Coal cars derail near Fort Fraser - EDIedynamics.com/uploads/news/PGC-110215-MZ-A001.pdf · Arthur...
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011 Newsstand $1.50 includes HST Home Delivered 67¢/day includes HST www.pgcitizen.ca Classified: 250-562-6666 Reader Sales: 250-562-3301 Switchboard: 250-562-2441 diversions Annie’s Mailbox . . . 2 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . 13 Comics . . . . . . . . . 14 Crossword . . . . . . 14 Horoscope . . . . . . . 2 Classifieds . . . 19-22 0 8 58307 00100 Coal cars derail near Fort Fraser Arthur Williams Citizen staff [email protected] The derailment of 36 train cars near Fort Fraser on Saturday spilled coal across the tracks and closed the line for almost 24 hours. No one was injured in the crash which took place approximately a kilometre east of Fort Fraser near Telegraph Road. “There were no injuries to the crew and no environmental dam- age,” CN Rail spokeswoman Lind- say Fedchynshyn said. “The near- est house is approximately 100 yards away.” At approximately 5:30 p.m. a continuous section of 36 cars de- railed from the 104-car train, Fed- chynshyn said. “The cause is under investiga- tion,” she said. CN Rail crews were able to clear the tracks by 4 p.m. on Sunday, al- lowing train traffic to resume. Area resident Trina Evans said around 2 p.m. on Sunday, crews still had a substantial amount of work ahead of them. “It’s a heck of a mess,” Evans said. “Some of the [coal] piles go up 12 feet high.” According to CN Rail, a stan- dard coal car carries 107 tonnes of coal. There are no homes or business- es in the immediate area of the derailment, she said. Fort Fraser is an unincorportat- ed township approximately 140 kilometres west of Prince George. A CN work crew gets to work cleaning up a 36-car derailment at Fort Fraser, about 140 kilometres west of Prince George. Each of of the cars was loaded with about 107 tonnes of coal.The line between Prince George and Prince Rupert was closed for almost 24 hours. Submitted photo Gordon Hoekstra Citizen staff [email protected] Canada’s auditor general’s of- fice, with its nearly $100-million budget and 635 staff, helps build a better country, a Prince George Chamber of Commerce breakfast was told Monday. That’s because the office helps pro- vide information to Parliament so it can hold government to account for handling public funds, Canada’s au- ditor general Sheila Fraser told a packed audience of more than 120 at the Ramada Hotel. “Our motto is, we report what we find,” said Fraser, whose 10- year term comes to a close at the end of May. She provided several examples of her office’s work. An auditor general examination showed that bureaucrats in charge of replacing Canada’s aging heli- copters didn’t follow their own rules, or understand how compli- cated the projects were, making them more expensive and delay- ing delivery up to seven years. The National Defence and Public Works and Government Services Canada, the department in charge of purchasing, also didn’t tell cabi- net about the extensive changes the Sikorsky Cyclone maritime helicopter and the heavy-lift Boe- ing Chinooks needed to meet their needs, the audit found. Fraser said the helicopters were supposed to be ready off the shelf. Instead, they needed substantial modifications that could increase the price by 70 per cent, she said, drawing a gasp from the Chamber of Commerce audience. Fraser also highlighted an audit by Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner which found the Canadian Coast Guard lacks the training, equipment and management systems to fulfill its duties to respond to offshore pollu- tion incidents such as oil spills. The information is important, given the discussion around an oil tanker ban on B.C.’s northwest coast, she said. However it’s not all bad news. Fraser said the Canada Food In- spection Agency is doing a good job in preparing for animal disease outbreaks like the avian flu, which also have implications for humans. See AUDITOR on page 3 Auditor general helps hold feds accountable Arthur Williams Citizen staff [email protected] Organizers of a cancer-fighting lottery fundraiser got more than they bargained for Monday when the winners of the $25,000 grand prize announced they would do- nate the winnings right back to the cause. Staff at Environmental Dynam- ics Inc. (EDI), winners of the Northern Lodge Lottery, will do- nate $15,000 toward the Canadian Cancer Society’s Northern Lodge. The Northern Lodge will provide a home away from home for can- cer patients while they receive treatment at the cancer centre, set to open in late 2012. And inspired by an employee’s wife’s battle against the disease, they will donate the remaining $10,000 to his family, which will choose what community cancer- related initiatives to support. “About a year ago, a family member of one of our key employ- ees had cancer,” EDI president Bob Redden said. “Jason [Yarmish] and his family had to move out of town ... they were in Kelowna for six months. It was a real hardship for the family.” Yarmish said his wife, Jennifer, was diagnosed with cervical can- cer only days after giving birth to the couple’s third child. Jennifer was told she’d need lengthy treatment in Kelowna or Vancouver, he said. The family de- cided to go to Kelowna together to support Jennifer’s recovery. “With three young children, five, three and two [years old] now, finding a place to stay, even in Kelowna, was difficult,” Yarmish said. See WINNER on page 3 Lottery winner donates $25,000 prize Ron Epp, left, senior partner with KPMG, and Colin Kinsley, candidate for the Prince George-Peace River Conservative nomination, chat with Sheila Fraser, Monday morning at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Ramada Hotel. Citizen photo by David Mah Loose log reined in/page 4 Boarders pound the snow at Tabor/ page 9
Transcript of Coal cars derail near Fort Fraser - EDIedynamics.com/uploads/news/PGC-110215-MZ-A001.pdf · Arthur...
Tuesday,February 15, 2011
Newsstand $1.50 includes HSTHome Delivered 67¢/day
includes HSTwww.pgcitizen.caClassified: 250-562-6666Reader Sales: 250-562-3301Switchboard: 250-562-2441
diversionsAnnie’s Mailbox . . . 2Bridge . . . . . . . . . . 13Comics . . . . . . . . . 14Crossword . . . . . . 14Horoscope . . . . . . . 2Classifieds . . . 19-22
0 858307 00100
Coal cars derail near Fort FraserArthur WilliamsCitizen [email protected]
The derailment of 36 train carsnear Fort Fraser on Saturdayspilled coal across the tracks andclosed the line for almost 24hours.
No one was injured in the crashwhich took place approximately akilometre east of Fort Fraser nearTelegraph Road.
“There were no injuries to thecrew and no environmental dam-age,” CN Rail spokeswoman Lind-say Fedchynshyn said. “The near-est house is approximately 100yards away.”
At approximately 5:30 p.m. acontinuous section of 36 cars de-railed from the 104-car train, Fed-chynshyn said.
“The cause is under investiga-tion,” she said.
CN Rail crews were able to clearthe tracks by 4 p.m. on Sunday, al-lowing train traffic to resume.
Area resident Trina Evans saidaround 2 p.m. on Sunday, crewsstill had a substantial amount ofwork ahead of them.
“It’s a heck of a mess,” Evanssaid. “Some of the [coal] piles goup 12 feet high.”
According to CN Rail, a stan-dard coal car carries 107 tonnes ofcoal.
There are no homes or business-es in the immediate area of thederailment, she said.
Fort Fraser is an unincorportat-ed township approximately 140kilometres west of Prince George.
A CN work crew gets to work cleaning up a 36-car derailment at Fort Fraser, about 140 kilometres west of Prince George. Each of of the cars wasloaded with about 107 tonnes of coal. The line between Prince George and Prince Rupert was closed for almost 24 hours.Submitted photo
Gordon HoekstraCitizen [email protected]
Canada’s auditor general’s of-fice, with its nearly $100-millionbudget and 635 staff, helps build abetter country, a Prince GeorgeChamber of Commerce breakfastwas told Monday.
That’s because the office helps pro-vide information to Parliament so itcan hold government to account forhandling public funds, Canada’s au-ditor general Sheila Fraser told apacked audience of more than 120at the Ramada Hotel.
“Our motto is, we report whatwe find,” said Fraser, whose 10-year term comes to a close at theend of May.
She provided several examplesof her office’s work.
An auditor general examinationshowed that bureaucrats in chargeof replacing Canada’s aging heli-copters didn’t follow their ownrules, or understand how compli-cated the projects were, makingthem more expensive and delay-ing delivery up to seven years.
The National Defence and PublicWorks and Government Services
Canada, the department in chargeof purchasing, also didn’t tell cabi-net about the extensive changesthe Sikorsky Cyclone maritimehelicopter and the heavy-lift Boe-ing Chinooks needed to meet theirneeds, the audit found.
Fraser said the helicopters weresupposed to be ready off the shelf.Instead, they needed substantialmodifications that could increasethe price by 70 per cent, she said,drawing a gasp from the Chamberof Commerce audience.
Fraser also highlighted an auditby Environment and SustainableDevelopment Commissioner whichfound the Canadian Coast Guardlacks the training, equipment andmanagement systems to fulfill itsduties to respond to offshore pollu-tion incidents such as oil spills.
The information is important,given the discussion around an oiltanker ban on B.C.’s northwestcoast, she said.
However it’s not all bad news.Fraser said the Canada Food In-spection Agency is doing a goodjob in preparing for animal diseaseoutbreaks like the avian flu, whichalso have implications for humans.
See AUDITOR on page 3
Auditor general helps hold feds accountable
Arthur WilliamsCitizen [email protected]
Organizers of a cancer-fightinglottery fundraiser got more thanthey bargained for Monday whenthe winners of the $25,000 grandprize announced they would do-nate the winnings right back to the
cause.Staff at Environmental Dynam-
ics Inc. (EDI), winners of theNorthern Lodge Lottery, will do-nate $15,000 toward the CanadianCancer Society’s Northern Lodge.
The Northern Lodge will providea home away from home for can-cer patients while they receivetreatment at the cancer centre, set
to open in late 2012. And inspired by an employee’s
wife’s battle against the disease,they will donate the remaining$10,000 to his family, which willchoose what community cancer-related initiatives to support.
“About a year ago, a familymember of one of our key employ-ees had cancer,” EDI president Bob
Redden said. “Jason [Yarmish]and his family had to move out oftown ... they were in Kelowna forsix months. It was a real hardshipfor the family.”
Yarmish said his wife, Jennifer,was diagnosed with cervical can-cer only days after giving birth tothe couple’s third child.
Jennifer was told she’d need
lengthy treatment in Kelowna orVancouver, he said. The family de-cided to go to Kelowna together tosupport Jennifer’s recovery.
“With three young children, five,three and two [years old] now,finding a place to stay, even inKelowna, was difficult,” Yarmishsaid.
See WINNER on page 3
Lottery winner donates $25,000 prize
Ron Epp, left, senior partner with KPMG, and Colin Kinsley, candidate for the Prince George-Peace RiverConservative nomination, chat with Sheila Fraser, Monday morning at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast atthe Ramada Hotel.Citizen photo by David Mah
Loose log reined in/page 4
Boarderspoundthe snowat Tabor/page 9
3www.pgcitizen.ca | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS...
Parkwood Place • 250-564-1718 • www.michaelsjewellers.ca
1-800-818-7728
Available at
00651295 00666495
Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award Winner
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localDrop by Books and Company at 10 a.m. Tuesdayto help Citizen reporter Mark Nielsen fill uphis notebook. The coffee is on us!
Lorraine Grant, director with the BC-Yukon Canadian Cancer Society, Northern Lodge; $25,000-winners Bob Redden and JasonYarmish, both with Environmental Dynamics Inc,; Craig Wood and Tom Sentes, with Wood Wheaton, display the winning chequedrawn for at noon Monday.Citizen photo by David Mah
Winner gives back cancer cash
— from page 1She is perhaps best known for her report on the
sponsorship scandal that unveiled questionable prac-tices by Liberals in Quebec. Her report confirmed se-rious problems in the federal government’s manage-ment of its sponsorship program for a four-year peri-od beginning in 1997.
Fraser’s visit to Prince George fulfilled the “wish” ofmembers who’d submitted her name when a requestwent out for potential speakers, said Chamber presi-dent Roy Spooner.
Her name was also top choicefor the event’s official sponsors,KPMG and The Citizen.
Fraser took the opportunity toexplain that half of the auditor gen-eral’s audits are financial, but theother half are performance audits.
And while the auditor generalis not a watchdog, the perform-ance audits are undertaken on arisk-based approach: an exami-nation of what’s most meaningfuland likely to have the greatest impact, said Fraser.
The auditor general carries out its work in consulta-tion with government departments and most Crownagencies to ensure they have the facts straight. But ifthere are recommendations, government depart-ments are now required to produce an action plan,and there is a follow-up audit, she said.
“That’s a rewarding part of our job – we do seethings change,” she said.
But demonstrating that the auditor general’s workleads to improvement is also important for the public,who can legitimately question what value they aregetting for the office’s nearly $100-million-a-yearbudget, said Fraser in an interview following herpresentation.
She said the public is calling for more transparencyand accountability.
To that end, during her tenure, Fraser instituted apolicy of producing reports in plain language so aver-age Canadians don’t have to labour through bureau-cratic jargon.
— from page 1Having the support of the Canadian
Cancer Society and oncology staff inKelowna and Vancouver was crucial forthe family, he said.
The B.C. Cancer Agency Centre for theNorth and Northern Lodge will providethe same service for people in NorthernB.C.
“Having that here is going to makesuch a difference,” Yarmish said. “Andmy wife, I’m pleased to say, is doing verywell. She’s already looking at what shecan do as a volunteer.”
The lottery, organized by Wood
Wheaton Supercentre, raised an addi-tional $51,000 to support the NorthernLodge.
Northern Lodge campaign managerLes Waldie said the Canadian Cancer So-ciety has raised approximately 75 percent of the $10 million goal.
“This is a nice push for the campaign,”Waldie said. “We expect construction tobegin in July of this year. It’s coming verywell.”
The lodge will have 36 beds and offersupport services for cancer patients andtheir families. The project is on scheduleto be complete by the time the full-serv-
ice cancer centre opens in Prince Georgein late 2012.
“There is a lot of fundraising going on,”he said. “The support of the conceptfrom the community and the region hasbeen very strong.”
Wood Wheaton fleet manager TomSentes said dealership owner CraigWood has made supporting the cancerlodge a focus.
“This is the first of several fundraisingprograms that Wood Wheaton is going todo for the cancer lodge,” Sentes said.“This is a major community undertaking,we need everybody’s support.”
Auditor generalopens some eyesat Chamber breakfast meeting
FRASER
Gordon HoekstraCitizen [email protected]
Northern B.C.’s say in who will be thenext premier has increased with the B.C.Liberal Party’s overwhelming vote toadopt a new system to select their leader.
Delegates voted 1,319 to 23 this pastweekend in support of a weighted ballotthat will give each of the province’s 85ridings an equal say Feb. 26 in selectingthe party’s new leader, and premier.
Weighted voting replaces the one-member, one-vote system and is meant tooffset the large memberships in some ac-tive, populous Lower Mainland ridings.
Prince George-area Liberal MLAs sup-ported the adoption of weighted voting,saying it’s important the next premier ofthe province has support from all regions.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell an-nounced last November he was steppingdown half way through his third term.Whoever is chosen among the six candi-dates will become premier.
Prince George-Valemount Liberal MLAPat Bell said he was stunned by the del-uge of support.
“When you see this level of support forthe new voting system, it tells me that ur-ban members of the party understandthe importance of a strong rural B.C.,”said Bell, the forests and mining minister.
Six leadership candidates backed theweighted system going into the specialmeeting on Saturday. The candidates in-clude former cabinet ministers George Ab-bott, Kevin Falcon, Mike de Jong and MoriaStilwell. Also running are former LiberalMLA turned radio talk-show host ChristyClark and Parksville mayor Ed Mayne.
Bell, who supports Falcon, said hethinks the near-unanimous agreementalso sends a message that the party’scoalition is strong.
Under Campbell, the Liberals gatheredbackers from conservatives and more cen-tre-based voters in rural and urban B.C.
The Liberals won five of the eightnorthern B.C. ridings in the last election,but the Prince George ridings are consid-ered swing seats. The NDP won PrinceGeorge ridings when they formed gov-ernment in 1972, 1991 and 1996.
Nechako Lakes Liberal MLA John Rus-tad said he was fearful ahead of the votethat leadership tactics would play a partin the decision, but was pleased dele-gates voted for the good of the party.
“The importance of this is that it recog-nizes we are able to reach out and be aparty of inclusion,” said Rustad.
Weighted ballot gives northern ridings a bigger voice in Liberal leadership vote
Citizen staffFour anonymous artists, four early morning hours, 96 litres of red food
colouring sprayed on 19 snow-piles around Prince George. A random act of art was done to activate curiosity, thought and con-
versation on this “red letter day” attributed to St. Valentine, according toan anonymous artist behind the action.
She said the artists wanted to remind people of the gift of love and toremember how fortunate we are – before it melts away.
A random act of art
Caitie Hueller and Shanara Perry walked past one of the temporary artworks, this one at Domano and Highway 16.Citizen photo by David Mah
