32 Years Ago (1986): Alex Fraser and Neil Vant were announced as the representatives for the Social Credit Party in the Cariboo for the Oct. 22 provincial election. Fraser, then the Minister of Transportation and Highways, was elected by acclamation on a separate ballot at the Socred nomination meeting in Quesnel. Neil Vant, a rector at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Williams Lake and a former resident of 100 Mile House, won the second separate ballot with 273 votes over Elmer Thiessen’s 254.
27 Years Ago (1991): Mountaineer Tim Rippel of 108 Mile Ranch didn’t make it to the top of Mount Everest, but he received a hero’s welcome on his return home from Kathmandu at the Vancouver International Airport. In his wheelchair pushed by his wife Becky, who went to Tibet to bring him home, he was greeted by friends and family. The former Mount Timothy Ski Hill manager injured his knee 7,000 metres into the climb, less than 900 metres from the summit.
22 Years Ago (1996): Members of the 100 Mile RCMP nailed four drivers who were under the influence between Sept. 13 and Sept. 23, a number somewhat more shocking given the fact two busts were made during broad daylight. Whether it was pure coincidence or the start of a trend, then RCMP Staff Sgt. Martin Sarich was concerned with the recent impaireds. “The bottom line is that people have to be cognizant that there is a lot of responsibility and the likelihood of an accident is extremely high nowadays with the volume of traffic.”
18 Years Ago (2000): BC Hydro paid out $115,879.65 to the District of 100 Mile House for the 2000 calendar year. Of that, school taxes accounted for $86,346.33 and a further $29,533 worth of grants-in-lieu was paid. Province-wide, BC Hydro paid about $183.3 million in taxes and grants-in-lieu of taxes in 2000, a slight decrease over the $141.1 million paid in 1991. This reflected a decrease in the value of BC Hydro’s properties located in communities around the province. Of the $138.3 million paid this year, about $97.4 million went to school taxes and another went to grants-in-lieu for local governments.
13 Years Ago (2005): On Sept. 28, the federal government doled out $38 million during the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention. This was the first instalment of the $635.6 million that was allocated from the federal gas tax fund. In 2005, 100 Mile House was $45,947 richer, but nobody was jumping for joy. “Great it’s coming, but our philosophy is if you leave the money in the consumers’ pockets and then if you needed money for things like road sewers, etc; you could up your taxes because the taxpayer has more money in his pocket,” said then-Mayor Donna Barnett.
