental building.
Owners were roused from sleep by a loud noise at 1:30 a.m. and looked out to find rushing water carrying mud and rocks crashing down a nearby hill, across the road and through his resort.
When the debris filled the creek bed to the brim, a flood soon covered much of the resort grounds.
