Making Waves in Tumbler Ridge

Posted on 10 February 2010

Two stories that I’ve worked on have been credited to some degree with affecting change in Tumbler Ridge. From today’s edition:

“A grassroots community effort is to thank for Charles Helm’s spot in the Olympic torch relay through Tumbler Ridge on January 31, after the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) gave a last-minute nod to a local torchbearer.
But before that phone call was made, concerns from local citizens and the 2010 Spirit Committee were amplified by CBC Radio, Mayor Larry White, Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom, and Minister of State for the Olympics Mary McNeil. It culminated in a phone call to director of community services Cheryl Hayden at 5 p.m. the night before the relay.”

from Olympic Efforts Net Local Torchbearer »

And:

“A strong show of support by council in reaction to Dr. Charles Helm’s three-page letter led Mayor Larry White to update Lekstrom on the urgency of the issue. The difficulties posed by a “911 only” emergency room policy in Tumbler Ridge might also be taken to the Health Minister and Premier. Last Wednesday (Feb. 3), Charles Helm took his message to an audience across northern B.C., as he was interviewed on CBC Radio’s Daybreak North morning program…

“Helm’s decision to air the issue may have spurred some new developments. A Northern Health spokesperson was on the line with CBC’s Daybreak North the morning following (Feb. 4) Helm’s interview. Later in the day, a Northern Health representative connected via teleconference to the interagency meeting taking place in Tumbler Ridge. And nine days after Helm told Northern Health he was going public with the issue, mayor and council and Tumbler Ridge’s seniors needs task force received Northern Health’s 26-page response to a report submitted by the district 16 months ago.”

from Emergency Room Policy Continues to Make Noise »

This is why I like the CBC– although it’s a national broadcaster, it fills an important role in the local news spectrum, taking stories like these and making them regional, and even provincial or national. I can’t think of any ‘national’ paper that does that to any real degree, nor do any commercial broadcasters I know of. It certainly isn’t a replacement for local news coverage (the Tumbler Ridge News being a case in point as a paper who is able to follow these local stories to a greater depth than the CBC likely will), but the ‘national conversation’ would have a lot less on places from Tumbler Ridge or even Prince George without it.

Filed under: CBC, personal