Local news from Fort St. John, Taylor, Fort Nelson, Dawson Creek and the rest of Northeast B.C. Energeticcity.ca is your source for news and events! We are the only local news source with full-time staff working in Fort St. John.
Grande Prairie RCMP have issued a warrant for a man who led police on a chase through the city, and may have a connection to another incident where a man was allegedly threatened with a firearm. 34-year-old Curtis Wesley Augustus of Grande Prairie is wanted for possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose, flight from […]
VANCOUVER — Officials with the Artificial Reef Society of B.C. say the sea floor is adapting well six months after the sinking of a decommissioned Canadian warship in Howe Sound, north of Vancouver.
HMCS Annapolis went down amid controversy in Halkett Bay off Gambier Island in April, ending years of legal battles from critics who argued paint on the ship's hull contained toxic chemicals.
Howard Robbins, the president of the artificial reef society, says those worries appear unfounded and the ship is living up to its environmental goal.
Rockfish stocks have been declining in Georgia Strait, but Robbins says some of the small, spiny fish have already been spotted nosing around the Annapolis.
He says the old ship is also becoming increasingly popular with divers, closing the loop on a circle route for scuba fans that includes the HMCS Chaudiere in Sechelt Inlet, and several ships near Nanaimo.
In all, the artificial reef society has sunk seven vessels in B.C. waters. (CKAY)
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin is turning another page on its sullied past with a deal to settle corruption allegations in two African countries in a move it hopes could provide a formula to resolve problems in Canada.
Under the deal, the company has agreed to pay $1.5 million and accept certain conditions to settle a corruption case filed by the African Development Bank Group, both the bank and SNC said Thursday.
The regional development bank said the settlement resolves allegations, which SNC didn't contest, that former employees of SNC-Lavalin International Inc. ordered illicit payments to public officials to secure two contracts.
The development bank said one of the contracts was awarded to SNC (TSX:SNC) in October 2008 to supervise construction of a road and bridge in Mozambique. The other was awarded in 2010 to supervise a road upgrade in Uganda.
"The sanctions imposed under the settlement agreement reflect the level of co-operation provided by the company in the investigation of the matter," said Anna Bossman, director of the development bank's anti-corruption department.
In addition to the monetary penalty to support anti-corruption initiatives in Africa, SNC has agreed to meet certain undisclosed conditions for two years and 10 months. The settlement means the subsidiary won't be barred from bidding on future contracts in the two countries. No other SNC subsidiaries will be sanctioned.
In 2013, the World Bank suspended SNC-Lavalin International and more than 100 affiliates from bidding on projects it finances for up to 10 years over allegations of bribery in Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Outgoing SNC-Lavalin CEO Robert Card said the African settlement demonstrates that companies "can engage in a constructive dialogue and find effective means to reward remediation while allowing companies to move forward."
SNC-Lavalin wants Canada to adopt a similar model used in Britain and the United States that allows it to pay a fine but spares companies trials that could prevent convicted firms from bidding on government contracts.
The Montreal-based company will appear in court Oct. 16 for a criminal fraud case filed in Canada. The RCMP alleges that SNC-Lavalin paid nearly $47.7 million to public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to influence government decisions.
It also charged the company, its construction division and its SNC-Lavalin International subsidiary with one charge each of fraud and one of corruption for allegedly defrauding various Libyan organizations of about $129.8 million.
SNC has said it will plead not guilty and that the charges stem from alleged activities of former employees who face criminal charges.
If convicted, SNC-Lavalin could be banned from bidding on Canadian government contracts for 10 years under Ottawa's so-called integrity framework. However, the federal government has moved to reduce penalties if companies co-operate with authorities and take remedial action. But SNC-Lavalin says the government's changes don't go far enough and are out of step with Canada's trading partners.
Analyst Maxim Sytchev of Dundee Capital Markets said the Africa settlement was a small step in a lengthy process by SNC to clean up its operations and deal with issues of the past.
"If the company is not being debarred from foreign jurisdictions I believe the probability of them being squeezed by Canada is diminishing as we speak," Sytchev said.
Follow @RossMarowits on Twitter.
Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Like many, Greg Vanney is relishing the Toronto Blue Jays' playoff run.
The Toronto FC coach sees positives in the Jays' makeup and style of play that ring true for many sports. He also believes the fervent support for the baseball team could be headed his way if the MLS side achieves its long-awaited goal of making the playoffs.
"They are fun to watch," Vanney said of the Jays. "They've got a great attacking team. They put runs on the board, They do a good job of getting themselves out into leads early which has been fun to watch.
"I think they do a lot of things that are important regardless of your sport. They do a lot of things that good mature teams that have good pieces, that have been together, do to put themselves in the best chance to get as far as possible.
"I grew up playing baseball, so I have some sense of the game and I think they have a great group. And they've also got their mojo about them and a camaraderie about them that you get through experiences. Hard experiences as well as great experiences, you get this energy about you and this mojo about you.
"That's what I enjoy watching, because they truly are this team that's come together and feels great about who they are and what they're doing."
TFC could book its first-ever trip to the playoffs this weekend if it dispatches Philadelphia and gets some help from Montreal and D.C. United in other matches
Vanney says the fervent support for the Jays is hard to miss, especially when the two Toronto teams play same day and TFC is resting in its downtown hotel near the Rogers Centre.
"We're often in the hotel and they play at 1 o'clock and we play at 3 o'clock and we see the crowds pouring into the stadium in the Blue Jays shirts and everything else. You can see there's a groundswell of support for this group and people feel it.
"And that for us is also motivation. We know if we continue to win games and build that momentum and get over some of the hurdles that people keep bringing up in our past and we move forward and people start believing in us, that's same groundswell will come with this group because people are waiting for us to make that statement."
Vanney, who played his club soccer in MLS and France, says in his younger days he was a second baseman/leadoff hitter and occasional catcher who batted for average but not for power.
Centre back Josh Williams, an Ohio native who follows the Indians and also used to play baseball himself, has also been watching the Jays' progress.
"It's exciting for them and I'm enjoying it. It's good baseball," he said.
TFC players have gone to Jays games, with some of the foreign players a little mystified at the rules.
"You could tell guys were a little thrown off by it. They had no idea why guys (were) coming out of the bullpen, why is this guy on the field now, stuff like that," Williams said. "But for the most part I think most of the guys get it"
Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Disgraced former broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi pleaded not guilty Thursday to five charges against him.
The former host of CBC Radio's cultural affairs show "Q'' is facing five charges including four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking.
Ghomeshi's trial on those charges begins Feb. 1, 2016 and will be by judge only.
The 48-year-old did not speak with reporters as he walked into the courthouse in downtown Toronto where he was arraigned during a court appearance.
Ghomeshi, wearing a dark suit and tie, spoke only two words in court, "not guilty," when asked how he pleaded. He had to repeat that because he wasn't speaking into a microphone.
Judge William Horkins then cleared the public and media from the courtroom to deal with a motion.
Ghomeshi was originally charged with seven counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking, but the Crown withdrew two sexual assault charges in May because they said there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
He is also facing one charge of sexual assault that is being tried separately. That trial is scheduled to begin next June.
The CBC fired Ghomeshi last October after executives saw what they described as graphic evidence that he had physically injured a woman.
The one-time radio star has admitted to engaging in rough sex, but said it was consensual.
The alleged assaults for which he was originally charged occurred between 2002 and 2008.
Ghomeshi's $100,000 bail conditions require him to remain in Ontario and live with his mother.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
CALGARY — ATB Financial is forecasting that Alberta's economy will contract in 2015 — a more pessimistic view than in early July when the regional financial services group said the province would likely avoid a recession this year.
"After five consecutive years of exceptionally strong growth, it now appears certain that Alberta's economy will contract in 2015," the bank wrote in its fourth-quarter outlook released Thursday.
The provincially owned bank predicts real GDP contraction of 0.7 per cent in 2015 before the economy gets out of its slump and grows 1.4 per cent in 2016.
That compares with real GDP growth of 4.4 per cent in 2014, when oil and gas prices were much higher.
ATB says the drop in oil prices is the "single reason" for the economic challenges as prices have fallen to about US$45 a barrel at present from more than US$100 in the summer of 2014.
The drop in oil prices has caused energy companies to drastically cut costs, leading to further job losses as well as reductions in both wages and overtime hours.
ATB is predicting that the unemployment rate will rise to 5.9 per cent this year from 4.7 per cent last year before improving slightly to 5.7 per cent next year.
The bank says it expects the North American benchmark price for oil to trade around US$45 to US$50 a barrel for the rest of 2015, rising only moderately to between US$55 to US$60 by mid-to-late 2016.
Indicators outside the oil and gas industry have shown more stability, with the bank saying residential construction was solid, retail and wholesale trade has stabilized and manufacturing has levelled off.
The report says that agriculture, the Alberta's second-largest sector, had disappointing crop production this year due to drought in some parts of the province, while forestry remains in good shape thanks to strong prices for lumber.
For the economy to recover, the bank says oil prices would need to rebound at least a little, labour costs would have to rebalance and sectors outside the energy industry such as agriculture, forestry and tourism need to see strong performances. As well, the Canadian dollar needs to stay low to help exporters.
Follow @ibickis on Twitter.
Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Disgraced former broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi has pleaded not guilty to all five charges against him.
The former host of CBC Radio's cultural affairs show "Q'' is facing five charges including four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcome resistance, choking.
Ghomeshi was arraigned this morning during a court appearance in Toronto.
More coming.
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — As his ministers begin hailing a yet-to-be-signed trans-Pacific trade deal, Stephen Harper is promising Canada's long-standing protection of the dairy and poultry industries will be preserved.
The long-awaited 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership is shaping up to be a dominant theme on the campaign trail this week, with speculation rampant that a deal is finally taking shape.
An agreement in principle could be announced as early as Friday, but it's not the first time an anticipated announcement has failed to materialize: the last round of negotiations in July ended in disappointment.
Not everyone expects the deal to be good news.
On Parliament Hill, dairy farmers walked their cows, parked tractors on city streets and dumped milk on the pavement to protest an agreement they fear will mark an end to their way of life.
Major dairy producers like New Zealand are pushing for fewer trade barriers in foreign markets, including Canada's.
Canada's supply management system — a structure of production limits and import tariffs — has long been a cornerstone of the profitable, economically viable family farm, Harper said during a campaign event in Kleinburg, Ont.
"This government remains absolutely committed to making sure we preserve our system of supply management through trade negotiations," he said.
"Decisions to be made on whether we have such a system or not are decisions we want Canadians to take, not foreigners to take."
The Conservatives' energy is focused on being able to herald a deal on the TPP by the end of the week, thereby bolstering the party's credentials on matters of international trade.
A series of events are being planned for the end of the week, but ministers were already sending out news releases Monday touting the advantages of a deal and quoting from supporters in the business community.
Harper also said that Canada's auto sector would be protected, but that it was important for the wider economy to be part of the negotiations. Part of the talks have centred around loosening the rules around what proportion of a car manufactured in Canada must actually originate here.
"We know it is important, the jobs of the future are going to depend in a global economy in our access, privileged access to international markets," he said.
"We have to stay at the table, defend and protect our interests, and be prepared to move forward."
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's position is quite similar to Harper's, although he says there should have been more openness around the deal. There is uncertainty around many other elements of the TPP, including provisions that would affect cultural industries and health care.
"Yet again, we have a prime minister who is engaged in the kind of secrecy and non-transparency that leaves a lot of people uncertain, when we need to have a prime minister who is making the case for trade, and pointing out how many jobs come through trade," Trudeau said in Winnipeg.
The trade deal came up during Monday night's foreign affairs debate. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said he didn't trust the Conservatives to protect the dairy industry, which has a large presence in Quebec.
"I'm quite concerned about what’s being left on the table by the Conservatives," he said.
"And our dairy farmers have every right to be concerned; I think that supply management is on the table."
Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — An aboriginal agency that was caring for a foster teen who died at a British Columbia hotel says the province appears to be shifting blame for political reasons.
Premier Christy Clark has accused the Fraser Valley Aboriginal Children and Family Services Society of making a "real mistake" for not telling the Children's Ministry that 18-year-old Alex Gervais was staying alone in a hotel.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the agency says the ministry can't distance itself from systemic issues that lead to devastating outcomes such as Gervais's death.
It says focusing on the agency appears to be a political move at a time when it needs leadership, not politics.
The agency says the ministry must work with it to ensure such a tragedy never happens again, and the plan must include proper residential placements for youth who need support.
Gervais fell from a fourth-floor window of an Abbotsford hotel on Sept. 18, and his death has prompted the Opposition NDP to call for Children's Minister Stephanie Cadieux to resign.
The Canadian Press
CALGARY — Asking the public to "reimagine carbon," a group of oilsands companies is helping to launch a $20-million XPrize competition to find innovative ways to address carbon emissions.
Dan Wicklum, chief executive of Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, said the goal is to find practical uses for converted carbon emissions, rather than an outright reduction in carbon dioxide production.
"The competition will promote and advance the discovery and development of new technologies to take carbon emissions, which are now seen as a liability, and change them into a resource, a valuable, usable product," Wicklum said at the public launch Tuesday.
"Today we're throwing down the gauntlet, we are lighting a fire under the brightest minds in the world."
The competition runs for four and a half years and the winning team will be the one that converts the most CO2 into one or more products with the highest net value and the smallest environmental impact.
Possible solutions listed by the organizers include new ways to make cement, concrete and other building materials, chemicals to make industrial and consumer goods, low-carbon transportation fuels, or entirely new products.
Teams will be able to choose between capturing carbon emissions from a coal power plant or a natural gas facility.
The prize is being half-funded by U.S.-based NRG Energy, a utility that promotes renewable energy, and half by Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, founded by 13 oilsands companies to find ways to reduce the environmental impacts of the industry.
"The Carbon XPrize embodies everything COSIA works toward every day," said Wicklum.
"COSIA was launched to be the vehicle through which oilsands companies would do things differently, where they would work together on shared environmental challenges and where they would share technology that would accelerate performance improvement."
The non-profit XPrize foundation, known for organizing high-profile research competitions like creating the first private space flight, will run the competition.
Follow @ibickis on Twitter.
Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
BOSTON — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says his comments that he hopes Donald Trump will win the presidency were taken out of context and an example of why he tries to say as little as possible when speaking publicly.
Brady said during an interview with WEEI-FM radio in Boston (http://bit.ly/1L2fn3x ) that his vote is going to be his own personal choice based on how he feels.
"I don't even know what the issues are. I haven't paid attention to politics in a long time," Brady said. "It's actually not something that I really even enjoy. It's way off my radar."
The clarification comes after Brady displayed a red "Make America Great Again" hat from the Trump campaign in his locker while speaking with reporters on Sept. 16, the same day as a Republican presidential debate. When asked whether he thought Trump has what it takes to win the presidency, Brady said: "I hope so. It would be great. There would be a putting green on the White House lawn, I'm sure of that."
Brady called the remark an "offhanded comment" that reporters ran with to "get the clicks."
"I try to have fun with certain things, you know, but some things a lot of times get taken out of context," he said. "I think you are just more careful with what you say because you don't want certainly a big headline with you as saying something that's going to take the attention away from your teammates or what you're trying to do."
Brady said he thinks athletes in team sports sometimes selfishly draw attention to their own opinions and comments.
"When you're speaking publicly and you've got a lot of people listening I think it's probably in everyone's best interest in today's day and age to say as little as possible," Brady said. "That's just the way it is and I think the way our culture is right now. Everything is really out there."
Asked by the radio hosts whether his sentiments amounted to an endorsement, Brady said: "I've known him for a long time, he's been a fun guy that I've had a lot of time around." Trump's candidacy sparked a lot of stories and ratings were big for the Republican debates, he said.
___
AP NFL
The Associated Press
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — He fed the cats, prepared a meal, shaved, showered and even took meat out of the freezer to thaw.
The only problem? Christopher Hiscock, 33, was not at home and didn't know the owners of a ranch where he became a bit too comfortable.
The Nova Scotia man pleaded guilty Monday to possession of stolen property and being unlawfully in a dwelling house stemming from a bizarre incident north of Kamloops, B.C.
Provincial court heard the residents of a ranch in Little Fort on the Yellowhead Highway returned home after a night out last week to find a stranger sitting on their couch with a cup of coffee.
“She found the accused in her home watching TV,” Crown lawyer Mike Wong said.
“He had started a fire in the fireplace and prepared himself a meal. He said he had been driving by and the door was open, so he came in.
Hiscock had also helped himself to a truck in Ontario on his way to British Columbia, court heard.
“The accused appears to have done some laundry. He also fed the cats and put out some hay for the horses,” Wong said. “He used (the residents') toothbrush and shaver, he had taken some meat out of the freezer to thaw and he had written in their diary.”
"Today was my first full day at the ranch," he wrote in the diary. "I fed the cats and horses. So much I can do here I have to remind myself to just relax and take my time.
"I don’t feel alone here, I guess with 2 cats and 3 horses it’s kinda hard to be alone. Last night I had a fire in the house. It was so (peaceful). I slept like a little baby.
I saw a picture in the basement on the wall of a man holding and weighing fish on a boat. Looking at him I realized we look a lot alike, but I think I’m more handsome."
The residents flagged down a passing police car and Hiscock was taken into custody.
Hiscock’s journey to B.C. started in his home province of Nova Scotia earlier this month. Court heard he drove his car from Nova Scotia to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he stole a truck and headed west.
The stolen truck, which went missing on Sept. 16, was found on the Little Fort property.
Defence lawyer Sheldon Tate said Hiscock had been working seasonally for a swimming pool company but, sensing he would be laid off, decided to travel west in search of work.
“He quickly found that his funds were less than adequate and that led him to using the vehicle from Sault Ste. Marie to get out here,” Tate said. “By the time he got to B.C., you can imagine, he was without any funds at all and he saw an unoccupied home.”
Hiscock, who has no prior criminal record, apologized in court.
“I made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “There’s really no excuses for it.”
He was still beaming about his brief stay at the ranch.
“Beautiful ranch,” he said. “Gorgeous. I was driving and I just turned in. Beautiful place.”
Judge Chris Cleaveley placed Hiscock on a one-year probation term with orders barring him from contacting the residents of the ranch and the owner of the Ontario truck.
Hiscock will also have to surrender a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.
"I really have nowhere to go," he said, when Cleaveley asked about his plans.
“The woods is a good place, I suppose. There’s a lot of fish out there.” (Kamloops This Week)
Tim Petruk, Kamloops This Week, The Canadian Press
