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According to an April 1, 2016 article in the Canadian Cowboy Country Magazine by Mathew Stepanic titled "Sonia Cornwall: Cariboo Artist" (https://cowboycountrymagazine.com/2016/04/sonia-cornwall-cariboo-artist/ ):

"Cariboo artist Sonia Cornwall (1919 – 2006) is one of the few women inducted into the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame. Over the years, she herded cattle, drove tractors and bulldozers, mended fences, helped with haying, and did other agricultural jobs. Working the ranch was unusual for a female of her day, but Sonia had little choice.

When her father Charles Cowan died in 1939, his wife Vivien and two daughters (Sonia 19, Drusilla 10) were shocked to learn that Cowan’s debts amounted to approximately $93,000. The only way to pay this off was to continue working the family’s cattle operation on the Onward and the 150 Mile ranches near Williams Lake, B.C.

Sonia traded her dream of becoming a theatrical set designer for a life that included long hours herding 700 or so cattle. She complained she had to rake hay with “an old fashioned dump rake. The hay was so heavy that it would pull my right foot off the dump lever. I was always glad one had to rest the horses in a shady spot every so often as I found it very tiring.” Moreover, the hired hands did not treat her with any deference. On her first day of haying, Sonia was so exhausted that she rested somewhat prior to eating her share of the crew’s lunch. She never did that again because within a few minutes, the food was gone and the men were napping. While the ranch manager prohibited Sonia from helping with castrations, he did not mind ordering her to plant two hundred cabbages. With the earnings from her first hay season, Sonia treated herself to proper riding boots. The next year she bought herself a pair of chaps. A First Nations neighbour taught Sonia to trap, and she used the money from her fur sales to buy cigarettes.

In 1947, Sonia married Hugh Cornwall (another inductee into the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame). Three years later, he became the Cowan’s ranch manager. The Cornwalls had two daughters and, besides raising them, Sonia carried out various ranch duties including cooking for haying crews of up to twenty men. Moreover, Sonia often helped with various local festivities and, according to her mother, once cooked “two hundred pounds of beef stew” for a cattlemen’s dance.

In 1950, the 150 Mile Ranch sold, and the Onward in 1964. The Cornwalls retained 2,500 acres that they named Jones Lake Ranch.

Throughout the years, Sonia harboured her dreams of creating art. She did so whenever she could. At the celebrations following the annual three-day Williams Lake cattle sale, Vivien recalled that “tobrighten the dismal room (40′ x 60′) Sonia would paint murals of the Cariboo country on rough paper (white sheets about 4’x 8′) which lined the walls.” She also painted ranch scenes on wooden panels and some of those depictions are housed by the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin.

Through Vivien and Sonia’s contacts, a number of noted Canadian artists such as Molly Bobak, Joseph Plaskett, and Takeo Tanabe visited the Onward and Jones Lake ranches. Guests found gracious, fun-loving, and cosmopolitan hospitality; all the alcohol they could imbibe, hearty homemade meals, and intriguing conversations. In 1946, Group of Seven member A.Y. Jackson made his first trip to the Onward Ranch. Jackson encouraged Sonia and said that she captured an indescribable quality in her work. Numerous other artists and art historians agree with that appraisal. Art consultant Anthony Westbridge describes Sonia’s work as “rich, brash, ranchy” with an “ethereal quality.” One review of Sonia’s exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery (2000) described her work as a “testimony to the power of nature, the endurance of animals, and one suspects, the humans who care for them.” Eventually handicapped by age-related ailments, in 2000 Sonia started travelling on a modified golf cart while searching for paintable vistas.

Sonia’s work is of artistic, cultural, and historic value as she conveyed First Nations encampments, old or lost villages and churches, and rural practices that are now defunct or altered. Like Emily Carr, who devoted her life to depicting the West Coast, Sonia devoted hers to portraying rural landscapes and agrarian activities. Those images are as powerful as they are distinctive.

Sonia Cornwall died in 2006. She is buried in the family cemetery in the Williams Lake area."

Richard Fredrick Corless was born in Halls Gate, Cuerden, Lancashire, England on February 1, 1882 and died 29 Dec 1959 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He married Mary Ellen Smith on 25 Dec 1905 in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, England, daughter of Thomas Smith and Hannah Bennison. He moved to Canada in the early 1900s, settling in Prince George, BC in 1915. In 1916, Corless entered into a business partnership with Ed Hall, starting a Ford Model T dealership. Corless made his family home in a lean-to that was connected to an undertaking parlour, which was operated by the Sandifords in Central Fort George. Before 1918, Corless assisted the under-takers for part-time employment. Once the flu pandemic struck the region, the Sandifords left, leaving behind their equipment and the business. Located on the corners of Third and Fourth Avenue, Corless decided to take over the business. For seventeen years, the Corless family operated the undertaking parlour, and in 1936, he sold the business to Harold Assman.

Jack Corless was the son of prominent businessman Richard Corless who owned many businesses in Prince George including an undertaking parlor and a Hudson-Essex Car Dealership. In his youth, Jack was a prominent local athlete whose position on the Prince George Lumberman hockey team was well known by many locals. The Corless family home was located at 1276 4th Avenue in Prince George, and remained so until 1947. Upon his retirement, Jack Corless self published two autobiographical publications entitled “Lucky Jackie: Diapers to Rifles” and “Lucky Jackie: Zombie to Decorated.” The first monograph describes Mr. Corless’s childhood years in Prince George c.1920s-30s while the second describes his years overseas in the Royal Canadian Army during WWII.

The Columbia Cellulose Company, Limited was established under the name Port Edward Development Company, Limited in 1946 by the Celanese Corporation of America to produce high alpha wood pulp. The name was changed to the Port Edward Cellulose Company, Limited in 1947 and was finally changed to the present name in 1948. The first mill was constructed at Prince Rupert after the company was granted Tree Farm Licence (TFL) No. 1 in 1948. Celgar Development Company (more commonly known as Celgar Limited), a subsidiary of Columbia Cellulose, purchased three sawmill operations in the Arrow Lakes region at Nakusp and Castlegar in the early 1950s. The sawmills at Castlegar were transformed into an updated sawmill, a kraft mill, and a pulp mill. Columbia Cellulose was granted TFL No. 23 in July, 1955 and Nakusp was the headquarters for the woods operations in the interior with the Arrow Lakes system and tributary rivers providing waterways for booming and towing to the mills at Castlegar. The Columbia Cellulose Company added Prince Rupert Construction Limited (incorporated 1954) as a subsidiary in 1958 along with Skeena Logging Equipment Limited that same year. More mills in the interior were opened and in 1964 Columbia Cellulose began working with Svenka Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, a large Swedish manufacturer of forest products in the province, to build Skeena Kraft Limited. Skeena Kraft Limited was granted TFL No. 40 and Skeena Kraft headquartered its operations in Terrace. In 1965, Columbia Cellulose bought Calum Lumber Limited in Prince Rupert and acquired Columbia Pulp Sales Limited within the next two years. The declining Columbia Cellulose Company was taken over by the government of British Columbia in 1973 and was the basis for a new company: Canadian Cellulose Company, Limited. The name was changed again in 1981 to BC Timber Ltd.

William Henry Collison was born on 12 November 1847 in County Armagh (Northern Ireland), to John J. Collison and Mary Emily Maxwell. He was educated at the Church of Ireland Training College in Dublin and began his career as a schoolmaster in charge of an industrial school at Cork. In November 1872 he read of the Church Missionary Society's need for recruits, and determined to apply. The following April he entered the Church Missionary College (CMS) in Islington (London) for a brief period of training. The CMS decided that his qualifications made him a suitable assistant for William Duncan, the lay missionary in charge of the North Pacific mission, centred at Metlakatla, B.C. The CMS, which had difficulty in placing ordained missionaries there, opted to send Collison out as a layman with a view to his later ordination, and gave him permission to marry before leaving. On 19 August 1873 he married Marion M. Goodwin, a woman well prepared for the mission field: she was a deaconess and a trained nurse who had served in the Franco-German War and during a smallpox epidemic in Cork.

The Collisons arrived in Victoria on 25 October 1873 and finally reached their north coast destination a month later. At Metlakatla, his first task was to learn the Tsimshian language. By the following summer he could conduct the greater part of church services without an interpreter. As well as preaching, his duties included visiting and teaching.

He became interested in the Haida peoples when a group from Masset, on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands) visited Fort Simpson (Lax Kw'alaams) in 1874 and 1875. During these visits he began to evangelize Chief Seegay, whose half-Tsimshian wife acted as translator. In June 1876 Collison was begged to minister to Seegay since he was dying of tuberculosis. Collison made the voyage to Masset, and on his return obtained permission to open a mission there. After the Collisons' move to Masset in November, William expanded his knowledge of Haida, eventually translating portions of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer and composing hymns in this language.

In November 1877 while the Collisons were on Haida Gwaii, Bishop William Carpenter Bompas of Athabasca arrived at Metlakatla and spent the winter. The following March at Kincolith, a CMS mission among the Nisga'a peoples located at the mouth of the Nass River, Collison was ordained deacon and priest by Bompas, and assigned the "spiritual charge" of Metlakatla, Kincolith, and Haida Gwaii. In 1879 Collison left the Haida mission and returned to Metlakatla, and in May 1884 he and his family again changed missions and moved to Kincolith. There he learned more Nisga’a, and soon translated the services of Morning and Evening prayer. In 1891 Collison was unanimously selected as the new diocese of Caledonia's first archdeacon.

Disaster struck Kincolith in September 1893 when the church and three-quarters of the village were destroyed by fire. Shortly after rebuilding had begun, a fervent spiritual revival threatened to undermine the stability of the community. In response, Collison introduced a native branch of the Church Army, a strongly evangelical Anglican organization that emphasized enthusiastic worship, and promoted native leadership within the church-sponsored society. This Army was also characterized by its brass band which assisted in the very musical, evangelistic mission services.

Marion Collison's role was equally significant. Like other missionary wives, she was responsible for teaching European domestic skills to the native women. As a nurse, she helped avert a smallpox epidemic and Collison regarded her medical contributions as central to his work. Together the Collisons had five sons and three daughters: William Edwin (W.E.), Henry Alexander (H.A.), John, Thomas, Herbert, Arthur, Alice, Elsie and Emily. Marion Collison passed away in Kincolith on 9 January 1919.

W.H. Collison was the longest serving Church Missionary College (CMS) missionary in the North British Columbia Mission and he was the only remaining missionary funded directly by the CMS. His memoirs can be read in his autobiography, “In the Wake of the War Canoe” (1915) through which one can see that his interaction with the First Nations peoples to which he ministered was complex. He respected the converts, became fluent in Tsimshian, Haida, and Nisga'a, and was sensitive to the importance of the clan system. According to his son William Edwin, also an ordained missionary, the elder Collison had actually been adopted into the Eagle clan of the Haida Nation. On the other hand, he fiercely opposed potlatching and traditional native medicine, and encouraged the Nisga'a at Kincolith to accept the Indian Advancement Act of 1884, which replaced traditional hierarchies of power with a system of elected chiefs and band councils supervised by an Indian agent.

W.H. Collison died in Kincolith on 21 January 1922.

Eric Collier was born in England but came to British Columbia at the age of 19. He became a trapper at Meldrum Creek in the Chilcotin. His writing career began in 1924 and he continued to publish articles on the outdoors until his death in 1966. He is best known for his book, Three Against the Wilderness (1959). He died in Williams Lake on March 15, 1966.

The College of New Caledonia (CNC) is a publicly-funded post-secondary institution. It was established in Prince George, BC in 1969, and has since expanded across central British Columbia, with campuses in Prince George, Quesnel, Mackenzie, Burns Lake, Valemount, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake and Vanderhoof.

CNC enrolls about 5,000 students each year (all campuses) in approximately 90 distinct programs in business and management, community and continuing education, health sciences, adult basic education / upgrading, trades and industry, social services, and technologies. As well, CNC offers university-level classes leading to degrees and professional programs in many subjects.

James Joseph Claxton was born in Ireland on August 22, 1910 and immigrated to Canada as a teenager. Despite a love for his adopted country, he never forgot his Irish roots. In 1941, he joined the Irish Fusiliers of Canada (Vancouver Regiment) where he was able to serve the British Commonwealth along side his many Irish-Canadian compatriots. The following year, his regiment was deployed for active overseas combat in North Africa, Italy and North Western Europe. At the end of World War II, Claxton returned to British Columbia where he explored this province by settling for a time in Kamloops, Kelowna, Salmon Arm and finally Burnaby. He owned a jewellery store in the New Westminster area for several years in which he showcased his extensive collection of Royal Irish Constabulary badges and ephemera. Claxton was an active leader for the Salmon Arm Boys Scouts of Canada group, and was a member of both the Irish Fusiliers Association and the Toc H (an international charity and membership movement that emerged from a soldiers' club in Belgium during World War I). He also served aboard the M.S. Columbia III (ca. 1960) – one of the last ships then maintained by the Anglican Church’s Columbia Coast Mission. This mission provided religious, medical and social services to remote coastal settlements, logging camps and First Nations communities along the inner coast from 1905 to the late 1960s. James Joseph Claxton passed away at the Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster at the age of 86. He was cremated and buried at sea off the northern tip of Vancouver Island at Cape Caution.

In November 1944, the Canadian Department of Transport granted a license to operate a radio station to brothers Cecil and Frank (Tiny) Elphicke of CKPG Radio Limited. Land was purchased in May 1945 for the transmitter site near the Hudson Bay Slough in Prince George. Construction of the transmitter began in August, and Radio Station CKPG Limited was incorporated and capitalized at $25,000 (2500 shares at 10.00 per share). CKPG signed on the air on at 5:00 p.m. on 8 February 1946, operating on 1230 kHz. Studios were in Ritz-Kiefer Hall on George Street and the 250-watt transmitter was at South Fort George. CKPG was a CBC Trans-Canada affiliate, with an original staff of Cecil Elphicke (Managing Director), Ray Tate (Engineer) and Jack Carbutt (announcer). Bob Harkins began as a copywriter at the station in 1954. Three years later, at age 26, Harkins was appointed general manager and president of the station. On 20 August 1959, CKPG-TV began broadcasting on Channel 2.

The CKPG-TV station began operations on August 20, 1961, with a power output of 8,300 watts. It was co-owned with the local radio station of the same name, and was a CBC affiliate from its inception. The station's president and general manager, Bob Harkins, was one of the first people to appear on air.

In 1965, the station put a re-broadcaster in Quesnel into operation on channel 13. In April 1969, both the CKPG radio and television stations were purchased by Vancouver's Q Broadcasting Ltd., owners of CHQM in Vancouver.

In 1973, Gord Leighton became the new general manager of both stations and by 1985, the station had six rebroadcasting stations (including three owned by the CBC) in operation in Hixon, Mackenzie, Quesnel, Vanderhoof, Fort Fraser and Ft. St. James.

In 1988, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) renewed the network licence for CKPG-TV and CFTK-TV Terrace, which allowed the two CBC affiliates to use the Corporation's microwave equipment to transfer syndicated programming, when it wasn't being used for CBC programming.

On 11 October 1990, Radio Station CKPG Limited and its CKPG Television subsidiary were sold to Monarch Broadcasting Ltd.
On December 21, the CRTC approved the buyout of Monarch Broadcasting by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, a division of the Jim Pattison Group, which included CKPG-TV and its retransmission stations.

At noon on 30 May 2003, news-talk format CKPG-AM became classic-rock format CKDV-FM “The Drive”.

The Charles E. Goad map making company was established in Montreal, Quebec, in 1875. In its business of creating fire insurance plans, the Charles E. Goad map making company was the most comprehensive company in its coverage of Canada. By 1885, the company was firmly established in Canada and by 1910, Goad and his surveyors had created fire insurance plans for more than 1300 Canadian communities. When Charles E. Goad died that same year, the company was taken over by his three sons, who continued to run the business under the name Chas. E. Goad Company. In 1911 an agreement was reached between the Chas. E. Goad Company and the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association, by which the Goad Company was to create and revise plans for the Association exclusively. The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association was founded in 1883 for the purpose of standardizing fire insurance rules. This agreement ended in 1917, and in 1918, the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association established its own plan making department. It was named the Underwriters' Survey Bureau Limited. At the same time, the Bureau acquired the exclusive rights from the Chas. E. Goad Company to revise and reprint the Goad plans. The Goad Company, which continued to exist until 1930, stopped producing fire insurance plans. In March 1931, the Underwriters' Survey Bureau purchased all of the assets of the Chas. E. Goad Company, including copyright. The Underwriters' Survey Bureau continued to produce fire insurance plans for the cities and towns in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association remained responsible for the production of plans in the western provinces and the B.C. Underwriters' Association was responsible for plans in British Columbia. In 1960, these regional operations were amalgamated with the production of plans under the centralized Plan Division of the Canadian Underwriters' Association. In 1975, the Association changed its name to the Insurer's Advisory Organization, and at the same time, decided to cease fire insurance plan production and sell all plan inventory. This was the end of 100 years of continuous fire insurance plan production in Canada.

Born August 5th 1908 in Vancouver to James Walton and Clara Mary Chapman. The eldest of 5 sons, he was raised in Victoria. He was a teacher and author; he wrote “A montage of chapmannals : over nine decades”, ca. 2000.

John Chapman, a geographer by training with a long academic career, helped convert UNBC from a dream to a well-respected university with the highest academic standards. As Chair of the initial Appointments and Standards Committee, he was central to the organization of the new University while ensuring that the best people were recruited to administrative and teaching posts.

Jean Caux, also known as “Cataline” was one of the most famous mule packers in the Canadian West. It is believed he began packing at the beginning of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858 and continued until 1912, a span of 54 years.

Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Limited (CAC) was established in 1951 by the parent company Conwest Exploration Company Limited. CAC opened an asbestos mine and mill in 1952 in northern BC and constructed a townsite for its workers. Because Cassiar was unincorporated, CAC provided municipal services (sewer, water, electricity, medical, educational, community and retail.) Cassiar town holdings include administrative, housing, school, hospital, and retail store records. For 40 years Cassiar was a thriving one-industry town of 1200+ people. In the late 1950s, CAC began active efforts to find and acquire another asbestos deposit for the company. In 1957 such a deposit was discovered in the Yukon Territory, and acquired by CAC. By 1967 CAC had begun construction of a second mine, plant, and town in what became known as Clinton Creek. For most of its history the Cassiar operation was an open-pit mine, but in 1988 it began construction of an underground mine which became operational in 1990. The unprofitability of this underground operation contributed to the corporation’s bankruptcy in 1992. Most employees were laid off and in September the entire town, mine, and mill infrastructure was auctioned off by Maynard Industries, Vancouver.

According to articles in The Williams Lake Tribune, Vivien Cowan, her daughter Sonia (nee Cowan) Cornwall and Group of Seven Artist A.Y. Jackson founded the Cariboo Arts Society in 1945 after Jackson visited their home at Onward Ranch.

Known in Central British Columbia as "Mr. Radio," Jack E. Carbutt made enormous contributions to the broadcasting history of both Prince George and the province of British Columbia.

Born on April 13, 1917 in Vancouver, Jack Carbutt began his career in radio in July 1940 at Vancouver station CKMO as an announcer, operator, singer and organist. Three years later, Jack moved to Kamloops where he worked at CFJC as an announcer, production, program and sales manager. After World War II, Carbutt moved to Prince George where he joined station manager Cecil J. Elphicke and engineer R.J. Tate to establish Prince George’s first radio station, CKPG. This fledgling station began broadcasting from the Ritts-Kiefer Building on George Street on February 8th, 1946. Initially, Carbutt worked as the Sales and Program Manager, but soon became an announcer before moving on to station manager. In 1953 CKPG moved to its present Sixth Avenue location. Carbutt’s unique style and pioneering radio efforts lead him to also be known as the "Voice of the North". Jack Carbutt produced a popular weekly radio program titled "Reveries" during which he read poetry, sang, and interviewed local personalities.

In addition to being a popular radioman, Jack Carbutt was involved in various community projects. He helped to start the Kinsmen Radio Day and El-Ro-Ki. The latter was a fundraiser for the Elk's Lodge, Rotary, and Kinsmen Club which ultimately grew into what is now known as the Rotary Auction, a major charity fundraising event in Prince George. Jack Carbutt passed away on August 20th, 1990, at the age of 73.

Canadian Pacific Railway was founded in 1881 to link Canada's populated Eastern centres with the vast potential of its relatively unpopulated West. On Nov. 7, 1885, the Eastern and Western portions of the Canadian Pacific Railway met at Craigellachie, B.C., where Donald A. Smith drove the last spike. The cost of construction almost broke the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, but within three years of the first transcontinental train leaving Montreal and Toronto for Port Moody on June 28, 1886, the railway's financial house was once again in order and CPR began paying dividends again. By 1889, the railway extended from coast to coast and the enterprise had expanded to include a wide range of related and unrelated businesses.

CPR had been involved in land settlement and land sales as early as September 1881. The company also erected telegraph lines right alongside the main transcontinental line, transmitting its first commercial telegram in 1882. The same year also marked CPR's entry into the express shipment business, with the acquisition of the Dominion Express Company. CPR started building some of its own steam locomotives as early as 1883 and would later build its own passenger cars, making it second only on the continent to the Pullman Company of Chicago, Illinois.

With the outbreak of World War II, the entire Canadian Pacific network was put at the disposal of the war effort. On land, CPR moved 307 million tons of freight and 86 million passengers, including 280,000 military personnel. At sea 22 CPR ships went to war where 12 of them were sunk. In the air, CPR pioneered the "Atlantic Bridge" – a massive undertaking that saw the transatlantic ferrying of bombers from Canada to Britain.

In the 1950s, CPR chief Norris R. Crump repatriated the company, putting a majority of shares back in the hands of Canadian stockholders. He also presided over complete dieselization of the company's fleet of locomotives and managed a huge expansion into non-transportation sectors, setting up Canadian Pacific Investments in 1962.

Today, CPR's 14,000-mile network extends from the Port of Vancouver in the Canada's West to The Port of Montreal in Canada's East, and to the U.S. industrial centers of Chicago, Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, New York City and Buffalo.

Canadian National Railway (CN) was incorporated as a Crown corporation on the 6th of June 1919. It is the longest railway system and the only transcontinental railway in North America. Canadian National originated from five railways: the Grand Trunk Railway, the Intercolonial Railway, the Canadian Northern Railway, the National Trans Continental Railway, and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (1917-1923). The conglomeration came about after a Royal Commission was called in 1917, which recommended the nationalization of all the railways except the Canadian Pacific Railway. During the depression of the 1930s there was a loss in traffic volume partially due to highway and air traffic increases, which led to a decrease in wages and employment. From the 1950s to 1960s, Canadian National began to modernize and converted to diesel locomotives and electronic signaling. The head office was also moved to Montréal. By 1989 Canadian National divested its non-rail business and abandoned thousands of kilometers of track, networks, and branch lines across the country to become a primarily freight rail company. In 1995 Canadian National was privatized and many of its shares purchased by American investors; however, the headquarters remained in Montréal to ensure that Canadian National remained a Canadian corporation.

In January 1908 the Canadian Society of Forest Engineers was established to oversee the professional interests of foresters across the nation. The objectives of this Society were: (1) to advance the members in the theory and practice of forestry by the discussion of technical and professional topics; (2) to promote a better mutual acquaintance among Canadian foresters and to cultivate an esprit de corps among members ; and (3) to promote, in Canada, the interests of the forestry profession as a whole.

In 1925 the Society undertook the publication of a "The Forestry Chronicle" which became the official publication of the Canadian Society of Forest Engineers and its successor, the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF). In 1950, the Federal Minister of Lands and Forests incorporated this successor, and the CIF took over as the national membership of forest practitioners. To this day the objectives of the CIF include the advancement of stewardship of Canada's forest resources, the provision of national leadership in forestry, the promotion of competence among forestry professionals, and the development of public awareness of Canadian and international forestry issues. The Canadian Forestry Institute - Cariboo Section was established ca. 1951 and encompasses the entire northern half of the province of British Columbia.

Canada Wire and Cable Company Ltd. was one of the largest manufacturers of electrical wire and cable in Canada.

Noranda Mines' entry into manufacturing occurred when it purchased a substantial interest in Canada Wire and Cable Company, Ltd. in 1930. This happened when Canada Wire decided to build a copper rod mill in Montreal adjacent to Noranda's new copper refinery. This mill was an important outlet for Noranda's copper production at the time.

Canada Wire then grew into the company's most important manufacturing enterprise, and several other interests were developed out of it. Since 1950, Canada Wire's growth occurred through a combination of new plant construction and acquisitions. Canada Wire operated over 11 plants and 7 warehouses across Canada.

In additional to its substantial growth in Canada, starting in 1961 Canada Wire began to make foreign investments. These usually involved the company providing financial and technical assistance in return for a minority interest. Canada Wire started with investments in Central and South America, and later held interests in ten different countries.

Canada Wire also had a fertilizer division at Belledune, New Brunswick. This plant, with a capacity of 220,000 tons per year of diammonium phosphate, was acquired through the refinancing of Brunswick Mining and Smelting. The principal raw materials were sulphuric acid, which was obtained from Brunswick, and phosphate rock which was brought from Florida.

Besides its operating divisions, Canada Wire also had investments in several companies primarily involved in research and development activities.

Source: Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Noranda Mines Limited: A Corporate Background Report. 1976. p. 14-15, 54-55.

Iona Victoria Campagnolo (née Hardy) was born in Vancouver, B.C on October 18, 1932 to Rosamond and Kenneth Hardy. Soon thereafter her family returned to Galiano Island to the family home. In 1940, the Hardy family moved up the coast to the North Pacific Cannery located on the Skeena River near Prince Rupert, where her father worked as Chief of Maintenance. On August 9, 1952 she married (and later divorced) Louis Campagnolo, and together they had two daughters. It was out of a concern for the quality of her daughters’ education that Iona Campagnolo first became involved with municipal politics: first being elected to the Prince Rupert School Board in 1966 where she served for six years as School Trustee, Chairman of the Board, and North Coast Zone Chairman of the Board. Upon completion of her term on the School Board, she ran in the Prince Rupert civic election, won, and served a term as ‘Alderman’ (City Councilor) until 1974. Also during this period (1965-1974) Iona Campagnolo was working for CHTK Radio, Skeena Broadcasters Ltd., as both Advertising Sales Director and Broadcaster: her prowess at the latter position earned her a B.C. Broadcaster of the Year award in 1973.

The early seventies were not only a time of political activism for Iona Campagnolo, they were also a time of continued community activism and development of ethnocultural initiatives within the City of Prince Rupert that had originally begun almost twenty years earlier in 1954. In 1971 Iona Campagnolo was appointed the Royal Visit Co-ordinator for the City of Prince Rupert. As producer, director and costume designer for many performances of the North Pacific Players (a Prince Rupert theatre company) Iona Campagnolo was intrinsically involved in several community theatre performances. To acknowledge and honour her 20 years of dynamic volunteerism within her community, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1973 and was promoted to Officer in 2008.

In 1974 Iona Campagnolo turned her attention to federal politics. Running as a Liberal Party candidate for the riding of Skeena, she won this election and ousted long standing Skeena MP Frank Howard. As Member of Parliament for Skeena, Iona Campagnolo first served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1974-1976). She was then appointed a Cabinet Member in Pierre Trudeau’s government – a position which subsequently granted her the portfolio of Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport (Sept. 14, 1976 – May 22, 1979). Not only did this new appointment grant her the distinction of becoming the very first Minister of Amateur Sport in Canada, she also became the first woman and Northerner to be appointed a federal Minister.

After electoral defeat in the May 1979 federal election, Iona Campagnolo embarked upon several years of active involvement within the public, private and non-profit realms. Ms. Campagnolo served for two years (1979-1981) as host of a prime time feature interview program on the CBC, from Vancouver, titled “One of a Kind”. During the first three months of 1981, Ms. Campagnolo completed an assignment by the Secretary of State for External Affairs, to organize the founding and incorporation of the “Future’s Secretariat,” with the aim of creating a series of community Task Forces and network linkages at the local level, which would raise the consciousness of Canadians to the interdependent nature of the world and Canada’s role and responsibility to it.
Working as a consultant on Public Relations and Fundraising to CUSO-VSO, (then known only as CUSO or the Canadian University Services Overseas Organization) Iona Campagnolo undertook a large number of speaking engagements particularly in support of refugee re-development, with emphasis on Thai-Kampuchean Border refugees. After spearheading the raising of more than half a million dollars in 1980 towards this particular campaign, she continued to work on various other campaigns on behalf of CUSO. Iona Campagnolo was also a Special Projects Consultant to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Iona Campagnolo also devoted much time to feminist initiatives, becoming involved in the Jerusalem Women’s Seminar and Intercultural Dialogue and assisting in the organization and emergence of women’s networks in several Canadian urban centers such as Edmonton and Vancouver.

Also from 1979-1981 Ms. Campagnolo acted as Special Consultant in several different capacities to Simon Fraser University (SFU). In January of 1981, Ms. Campagnolo was guest lecturer to senior-level students in the Sport Administration Degree program at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. where she spoke on the involvement of various levels of government in sport development.
During this inter-political period, Ms. Campagnolo was also a consultant to the Calgary Olympic Development Association, assisting them with their bid for the 1988 Winter Olympics, through personal contact with members of the international sport community, including presenting Calgary’s bid to IOC (International Olympic Committee) members in Africa and Europe.

In 1982 Iona Campagnolo once again heard the call from the political realm and stood for election this time for the position of President of the Liberal Party of Canada. She was elected to this position by a Party Convention on November 7, 1982 as the first woman President of the Liberal Party of Canada, after 50 years of male predecessors. In the September 1984 federal election Iona Campagnolo made one last run at federal politics when she ran in the North Vancouver-Burnaby riding. She was, however, defeated in the Mulroney landslide victory that reduced John Turner’s Liberals down to 40 seats. Also in 1984, she served as National Co-Chair of the Liberal Leadership Convention, and was re-elected to the office of President by acclamation at this June 1984 Convention. Ms. Campagnolo served in this capacity until November 27, 1986.

From 1986 - 1996 Iona Campagnolo worked on contract with Contemporary Communications for the National Speakers Bureau. Writing and delivering speeches across the country to a myriad of organizations. From 1987-1990 Iona Campagnolo, as Associate Director, worked towards the establishment and development of the McMaster University Centre for International Health.
In 1992, Iona Campagnolo became actively involved with the establishment and development of a new university in northern British Columbia – the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in Prince George. On May 23, 1992 she was appointed the founding Chancellor of the University.

In 1995 Iona Campagnolo became a Director (1995-1996) and then Chair (1996-1997) of the Fraser Basin Management Program (FBMP) which worked towards bringing together all four orders of Canadian government (federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations) to address some of the key river management issues identified by Fraser River Action Plan - a part of Canada’s Green Plan.
On September 21, 2001, Iona Campagnolo was appointed by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in the name of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, on the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, as British Columbia’s first female Lieutenant Governor; a position in which she served until September 30, 2007.

Since 2007, the Honourable Iona Campagnolo has remained actively involved with two key issues: reconciling Aboriginal Rights and Title with Crown Title, and salmon sustainability in collaboration with the faculty of Continuing Studies in Science at Simon Fraser University. She currently makes her home on Vancouver Island.

The Bullion Mines, also known as the Bulllion Pit, was a gold mine in Likely, British Columbia that operated from 1892 to 1942. It was associated with the Consolidated Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company and the South Fork Hydraulic Mine. The objectives of the company were to pursue hydraulic and other processes of mining, to own and construct ditching flumes or other systems of waterways and to acquire and operate, sell or lease mines, minerals, water and waterways. In 1894 the Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company bought the South Fork Hydraulic and Mining company. Both were dissolved in 1912.

Bulkley Valley Pulp and Timber was established in 1963 to pursue the construction of a pulp mill. In 1966 they obtained a Pulp Harvesting License, covering 40,000 square miles of timber.

The mill was sold in 1968 to Bowater-Bathhurst. Construction of what was to be one of Canada's largest integrated forest product complex began in 1969 four miles west of Houston. In 1972, Northwood Pulp bought control of Bulkley Valley Forest Industries from Consolidated-Bathurst Ltd. and the Bowater Corporation Ltd, which were incurring serious losses due to operational problems at its sawmill.

Northwood trimmed excesses that were contributing to the operation's troubles and production improved almost overnight. Northwood recognized the long-term and stable wood supply in the area and concentrated on developing the sawmill aspect of the complex.

The Northwood mill was taken over by Canadian Forest Products in late 1999 and became known as the Canfor mill.

Sources:
Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Noranda Mines Limited: A Corporate Background Report. 1976. p. 20.

https://www.houston.ca/forestry

Buckland & Taylor Ltd. was a Canadian structural engineering firm specializing in bridge design and also research and building code development. It was founded in 1972 by Peter G. Buckland and Peter R. Taylor. Both had had experience with the design of major bridges. The firm continued until it was merged into COWI North America, a subsidiary of COWI A/S of Denmark, in 2015. (from Wikipedia)

Emil Bronlund (1896-1988) was born in Norway and obtained a Bachelor of Science in mining and metallurgical engineering from the University of Oslo before immigrating to Canada in 1920. Initially he was an engineer for a coal mine near Hinton, Alberta and at the Ingenika Mine in northern BC. In 1927 Consolidated Mining and Smelting (later Cominco and Teck Resources) hired Bronlund to be in charge of their mining exploration in northern BC, a position he held for almost 25 years. Most of his work was in the Omineca district north of Fort St. James.

In an obituary for Bronlund, the Northern Miner, a trade journal, commented that "Bronlund was a member of Cominco's flying corps of prospectors which did much to open up the north in the 1930s." The journal also noted that "several properties in the Omineca district now under development are his original finds." In 1931 Cominco provided Bronlund with an airplane, CF-AAM, for his exploration, along with a mechanic, pilot and a geologist. Cominco bought this plane new in 1929 and had it custom furnished. Bronlund and his crew spent time with surveyor Frank Swannell and his crew at Thutade Lake at the beginning of the 1931 field season, and also at the end of the season.

During World War II, Bronlund was Consolidated’s manager for the Pinchi Lake mercury mine northwest of Fort St. James. It was the largest producer of mercury in the country at that time.

Bronlund Peak and Bronlund Creek in northern BC are named for him. CF-AAM is in the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg.

BC Rail - known as the British Columbia Railway between 1972 and 1984 and as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) prior to 1972 - was a railway that operated in British Columbia between 1912 and 2004. It was a class II regional railway and the third-largest in Canada, operating 2,320 km of mainline track. Primarily a freight railway, BC Rail also offered passenger service, as well as some excursion services, most notably the Royal Hudson excursion train. Its operations were owned by the public as a crown corporation from 1918 until 2004, when the provincial government leased operations for 999 years to CN Rail.

The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) was incorporated on February 27th, 1912. The primary goal of the PGE was to complete a rail line heading north from Vancouver to Prince George where it would connect with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR). The PGE was privately owned until 1918 when it encountered financial difficulties and was taken over by the British Columbia Government as a Crown Corporation. By 1921 the railway had expanded to a point north of Quesnel but was still 80 miles south of the connection at Prince George. There were no large urban centers on the rail line during this time and it was primarily used for logging and mining operations from British Columbia’s interior to Squamish. In 1949 the PGE began to expand and on November 1st, 1952 the PGE completed a junction with Canadian National Railway in Prince George. On August 27th, 1956 the PGE completed a line between Squamish and North Vancouver thus completing its original goal of a rail line from Vancouver to Prince George. In 1958 the PGE reached Fort St. John and Dawson Creek to meet with the Alberta Railways, and on September 10th, 1971 a rail line was largely extended to connect Fort St. John to Fort Nelson. In 1972 the Pacific Great Eastern changed its name to British Columbia Railway (BCR).

The British Columbia Provincial Police Force was established in 1871 under its first name, the British Columbia Constabulary. Prior to that, policing in the Colony of British Columbia was the responsibility of the Chief Inspector of Police (1858-1863) or Superintendent of Police (1863-1871) and in the Colony of Vancouver Island by the Commissioner of Police (1858-1866). In 1871, when the Colony of British Columbia joined confederation as a province of the Dominion of Canada, the police came under the authority of the Attorney-General. The reporting structure required the Superintendent of Police to report to the Attorney-General while the constables were under the direction of the government agent of the district who reported to the Superintendent. The mandate of the British Columbia Constabulary was to maintain peace and order and to enforce the laws of the province under the authority of An Act respecting Police Constables (SBC 1880, c. 22, revised SBC 1888, c. 96). In 1895, under the new Provincial Police Act (SBC 1895, c. 45) the name was changed to the British Columbia Provincial Police Force. The duties of the force included patrolling the land, waterways, and coastline, enforcing laws, maintaining peace, policing strikes, controlling smuggling, and generally enforcing provincial statutes. Special constables were also deployed as required. In 1946, the force policed all rural areas and unincorporated settlements as well as forty municipalities throughout the province. The British Columbia Provincial Police Force ceased to exist in 1950, when provincial policing was taken over by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

(See also Langley Centennial Museum and the BC Provincial Police Veterans Association http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/202/300/inditer/2000/10-10/bcpolice/bcp.htm )

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources was established in 1899 under its first name, the Dept. of Mines, by the Department of Mines Act (SBC 1899, c. 48). Prior to that, the earliest regulation of mining in the province was implemented under the Gold Fields Proclamation of 1859 with the appointment of two gold commissioners by Governor James Douglas for the Colony of British Columbia. A gold commissioner was first appointed in 1864 for the Colony of Vancouver Island. The commissioners registered claims, issued licenses and adjudicated disputes with the advice and aid of elected district mining boards. The establishment of a provincial government with British Columbias entry into Confederation ultimately led to a Minister of Mines Act (SBC 1874, c. 16) in 1874. The Provincial Secretary also served as the Minister of Mines. In 1895, the Bureau of Mines Act 1895 (SBC 1895, c. 3) brought together all government offices connected with the mining industry. A provincial mineralogist was appointed who reported to the Provincial Secretary and Minister of Mines. In 1899, the Department of Mines Act created a separate department and minister. The Bureau of Mines remained in place as the technical division of the department and was also responsible for the certification for assayists. Revisions to the Department of Mines Act in 1934 and 1937 abolished the bureau and completely reorganized and centralized the department, dividing the functions into four branches: Administration Branch under the chief gold commissioner; Assay Branch under the chief analyst and assayer; Mineralogical Branch under the chief mining engineer; and Mines Inspection Branch under the chief inspector of mines. The department had responsibility for all matters affecting mining, including the collection, publication and circulation of information relating to mining, administration of all mining laws, and the operation and maintenance of the Provincial Assay Office, laboratories, sampling plants, and the maintenance of the Museum of Minerals. The functions and responsibilities of the department remained relatively stable until 1953 when responsibility for administration of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act and the Coal Act was transferred from the Department of Lands and Forests. A Petroleum and Natural Gas Branch, headed by the Chief Petroleum Engineer, was established and the department was renamed the Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources in 1960 (SBC 1960, c. 107). In 1976, it was renamed the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Resources (OIC 3199/76). The mandate of the ministry was enlarged again in 1978 to include responsibility for energy matters from the disestablished Ministry of Energy, Transport and Communications. Energy resources include natural gas and oil, coal, and electrical power. The ministry was renamed the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (OIC 3018/78). The ministry was disestablished in 1996 as part of a government-wide reorganization (OIC 197/96). Its duties, powers and functions, other than those related to the Utilities Commission, were transferred to the newly established Ministry of Employment and Investment.

The British Columbia Liberal Party (also referred to as the BC Liberals) is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election. It was returned to the legislature through the efforts of Gordon Wilson in a break-through in the 1991 election. At this time, the Social Credit Party collapsed, with the BC Liberals able to garner the centre vote traditionally split between left and right extremes in British Columbia politics. After Wilson lost a leadership challenge in the wake of a personal scandal in a bitter three-way race, the party was led by Gordon Campbell, who became Leader of the Opposition after Wilson's convention defeat. In the wake of the collapse of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) vote in the 2001 election, the Campbell-led BC Liberals won an overwhelming majority in 2001.

Previously affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada, the British Columbia Liberal Party has been independent of its federal counterpart since the late 1980s and subsequently displaced the British Columbia Social Credit Party as the province's de facto liberal-conservative coalition opposed to the social democratic, pro-union British Columbia New Democratic Party.

The Legislative Council of British Columbia was an advisory body created in 1867 to the Governor of the "new" Colony of British Columbia, which had been created from the merger of the old Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. The new colony, like its predecessors, did not have responsible government, and while its debates and resolutions carried considerable weight, executive power remained in the hands of the Governor, who at the time of the Council's founding as Frederick Seymour.

There were three groups of members: five senior officials of the Colony, who also constituted its Executive Council, nine magistrates, and nine elected members. The electoral members represented two seats in Victoria, one in Greater Victoria ("Victoria District"), New Westminster, Columbia River and Kootenay, Nanaimo, Yale and Lytton, Lillooet, and Cariboo.

The council was abolished in 1871 when British Columbia became a province.

British Columbia Forest Products Limited (BCFP) was a forestry company that operated from 1946 to 1986 in British Columbia. BCFP expanded to include timber production, pulp and paper, veneer, plywood and transportation operations. For many years, it was considered to be the second largest forest company operating in British Columbia.

In January 1969, Noranda and Mead made a joint offer to acquire control of British Columbia Forest Products (BCFP). Mead already held an interest in this company and together the two companies had previously begun accumulating shares in the market. Noranda made a public offer to acquire 400,000 share (10.8%) of British Columbia Forest Products. The price was to one-half a share of Noranda plus $22.50 in cash. On the day prior to the announcement, the closing share prices of Noranda and BCFP were $35 and $31.25 respectively. This meant the offer was equivalent to $40 per BCFP share, a 28% premium.

At the time of the offer, Noranda and Mead each owned directly 427,700 share (11.5%). In addition, through Brunswick Pulp and Paper Company, a U.S. company, Mead also had a 50% interest in 1,000,000 shares. Noranda further announced that, upon completion of the offer, its holdings and those of Mead would be equalized. Following the offer, a voting trust agreement representing the combined holdings of the companies was made in favour of Northwood Pulp.

At the time of purchase, BCFP was contemplating a major expansion project at Mackenzie. This was later approved and production of a new pulp mill began early in 1973.

BCFP was purchased in 1987 by Fletcher Challenge Limited of New Zealand and merged with BC company Crown Forest Industries. Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited was thereby established with a sharpened focus on pulp and paper. In 2000, Norwegian paper company Norske Skog purchased all of Fletcher Challenge’s pulp and paper assets and the company name changed to Norske Skog Canada Limited. The size of the company doubled in 2001 with the acquisition of Pacifica Papers and the merged operation assumed the name NorskeCanada. In 2005 the business was renamed Catalyst Paper.

Sources:
Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Noranda Mines Limited: A Corporate Background Report. 1976. p. 19-20, 90-92.

https://www.catalystpaper.com/about/history

Born in Ontario on April 9, 1875, Alan Kirby “A.K.” Bourchier was Hugh Taylor’s cousin, related through Hugh's mother Lucy (nee Bourchier) Taylor. Mr. Bourchier and his wife Lillian were early pioneers of the Central Interior: moving to Alberta in 1902 and continuing on to South Fort George in 1906. Working for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, A.K. Bourchier operated a supply freight transport business via scow and crew on the Fraser River in support of the railway construction camps. From 1911 to 1912, the Bourchiers operated a store at Tete Jaune while it was still a thriving construction camp.

A.K. Bourchier also served as Justice of the Peace for South Fort George. In 1913, Stipendiary Magistrate T. Herne took a six month leave of absence for which he was never officially replaced. Instead Mr. Bourchier, as Justice of the Peace for South Fort George, and Mr. Perkins, Justice of the Peace for Fort George, were expected to absorb Herne’s extensive magisterial responsibilities. Given the massive workload now beholden to both men, and the keen need for law enforcement in the Central Interior, Bourchier resigned from his position as Justice of the Peace in protest of the lack of government support.

At about the same time, the South Fort George townsite was placed on the open market and Mr. Bourchier was commissioned to clear lots during these boom days. Later, with Mrs. Bourchier, he ran the South Fort George post office for a short time and from ca.1915 through to the late 1930s, Mr. Bourchier also operated as a local auctioneer and appraiser. In March 1917, it is also reported that A. K. Bourchier took over the business of the Northern Hotel at South Fort George.

After the death of Deputy Sheriff Andrew Siddal in January 1942, A.K. Bourchier became Acting Deputy Sheriff. He served in this capacity under M.C. Wiggins until the latter retired as county sheriff in August 1943. That same month, Mr. Bourchier was appointed sole Sheriff of the vast area of the Cariboo/Central Interior until the eventual appointment of another sheriff across the Rockies in Dawson Creek.

Alan Kirby Bourchier died of an undisclosed illness at the Prince George Hospital in January 1946 at the age of 71.

Jack Boudreau was born in the small community of Penny in the central region of British Columbia between the McGregor and Upper Fraser Rivers. BC. Jack's parents, Joe and Bessie Boudreau, moved to Penny on May 15, 1923, and had seven children- Jack being the fifth. Jack Boudreau was the postmaster in Penny for several years, and then worked in forestry until his retirement in 1993. He has devoted his professional life to British Columbia's forest industry working as a licensed scaler, industrial first-aid attendant and forest fire fighter mostly with the Ministry of Forests. From early childhood he has been an avid lover of the outdoors. He is a mountain climber, fisher and skier. Boudreau is the author of five bestsellers—"Sternwheelers and Canyon Cats," "Crazy Man's Creek," "Grizzly Bear Mountain," "Wilderness Dreams and Mountains," "Campfires and Memories."

Lois Ruth Boone is a Canadian politician who served as MLA for Prince George North from 1986 to 1991, and Prince George-Mount Robson from 1991 to 2001, in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party.

Born in Vancouver, BC on April 26, 1947, Lois Ruth Boone began her political career as a School Trustee in Prince George in 1981 and later joined the British Columbia New Democratic Party. She served as MLA for Prince George North from 1986 to 1991, and Prince George-Mount Robson from 1991 to 2001, in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She held a number of political positions in the Executive Council of British Columbia, including Minister of Government Services, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of Transportation and Highways, Minister for Children and Families and Deputy Premier.

After stepping down from provincial politics, Lois was re-elected as a school trustee for School District #57. In October 2010 Lois announced she would seek the NDP nomination in the by-election in the federal riding of Prince George-Peace River. At the November 23rd, 2010 School District #57 public board meeting, she announced she would not be seeking renewal of her position as vice-chair of the board nor would she be seeking re-election as a trustee. Lois Boone lived and worked in Prince George for over 40 years.

Parker Bonney was born in 1889 in New Brunswick. In 1911, he graduated from the University of Washington with a forestry degree. He moved to Canada in 1913 and worked as a student in the Nass region. Parker Bonney worked for the Prince George Forestry Division starting from 1913. He was one of the first people to completely survey the Nass River Watershed and the Headwaters of the Skeena. He became the district forester for Prince Rupert in 1926, residing in Ocean Falls, B.C. until 1945. Later on in his life, Parker Bonney worked as a forestry engineer with Alcan and with Columbia Cellulose. Both Bonney Lake and Bonney Creek are named in his honour due to his contributions to the Northern BC forestry industry. Parker Bonney resided in North Vancouver until 1977 when he passed away.

William Andrew Cecil (W.A.C.) Bennett, PC, OC was the 25th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-serving premier in British Columbia history.

Born in France in 1886, Charles Bedaux moved to the United States and became a naturalized American citizen. He was a highly successful businessman in the field of management consulting. According to Jim Christy’s 1984 biography, prior to his most famous expedition in 1934 across northeastern British Columbia, he had made hunting and exploratory trips to northwestern BC in 1926 and1929, the central interior in 1931 and to northeastern BC in 1932 and 1933.

Bedaux announced his intention to cross northeastern BC with Citroën half-track trucks on May 25, 1934 in New York City. The Canadian Sub-Arctic Expedition launched from Edmonton, Alberta on July 6, 1934 and contained a formidable array of talent and beauty, including Floyd Crosby, a Hollywood cinematographer, two land surveyors, Frank Swannell and Ernest Lamarque, mining engineer Jack Bocock, a Citroën mechanic, many cowboys, as well as Bedaux’s mistress, his wife and her maid.

Due to a combination of weather, terrain and poor planning, the expedition failed and the Citroën vehicles were abandoned. Although Bedaux returned to northern BC in 1936 with plans to build a road, he did not follow through. In 1937 he hosted the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at his French chateau. Collaborationist activities with Nazi-occupied France led to his 1942 arrest in North Africa. Returned to the U.S., he committed suicide in a Florida prison in 1944.

The British Columbia Trappers Association (BCTA) was formed in 1945 as an association of registered trappers. It is the oldest trapper’s association in Canada. Its four main objectives include: 1)To promote sound, humane furbearer fur management through research, education and cooperation with other related organizations; 2)To represent trappers at the provincial, national and international levels; 3)To promote the general welfare of the trappers of British Columbia; and 4)To promote communication, information and dialogue among trappers.

Today, the BC Trappers Association works to keep its members well informed. It publishes a quarterly magazine that includes articles on approved humane traps and trap sets. The magazine also includes articles on different species and the best way to maintain a healthy breeding population.

Strathcona, located in the heart of Vancouver Island, was British Columbia's first provincial park, created on March 1, 1911.

BC Parks is responsible for the designation, management and conservation of a system of ecological reserves, provincial parks and recreation areas located throughout the province. British Columbia’s parks and protected areas contain nationally and internationally significant natural and cultural features and outdoor experiences. The provincial system of parks is dedicated to the protection of natural environments for the inspiration, use and enjoyment of the public. Their mission statement is as follows: “Our parks, protected areas and conservation lands are a public trust. As such, our mission is to protect representative and special natural places within the Province's Protected Areas System for world class conservation, outdoor recreation, education and scientific study.”