Prince George

An archive of my posts about my home in the traditional lands of the Lheidli T’enneh, aka the City of Prince George.

This post was originally titled “Challenging Prince George mayor and council to show “courageous leadership.” I’ve changed it because I don’t enjoy the tone of “challenging,” but left this note because it’s fair to know the original content/context. Yesterday, I went on Daybreak North with this story: The City of Prince George has cut its […]

Posted on 7 February 2012 and filed under articles, comments, Prince George

The Coldsnap music festival just finished up in Prince George. I’m a big fan of the festival (and, disclosure, a board member). It’s brought in all-sorts of high-calibre acts that normally wouldn’t tour the city, including Joel Plaskett, Shad, the Great Lake Swimmers, and Dan Managan. This year was no different, with an awesome show […]

Posted on 3 February 2012 and filed under articles, comments, music, Prince George

Online database for Vancouver renters in the works → From CKNW: Vancouver is one step closer to having an online database for renters. A motion is going before council next week calling for the creation of a searchable rental database. Mayor Gregor Robertson calls it a necessary tool for Vancouver renters, adding it will them […]

Posted on 11 January 2012 and filed under Prince George

In today’s issue of the Prince George Citizen, they provide an update on work being done by the Red Cross for displaced residents of the Victoria Towers apartment building that was evacuated after a fire November 3. In it, they talk to Lisa Anne Pierce, the Red Cross’ provincial manager of disaster assistance. From the […]

Posted on 21 December 2011 and filed under articles, Best Of, comments, Prince George

This one feels good. As I write this, the most prominent story on CBC’s B.C. website is about some Vancouver landlords who are being taken to court by the city for years of causing problems for their tenants and refusing to pay fines when ordered. A pretty big story from those Vancouver residents who’ve been […]

Posted on 15 December 2011 and filed under articles, Best Of, CBC, comments, Prince George

With the recent municipal election (and the not-unexpected low voter turnout), I realized something. Even though I now have a pretty good grasp on city politics, it’s in large part due to the fact that I had to teach myself in order to cover city council meetings as part of my job at CBC. If […]

Posted on 5 December 2011 and filed under articles, politics, Prince George

Summary: Even though the province of B.C. has a branch that can order landlords to repair or upgrade their rental units, it’s up to municipalities to make sure the work gets done. And many cities, including Prince George, have no mechanism to do this. So what are renters supposed to do when they have a […]

Posted on 1 December 2011 and filed under articles, British Columbia, CBC, comments, Prince George

Bus routes should focus less on where they go and more on how easy they are to understand.

Posted on 30 November 2011 and filed under articles, Best Of, comments, main, Prince George, transit

Yesterday’s Citizen featured an opinion piece by Todd Whitcombe, UNBC science professor and past provincial NDP candidate. It’s behind a paywall, so here’s the portion that I’ll be commenting on: “None of these economic opportunities are going to generate the thousands of jobs that we need in this town in order to prosper and grow. […]

Posted on 29 November 2011 and filed under Best Of, comments, ideas, Prince George

Prince George has a new mayor, and a mix of old and new on city council. As has become customary for election campaigns over the past few years, there were a number of candidates running on the idea of re-connecting with voters, being more accessible and transparent, and having a two-way conversation with citizens. I’m […]

Posted on 21 November 2011 and filed under articles, comments, main, politics, Prince George, social media

Note: This is an informal reflection on the results of last night’s election. Opinions are completely my own, and subject to change. The votes are in, and Prince George has a new mayor and a few new faces on council. From the start, pundits were saying the race between Green and Rogers would be a […]

Posted on 20 November 2011 and filed under comments, Prince George

It’s local government/school board voting day in B.C., and if history tells us anything, it’s that turnout is going to be fairly low– 50% is, perhaps, optimistic. I think this is too bad since in a lot of ways, civic government is the best example of “direct democracy” we have. Unlike federal or provincial elections […]

Posted on 19 November 2011 and filed under Best Of, comments, Prince George

It is snowing out there today, and this morning I got an email telling me that the #91 bus in Prince George was delayed. That means it’s time for me to remind all of you that I created a tool that will email, text or Tweet you all delays and cancellations issued by BC Transit […]

Posted on 17 November 2011 and filed under articles, cities, Prince George, transit

I’ve written before about the Mr. PG fanpage.  For a quick recap, Mr. PG is Prince George’s roadside mascot, a tall, faux-wood lumberjack character that has been a symbol of the city since 1960. Some years ago, I made a Facebook fan page for the guy, and it’s become pretty popular. As far as I […]

Posted on 13 September 2011 and filed under comments, Prince George, social media

Kits beach on a Thursday   Last week,  I was down in Vancouver and Squamish. Vancouver while my partner worked, and Squamish for a wedding. In Vancouver, I had the day to myself in Kitsilano. It was a sunny day, so at one point I went to the beach. It was nice and close by, […]

Posted on 5 September 2011 and filed under articles, comments, ideas, Prince George