Gary Runka’s contribution to land inventory, agriculture, natural resource management and land use planning helped shape British Columbia land use policy over five decades. Best known for his guiding role in the creation of BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), Gary Runka was the first General Manager of the Land Commission and later Chair of the (renamed) Agricultural Land Commission. Throughout his career, Gary remained committed to field knowledge as the basis for understanding and resolving land and water use issues. Described by colleagues as “one of the most highly respected agrologists in our profession” and “one of [BC’s] most dedicated and influential land use planners”, Runka spent his 52-year career working on an incredible number of landmark projects in British Columbia.
Gary Runka was born August 2, 1938 and grew up in Baldonnel, near Fort St. John in the Peace River area of British Columbia. Growing up on a farm homesteaded by his parents, Bill and Velma Runka, Gary developed an early and deep connection to agriculture and the natural environment. Gary played baseball, hockey, curling and later in university, football. He married Celia Runka née Zitko (31 Dec. 1938 – 6 Feb. 2014) in 1962 and they had two daughters, Shaundehl Marie and Cayla Renee. The marriage ended in 1973.
Gary’s early employment included work on legal land surveys and a petroleum exploration survey. These experiences tweaked Gary’s interest and steered him toward a career in land science and management. He attended the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture majoring in Soil Science. Upon graduation, he took a position as Pedologist with the BC Department of Agriculture in Kelowna (1961-1966), mapping soils throughout the province and providing soil and land use interpretations for tax assessment, forest management, irrigation engineering and agricultural development. He briefly interrupted his career to complete a Masters of Science degree in Natural Resource Management and Land Use Planning from Cornell University, graduating in 1967. Upon returning to British Columbia and the BC Department of Agriculture, he was appointed BC Land Inventory Field Coordinator (Agriculture and Forestry) for the Canada Land Inventory program (1967-1973). In 1968, Gary became the owner of a cereal/forage seed/oil seed farm near Fort St. John, which included part of the family farm. He continued to manage this farm until generational transfer in 2005.
In 1972, the people of British Columbia elected an NDP government. Among the several significant programs the new government introduced, including a government-owned vehicle insurance company (ICBC), a provincial ambulance service and a community college system, arguably the most dramatic and controversial of all was the “land freeze” imposed on December 21, 1972 (OIC 4483/72). Intended to protect what remained of BC’s scarce agricultural land, OIC 4483/72 and its companion OIC 159/73 (January 18, 1973) halted further subdivision and non-farm use of farmland in BC. The subsequent passage of the Land Commission Act on April 18, 1973 began the process of designating approximately 47,000 square kilometres (18,000 sq mi) of land with the soil/climate combination to support food production as BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). At the time, it was considered the most progressive piece of planning legislation of its kind in North America and to this day, continues to remain a model looked to by many other jurisdictions that continue to lose their valuable agricultural land to non-farm development.
Gary Runka was appointed the first General Manager of the BC Land Commission via Order in Council 2570/73 on August 1, 1973, about 2.5 months after the appointment of the original five-person Commission. A combination of background, education and work experience made Gary uniquely qualified to guide the Commission through its formative years. He held this position until July 24, 1975 when he was appointed Member and Chair of the then renamed Agricultural Land Commission (OIC 2445/75), replacing W.T. Lane, the first Commission Chairman.
During this period, Gary married his second wife, Joan Marie Sawicki (18 Sept. 1945 – present). They had met while both were working with the Canada Land Inventory and Joan subsequently joined the staff at the BC Land Commission to work on the original ALR boundaries.
Gary never wavered in his dedication to safeguarding BC’s agricultural land resource. In 1979, when the government overruled the Land Commission and allowed the exclusion of over 250 acres from the ALR in Langley for industrial development, Gary stuck to his principles and resigned. The ensuing controversy damaged the reputation of the political leadership but was eventually regarded as one of the contributing factors to the continued survival of the ALR.
Upon leaving the Agricultural Land Commission, Gary established his own consulting firm, appropriately named G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. Joan was a business partner in the company until her election in 1991 as an NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing Burnaby-Willingdon. During Joan’s decade as an elected MLA, Gary’s daughter Shaundehl worked with him on Land Sense Ltd. projects.
Over the next 34 years, Gary worked with 681 clients, including all levels of governments, corporations, First Nations, non-government organizations, learning institutions and private individuals. Whether the project was land inventory, community planning, environmental assessment, policy development, land and water use regulation or resource use conflict resolution, Gary always approached planning from the ground up, combining his understanding of natural systems and ecological processes with his diplomatic skills at bringing people of diverse opinions together to solve problems in the long-term public interest. Gary was recognized as a skilled and respected facilitator of complex land use planning issues throughout his career. He left a great legacy to the land, water, and people of British Columbia by helping decision makers and communities make good decisions and establish good policies.
It was just such talents that The Nature Trust of British Columbia needed for an innovative project they undertook during the 1990’s. In an effort to conserve some of the unique biological resources of the South Okanagan, one of the three most endangered ecosystems in Canada, the Trust purchased a number of small private holdings along with three ranches that included substantial associated Crownland grazing leases and licenses. The big challenge then was to derive an overall management plan for the thousands of acres of secured habitat. Gary Runka was ideally suited to the task. After countless collaborative days and months spent sorting out land status designations, reaffirming resource capabilities and resolving competing objectives of diverse interest groups, the final product, which Gary coined "Biodiversity Ranches", was heartily endorsed by all of the stakeholders - including the ranchers who are still managing these properties today.
During the 1990s, Gary also played a key role in yet another ambitious BC land use planning initiative, the Commission on Resources and the Economy (CORE) and subsequent Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs). As facilitator for several of these processes, including in the East Kootenays, Bulkley Valley, Anahim and Charlotte-Alplands, Cassiar/Iskit/Stikine and, perhaps the most challenging of all, Central Coast, Gary’s legendary geographical memory, integrative abilities and diplomatic skills helped guide these multi-sector tables to consensus. British Columbians, both present and future, will forever benefit from the doubling of parks and protected areas that was one of the key products of this monumental planning exercise.
In July 2001, after 30 years of residency in Burnaby, Gary Runka and Joan Sawicki embraced a lifestyle change, moving to Stuie, BC, in Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, while retaining an urban base at their Vancouver condominium. Gary and Joan continued their G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. consulting work in addition to their involvement in numerous professional and grassroots organizations.
On July 26, 2013, Gary Runka died suddenly and unexpectedly while walking with Joan near their home in Stuie. At the time of his death, Gary was preparing his expert witness testimony in defense of the prime agricultural lands that would be lost with the building of the Site C dam near Fort St. John - a mere few kilometres away from the farm where he grew up. Gary was honoured posthumously for his contributions to sustainable land use in BC with the 2014 Land Champion award from the Real Estate Foundation of BC. Throughout his career, he was also the recipient of the B.C. Institute of Agrologists’s "Agrologist of the Year" award in 1978 and a Fellowship with the Agricultural Institute of Canada in 1990.
The Legion is a non-profit, dues-supported, fraternal organization with approximately 1,600 branches in Canada, the United States, Germany and The Netherlands. The Legion receives no financial assistance from any outside agency and membership is open to all Canadian citizens and Commonwealth subjects who subscribe to the purposes and objects of the organization.
From the time of its formation in 1926, the Legion has focussed its efforts on the fight to secure adequate pensions and other well-earned benefits for veterans and their dependants. Acting as an advocacy agency on veterans' behalf, the Legion deals directly with the Federal Government to ensure ex-military personnel and their dependants are treated fairly.
The Royal Canadian Legion has also assumed a major responsibility for perpetuating the tradition of Remembrance in Canada. Each year the Legion organizes and runs the National Poppy and Remembrance Campaign to remind Canadians of the tremendous debt we owe to the 117,000 men and women who have given their lives in the defence of Canada during two world wars, the Korean War and other military missions around the world. Contributions made during the campaign are used to assist needy veterans, ex-service members and their families.
The Legion also supports programs for seniors, particularly through direct community-level activities, the Legion Long term care Surveyor Program and a housing program. The Legion's Youth program provides scholarships and bursaries, sports programs and support to activities such as cadets, scouts and guides.
The Mission of The Royal Canadian Legion is to serve veterans and their dependents, promote Remembrance and act in the service of Canada and its communities. As well, The Royal Canadian Legion has a strong and continued commitment in promoting Canada's contribution to world peace, the protection of Canadian sovereignty and the preservation of national unity.
The Royal Canadian Legion, formed in 1926, is a non-profit, membership supported fraternal organization. It originally served as a place of camaraderie, support and advocacy, assisting returning military personnel to ease the transition from war to civilian life. Since that time the Legion has evolved into a community service organization serving veterans, ex-service personnel and their families, the new military, as well as seniors and youth.
BC/Yukon Command of The Royal Canadian Legion with 153 Branches, over 90 Ladies Auxiliaries and almost 70,000 members, receives no government funding. BC/Yukon Legionnaires and members of the Ladies Auxiliary contribute millions of dollars to communities every year. These funds are raised through membership drives, fundraisers, donations and sporting and social activities held at Legion Branches and in the community.
BC/Yukon Command also works in partnership with a multitude of government and community, health, social and educational agencies in the design and support of unique programs which will improve the quality of life of others, including Canadian Forces Members, Veterans and Seniors, Youth, and Community Citizens. The BC/Yukon Command also established a Legion Foundation which accepts charitable donations and bequests for: geriatric medical research and bursaries; affordable assisted living facilities; youth leadership and development; and a wide range of health and social services in the community.
(Excerpt taken from http://www.bcyuk.legion.ca/home/about-us/about-us )
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was the air force of Canada from 1924 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Forces. The modern Canadian air force has been known as Canadian Forces Air Command (AIRCOM) since 1975, but still refers to itself as the "Air Force" and maintains many of the traditions of the RCAF.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; French: Banque Royale du Canada) is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario. In Canada, RBC serves approximately ten million clients through its network of 1,209 branches. The bank was founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Created by Stuart C. Ross, Architect, PO Box 1804, 1896 Third Ave., Prince George, BC
The original Connaught School, located on the corner of Queensway and 15th Avenue, was built in 1915 as a two-room high school and operated until 1951 when it burned down. In 1953 it was reopened in a new, modern building on "one of the finest natural school sites in existence". The school was renamed Ron Brent Elementary in 1978 following the death of Mr. Brent who had taught in the school for 28 years. In the 1998-1999 school year the building was completely renovated and was officially reopened in the fall of 1999. Today it again stands as one of the finest facilities in the Province and the centrepiece of a re-emerging community. The "fine school spirit" of the old Connaught Elementary School remains today in the new Ron Brent school. Demographics: The population of Ron Brent Elementary, once as high as 600 students, is now in the range of 200-225 students.
Robert Gordon Rogers, OC OBC (August 19, 1919 – May 21, 2010) was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1983 to 1988.
Born in Montreal, he was a graduate of the University of Toronto Schools, the University of Toronto, and the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston. During the Second World War, he served with the 1st Hussars of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, landing on Juno Beach on D-Day in 1944. From 1991 to 1996, he served as Chancellor of the University of Victoria. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1990, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.
Mayor of Prince George, 2008-2011
Manager of Public Relations for the Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club, 1996-1999
"Celebrities of the Army" was collected and edited by Naval Commander Charles Napier Robinson, and published by G. Newnes in 1902. It consists of a serial collection of lavish coloured portraits and short biographies of senior offices and major heroes of the South African Boer War.
During the 1940s, the British Columbia government wanted to develop the considerable resources of the northwest and north central areas of the province. At the same time, they wished to establish new population centres, without risking taxpayers' funds. Alcan was invited by the B.C. government to investigate the possibility of establishing an aluminum industry in the northwest. Shortly after, Alcan began the large-scale Kitimat-Kemano project. At the time, it was the largest privately funded construction project ever undertaken in Canada. It cost $500 million in 1950 (more than $3.3 billion in today's currency). The project included construction of several components, including the Kenney Dam in the Nechako River Canyon, which reversed the river's eastward flow and created the Nechako Reservoir.
Playwright born in Anatone, Washington, 1910, died near Williams Lake, British Columbia , 1984 (where she had lived since 1953). Her father was a teacher in small community schools in southern Alberta. In 1926, the family moved to Montana and, in highschool, she acted in plays.
Ringwood graduated from the University of Alberta with an Honours English degree, working part time as a secretary for the Department of Extension's director of drama, Elizabeth Sterling Haynes , and then working at the Banff Centre for the Arts as registrar. It was in Banff that she wrote her first play, The Dragons of Kent in 1935. In 1938, while studying playwriting in North Carolina, Ringwood created the spooky one-act masterpiece Still Stands the House (premiered in North Carolina), one of the most frequently performed plays in the history of Canadian theatre. In 1939 the play won at the Dominion Drama Festival. She returned to Alberta in 1939 and was director of dramatics at the University of Alberta. In that same year she married John Brian Ringwood and they subsequently had two children.
Ringwood also wrote frequently for radio. She and Elsie Park Gowan were approached by CKUA to write a series of history plays, in order to reach an isolated Alberta audience with little opportunity for further education. The series, entitled "New Lamps for Old", featured the "great names" in history -- Socrates, Beethoven, Cromwell, Florence Nightingale, but focused more on their social and personal lives than on their heroic achievements.
While in Edmonton during the war, she received a grant from Robert Gard of the Alberta Folklore and Local History Project to write Alberta folk plays: Jack the Joker (Banff 1944), about the life of the colourful Calgary newspaper editor, Bob Edwards; The Rainmaker (Banff 1945), set in Medicine Hat during the drought of 1921; and Stampede (University of Alberta 1946), about the Black cowboy and rancher, "Nigger John". Her other plays include the satiric comedy about miserliness, Widger's Way (University of Alberta 1952); children's plays The Sleeping Beauty (Cariboo Indian School, Williams Lake, British Columbia, 1965), and The Golden Goose (Cariboo Indian School 1973); and a trilogy entitled Drum Song about the tragic lives of Native women based on Euripides' Greek tragedies (University of Victoria 1982). Her popular comedy, Garage Sale premiered at the New Play Centre - now Playwrights Theatre Centre in 1981).
Like Gowan, Ringwood also wrote historical pageants to celebrate community anniversaries: an Edmonton pageant on Methodist missionary John McDougall and chief Maskapetoon to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Methodist Church in 1940; Look Behind You Neighbour, with music by Chet Lambertson, for the 50th anniversary of Edson, Alberta in 1961; and The Road Runs North, commissioned for the Williams Lake centennial in 1967.
In 1941 she received the Governor General's Medal for Outstanding Service in the development of Canadian drama, and in 1982 published the first volume of her plays, becoming the first Canadian playwright to become anthologized. The theatre in Williams Lake is named in her honour, and an award for drama, given by the Alberta Writers Guild, is named for her.
Paul Ramsey is a Canadian academic and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Prince George-North in 1991 and re-elected in 1996, serving until 2001.
Ramsey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in English in the United States before moving to Canada to attend the University of British Columbia. Ramsey held teaching and administrative jobs at institutions in the United States and Canada before becoming an instructor at the College of New Caledonia in 1975. He entered politics via his involvement in the CNC Faculty Association where from 1987 to 1989, he served as president of the College-Institute Educators Association of British Columbia.
His first cabinet appointment was as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Forests. In September 1993 he was appointed Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for Seniors where he served until February 1996 when he became Minister of Education, Skills and Training. From June 1996 to January 1997, he was appointed Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks. In January 1997 he returned to the Ministry of Education, Skills, and Training where he remained until February 1998 when he became Minister of Education. On September 21, 1999 he was appointed Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations and on November 1, 2000 he added the role of Minister Responsible for Northern Development.
Ramsey is currently a Visiting Professor in Political Science at the University of Northern British Columbia and has a wife and two grown children.
Rhys Pugh completed his Masters thesis in History at UNBC in 2004, which was entitled “The Newspaper Wars in Prince George, B.C., 1909-1918.”
Rose Prince was a Dakelh woman who has inspired an ongoing Catholic pilgrimage. Prince was born in Fort St. James in 1915, the third of Jean-Marie and Agathe Prince's nine children. Jean-Marie was descended from the great chief Kwah, while Agathe had been raised in Williams Lake by the Sisters of the Child Jesus. When the Lejac Residential School was built in 1922, Prince was sent there, along with the other children from her school. When Prince was 16, still attending school at Lejac, her mother and two youngest sisters died in an influenza outbreak. Devastated, she opted not to return home for the summers, staying on at the school instead. After graduation, she remained at the school, completing chores such as mending, cleaning, embroidering and sewing. Prince contracted tuberculosis, and was confined to bed by the age of 34. She died 19 August 1949, and was buried on her 34th birthday. Two years later, in 1951, several graves west of the Lejac Residential School were relocated to a larger nearby cemetery. During the transfer, Prince's casket broke open, and workers were apparently astonished to find Prince's body and clothing in pristine condition, despite the years that had passed since her death. Other bodies were examined, but even those who had died after Prince showed signs of decay. In 1990, Father Jules Goulet called for a pilgrimage to Lejac. Only 20 people gathered that first year, but by 2004, 1200 people were travelling to Lejac to honour the ordinary yet deeply spiritual life of Rose Prince.
The "Prince Rupert Empire" was the first newspaper in Prince Rupert, B.C. The newspaper became defunct in 2010 after its acquisition by Black Press.
In the fall of 1972, the Prince George Women’s Centre was created, and this began a legacy of women’s centres in Prince George. It began when a group of women, after being involved with the local production of the play “Lysistrata," decided that Prince George needed a women’s centre. Although it was involved in other activities, the main goal of the Prince George Women’s Centre was to develop a transition home for women and their children who needed shelter for whatever reason. This goal was realized in 1974, with the opening of the Phoenix Transition House. However, due to a changing focus and a stronger political and feminist position, the Prince George Women’s Centre faced internal upheaval, which resulted in a name change taking place in September of 1976. The group was now called the Prince George Women’s Collective.
A main focus of The Prince George Women’s Collective was its counseling and referral services. The Prince George Women’s Collective lasted until January of 1978, when controversy regarding the firing of two employees proved to bring about denigration of the group's status, both internally and with the public in general. Thus, the members of the Prince George Women’s Centre voted to dissolve the organization, and replace it with the Prince George Women’s Equal Rights Association (known commonly as WERA) in January of 1978.
While the changeover was taking place, further financial scandal marred the Collective’s name. WERA set out to distance itself from the Collective, and to focus on educating the public on women’s issues. To that end, research and lobbying were a central focus. WERA was notably not a resource centre, but instead its main focus of education led to the production of a newsletter for women of northern British Columbia, by women of northern British Columbia. This they accomplished, and the result was ‘Aspen,' a publication which ran until 1983. WERA shut its doors in June of 1983 due to a combination of financial pressures and volunteer burn-out. Right at the time that WERA was closing down, however, another group was springing up with the intention of filling the need for a resource centre for women in Prince George.
The Prince George Women’s Resource Centre opened their doors officially on September 1, 1983, and served the community for many years. Similar to the Women’s Centre and the Women’s Collective, the Prince George Women’s Resource Centre was very service-oriented, and less politically oriented. The exact reason for the centre's closure is unclear; however, the evidence suggests that it lasted until some time in 1987, when federal money dried up and the centre was no longer able to provide its services to the women in Prince George.
Following the Prince George Women's Resource Centre, another group opened an office on George Street called the Prince George Women's Connection. The only records contained in this collection regarding the Women's Connection are in the form of brochures and advertisements sent to them. Because the collection does not include many of the Women's Connection records, extensive research was not undertaken in regards to their history.
The Prince George Spruce Kings were formed in 1972, the same year the World Hockey Association was launched. For most of its history the club has operated as a nonprofit society with a volunteer board of directors made up of knowledgeable business and hockey people from throughout the community. The original Spruce Kings were formed largely on the effort of Lionel Garand, who was determined to form a Junior team and provide local athletes with a place to play. Together with thirteen investors, Grand relied on gate receipts and advertising revenue to run the Spruce Kings Junior "A" Hockey Club, but when this became too much of a financial challenge the Prince George Minor Hockey Association became involved. “Spruce Kings” was Terry Eastholm’s winning entry in a community contest to determine the team’s name. In their first season, the Spruce Kings played in the Pacific Northwest Hockey League. They won the inaugural league title in 1975-76 when they played Junior ‘B’ in the Peace Cariboo Junior Hockey League. The Spruce Kings switched to Junior ‘A’ before the 1980-81 season, and were initiators in the expansion of the PCJHL to the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League in 1991-92.
In 1995, the Prince George Retired Teachers' Association (PGRTA) established the Education Heritage Committee whose mission is to preserve and maintain archival material, artifacts, and photographs representing the educational history of School District No. 57. The Education Heritage Committee's four main projects are to collect artifacts and photographs, oral history accounts from retired teachers in the Central Interior of British Columbia, local newspaper articles dealing with education in the Prince George area, and prescribed British Columbian textbooks.
The PGRTA Education Heritage Committee visits local schools and has collected and catalogued nearly 2400 items of heritage value. In addition, members of the committee have transcribed several oral histories and have compiled articles from seven different local newspapers dating from 1910 to 1919. The Education Heritage Committee's textbook collection consists of approximately 2500 books and is currently housed at the University of Northern British Columbia. For their dedication and outstanding contribution to the local history of the Prince George region the PGRTA Education Heritage Committee was awarded the Jeanne Clarke Memorial Local History Award on February 18, 2001.
The purpose of the Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum Society is to preserve and interpret the history of the railway, the industries and the culture that grew around it in the Prince George area and Northern BC. Through the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of artifacts of historical significance related to the railways and industrial development in Central B.C. and the provision of educational, hands-on experience to the public through static and operating displays, the PGRFM is dedicated to displaying the lifestyles of the people involved in the railways and industrial development in North Central B.C.
The Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum Society has been collecting equipment and artifacts since 1984. It has been open to the public on city-owned land on Cottonwood Island, just north of downtown Prince George and adjacent to the CNR yards, since 1986. Operated by the volunteers of the Central British Columbia Railway and Forest Industry Museum Society, the Museum attracts about 10,000 - 15,000 visitors each summer, making it a significant tourism generator for Prince George.
The Prince George Oral History Group is made up of volunteers from the community interested in collecting and preserving the memories of older citizens from the Prince George area. In addition to conducting oral history interviews and transcribing the tapes, the Group promotes the oral history process by training people in the practical, legal and ethical aspects of oral history.
Audio cassettes and transcripts of oral histories are deposited at the UNBC Archives as well as in other locations in the city of Prince George. This is an on-going project. Some of the interviewing is conducted in conjunction with the Prince George Retired Teachers Association.
In response to the growing need to provide services to urban Aboriginal people, in 1971, the Federal Government, through the Department of the Secretary of State, introduced the Migrating Native People's Program, which provided core funding to Friendship Centres. Over the next ten years this initiative led to fourteen new Centres being established in BC, attesting to both the need and community support existing across the province.
In these early years, Friendship Centres were primarily perceived as a place where Aboriginal people could drop in and have a cup of coffee; a place where they could socialize with their own people and receive emotional support. During these formative years, Friendship Centres offered few direct services as their primary role was to refer people to existing social services agencies.
The Prince George Native Friendship Centre (PGNFC) has grown and continues to be one of the largest and busiest community service delivery agencies in Prince George. The PGNFC provides culturally appropriate programming to meet the community's unique and diverse needs, including educational, employment, health, and social programs.
The Prince George Métis Elders Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving quality of life for our Elders, as well as educating our community on what it means to be Métis. The Society raises awareness of Métis culture through community involvement (For more information visit: http://www.pgmetiselders.com/ )
The Prince George Historical Society was formed when Constance Cox donated indigenous artifacts to the Prince George Rotary Club. Beginning in 1954, Ian Evans spearheaded a group to display this collection, eventually organising a Historical Society. This society in turn decided to set up a museum in the Civic Centre. There was debate over the name, but the newly formed society was finally named Ft. George District Historical and Museum Society, as a chapter of the B.C. Historical Society. Fort George District was an electoral district for 1956, and extended east to Tete Jaune Cache, west to Cluculz Lake, south to Woodpecker, and north to the Pine Pass.
The Prince George Community Foundation was incorporated on October 25, 1995 by a group of community leaders who saw the potential long-term benefits the foundation would offer to the residents of the Prince George Region.
The signatories of the incorporation documents were:
Jan Christiansen, Barrister and Solicitor
George Paul, Manager of the City of Prince George
Tom Steadman, Businessman
Ron East, Businessman
Murry Krause, Consultant
The signatories called the first annual meeting on February 20, 1996 at which time Beverly Christensen was elected the foundation's first president. Elected to serve on the executive with her were vice-president, Ron East, secretary-treasurer, George Paul and recording secretary, Judy Dix. Elected as the founding directors of the new community foundation were: Daphne Baldwin, Bob Harkins, Rev. Lance Morgan, Noreen Rustad, Tom Steadman and Vasso Vahlas. The directors later appointed Bob Buxton as a director and treasurer of the foundation.
The foundation's constitution and bylaws provides that the Mayor of Prince George may automatically become a director of the foundation. At the time of the foundation's incorporation, Mayor John Backhouse accepted a position as a director On November 16, 1996, following his election as mayor of the City of Prince George, Colin Kinsley also agreed to serve as a director of the foundation.
The first public event held for the foundation was a gala tribute-roast for Mayor Backhouse held October 5, 1996 at the Civic Centre.
The Prince George Citizen daily newspaper has been the newspaper of record for the City of Prince George since 1916.
The Prince George Chamber of Commerce represents and promotes the city's economy, education system, crime prevention programs, environmental, cultural, and governmental concerns. This encourages business, residential and industrial development, broadening the tax base and providing employment.
The Prince George Chamber of Commerce has presented the Business Excellence Awards since 1985. The Awards recognise companies, organizations and/or individuals for outstanding business achievement. Awards are given in a range of categories covering various areas of business and are open to members and non-members alike
Alfred Hugh Phipps was born on 27 December 1899 in Victoria, British Columbia. As a teen, he dropped out of high school to enlist as a soldier in World War I; however as he was still underage at the time, he served his tour in Canada instead of being deployed overseas. After the War, Phipps worked in the woods as a logger and in 1928 he began his surveying career as a transit man for professional provincial surveyor Frank C. Swannell. Apparently Swannell found Phipps to be a capable surveying assistant, axe man, huntsman and fisherman of amiable character, and so took him on as an articled student (a three year apprenticeship). While Phipps became a good field surveyor, because he had dropped out of high school he just didn’t have the education required to pass has BCLS (BC Land Surveyor’s) exams. Despite possession of official credentials, Swannell continued to hire Phipps on various expeditions both in 1931 and in the late 1930’s.
Not much is known about Phipps other surveying activities before the Bedaux expedition in 1934, but according to Swannell, Phipps worked for an unidentified surveyor in 1933, and in early 1934 did surveys for a mining company in the southern Interior of British Columbia. In his correspondences to Jack Bocock, the organizer of the Bedaux Expedition in 1934, Swannell spoke highly of Phipps’ skills and this endorsement may have led to Phipps being hired as a third surveyor for the Bedaux Sub-Arctic Expedition in 1934. This was a cross-country expedition from Edmonton to the west coast of BC, traversing across vast tracts of wilderness via (then) state of the art Citroon vehicles. Four months later the expedition was cancelled as the crew was unable to reach their objective owing to problems related to weather, gumbo, and hoof rot. After the Pearl Harbor attack of World War II, the surveying information gathered through the failed Bedaux expedition of 1934 was used to construct a road through BC to Alaska.
On the Beduax Sub-Arctic Expedition, Al Phipps made a very positive impression on Charles Bedaux, the initiator of the Expedition. Upon the conclusion of the expedition Bedaux offered Phipps a position in the Bedaux Company in South Africa. On 4 June 1935, Phipps left for South Africa to assume his new position of Assistant to the Engineers and was thereafter engaged in various consulting projects for Witwatersrand Gold Mines. During his time in South Africa, Phipps met his future wife, Dorothy Summers, the daughter of a wealthy local family. A few years later, Phipps worked for Bedaux’s in Glasgow, Scotland and eventually became Bedaux’s chief supervisor for pottery businesses in England that employed the “Bedaux system”: a factory efficiency system invented by Charles Bedaux. Phipps left the Bedaux Company upon the expiry of his contract, and returned to Canada on 10 December 1936 with his South African born wife.
In 1937 Phipps again worked with the Frank Swannell’s crew surveying land tracts on Vancouver Island. Two years later, Phipps was also part of the crew which accompanied Swannell on his last surveying expedition into northern BC. Phipps Lake in British Columbia was named after A.H. Phipps by Frank Swannell in 1936; Swannell later remarked that the survey of Phipps Lake was done in a day from their camp around Lamprey Lake. It is of note that Swannell also set up a triangulation station on the bluff that he called Phipps’ Bluff.
With the advent of World War II, Phipps served as a captain in the Canadian Intelligence branch, again within Canadian boundaries. In his later years Phipps was employed by the British Columbia Civil Service from which he retired in 1964. Alfred H. Phipps died in August 1974 at the age of 74.
H.G.T. (Harry) Henry George Thomas Perry is considered a founding father of Prince George. –Born March 18th, 1889 in Whitwick, Leicestershire, England, he was educated at Coalville Belvoir Road Wesleyan School and at Loughborough Grammar School. Perry was married to the former Florence Annie Smith of Leicestershire, England. They had two sons, Frank (later Judge Perry of Prince George) and Sidney (pharmacist). - H.G.T. Perry came to Canada in 1910 and to Prince George, British Columbia in 1912, on the BX Sternwheeler. He first established Perry's Shoe Store (a menswear establishment) and later established a real estate and insurance business. He founded the local faction of the Liberal Party in Prince George & Peace River area. He was the first President of the Fort George District & PG Local Liberal Associations from 1912 until he retired to Victoria c.1958. He was elected School Trustee in Fort George (P.G.) from 1912-1914. In addition, Perry was a director for the Prince George Theatre Ltd. and Chairman of the Joint Committee for Incorporation of PG. - Perry first served as President of the Board of Trade (1914) before entering civic politics and served as Prince George Mayor (1917-1918; and 1920) before entering provincial politics. He was also the owner and editor of several regional newspapers, including the Fort George Tribune, The Prince George Citizen, The Nechako Chronicle and the Prince Rupert Daily News. Perry went on to provincial politics running for the Liberal Party and was Speaker of the BC Legislature for Fort George from 1920-1928 & 1933-1945. During his political career he served also as Secretary and Chairman of the Municipal and Agricultural Committees of the Legislature and was a Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1924 to 1928. Perry served also as Provincial Minister of Education from 1941-45. Perry also served as President of the BC Branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association in the BC Parliament and attended its overseas conference of delegates in the UK during King George V Silver Jubilee Year in 1935. - HGT Perry is best known as Chairman of the provincial government’s Post-War Rehabilitation Council (1942-45), the first of its kind in Canada. Mr. Perry left provincial politics after an election defeat in 1945. Known as the “golden tongue orator”1 HGT Perry is also remembered for other improvements he oversaw as a provincial minister: improving educational facilities and teachers salaries in rural schools; for establishing Home Economics and Spanish courses at UBC; for instituting the Cameron Commission; for advocating for the rights of the Japanese, and others, during WWII, and is known as “the man who saved and extended the PGE.”2 In addition to these accomplishments, he played an instrumental role for many infrastructure projects: development of a highway south to the Cariboo Region; building of the Peace River Highway; reservation of one million acres of land in Central B.C. for veterans; creation of a Library distribution centre; and the extension of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Harry Perry died in Victoria, of a heart attack, in 1959 at the age of 70.
Frank Samuel Perry was a former newspaperman, Captain in the army, a lawyer, a Provincial Court judge, County Court judge and justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court.
Frank Perry, the son of Florence (Smith) Perry and H.G.T. Perry (Liberal MLA, Speaker of BC Legislature, Mayor of P.G., etc.) and brother to Sidney Perry, was born in Vancouver on November 22nd, 1917. Frank married Janet Horton (legal secretary) on May 29th, 1947. They had three daughters: Elaine Perry, Barbara (Perry) Desmarais and Leslie Perry. – Frank, in his mid to late teens was the editor of his father’s newspaper, The Prince George Citizen. At the outbreak of WWII, Frank joined the army and became a Captain. When he returned he pursued a career in law. He graduated from UBC and then opened up a law practice in Prince George. He battled with John Diefenbaker in court, a case which Frank lost, but helped to raise Diefenbaker’s profile.
In the 1950’s Frank, a City Barrister gave advice to Prince George’s mayor, Gordon Bryant. In 1956 Frank (with the Liberal Party) ran in the 25th British Columbia election. He lost to Ray Williston. In 1969, Frank was named Queen Counsel and a year later he was appointed a Provincial Court judge. In 1975, Frank was promoted to County Court judge in the Cariboo. In 1991, he became a B.C. Supreme Court judge. In 1992 Frank retired. Frank died in Prince George of heart failure on May 2, 2002.
George Pedersen is a Canadian academic administrator. He was the president of Simon Fraser University (1979 to 1983), University of British Columbia (1983 to 1985), University of Western Ontario (1985 to 1994), interim president of the University of Northern British Columbia (for three months between Geoffrey Weller and Charles Jago), and founding president of Royal Roads University (1995-). He served as chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia from 1998 until 1999. As chancellor, he has given degrees to 3,100 UNBC graduates.
Born in Three Creeks, Alberta, Pedersen received his B.A. from the University of British Columbia, an M.A. from the University of Washington, and his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Chicago in 1968. In 1992, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for being "devoted to the cause of higher education." In 1994, he was awarded the Order of Ontario. In 2002, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia. In 2005, he was appointed Chair of the Board of Governors of Emily Carr Institute.
His career in education began as a school teacher in North Vancouver in 1952, and within a decade he was promoted to principal at both the elementary and secondary levels. The draw of further studies took him far from home, to the University of Chicago, where he completed his PhD and earned ten scholarships in the process. He laid the groundwork for Simon Fraser University’s downtown campus, engaged in bitter battles over adequate post-secondary funding, and passionately advocated for greater aboriginal access to university, for which he was honoured by the Nisga’a.
June Swanky Parker is a Prince George artist and member of the "Milltown Six"- a group of female artists from Prince George including: Doris Ditarro, Caroline Moorehouse, Ann Bogle, Vivian Antoniw, Ruth Hanse.
The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) was incorporated on February 27th, 1912. The PGE goal was to complete a rail line heading north from Vancouver to Prince George where it would connect with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR). 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 the British Columbia interior to Squamish. In 1949 PGE began to expand, and on November 1st, 1952 PGE completed a junction with Canadian National Railway in Prince George. On August 27th, 1956 PGE completed a line between Squamish and North Vancouver completing their original goal of a rail line from Vancouver to Prince George. In 1958 PGE reached Fort St. John and Dawson Creek to meet with the Alberta Railways. On September 10th, 1971 the largest construction that was undertaken opened a line between Fort St. John to Fort Nelson. In 1972 Pacific Great Eastern changed their name to British Columbia Railway (BCR).
"Over the Edge" was established in 1993 as the first student media publication available at UNBC Prince George campus.
Over the Edge Newspaper Society is an independent organization run by UNBC students that produces Over the Edge Newspaper bi-weekly.
Originating in 1994 under the Northern Undergraduate Student Society, Over the Edge ran for 10 years under NUGSS and has run independently since October 2004 producing the only student newspaper on campus.
Over the Edge prints all varieties of content, primarily submitted by students, including news stories, arts and entertainment stories, reviews, creative writing, comics and photography.
Born in Forchheim near Karlsruhe, Germany, Oberle moved with his family to German-occupied Poland in 1941. There he was placed in a Hitler Youth indoctrination program. Later, he fled the Red Army advance, surviving on grass and stolen eggs while walking 800 kilometres to his home village in the Black Forest. Rejected by his relatives, he immigrated to Canada at the age of 19 and became a logger and then a gold miner.
Oberle entered municipal politics, becoming mayor of Chetwynd. He entered federal politics and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1972 general election as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Prince George—Peace River, British Columbia. He subsequently won re-election five times.
In 1985, Oberle became the first German-born federal Canadian cabinet minister when he became Minister of State for Science and Technology in Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's government. He later became Minister of State for Forestry, and then Minister of Forestry in 1990. Oberle retired from Cabinet when Kim Campbell succeeded Mulroney as Prime Minister, and retired from politics with the dissolution of the 34th Canadian parliament for the 1993 election.
In 2004, Oberle published a memoir of his World War II experiences, Finding Home: A War Child’s Journey to Peace (2004). A second memoir, A Chosen Path: From Moccasin Flats to Parliament Hill, was published in the same year.
The ha’houlthee (chiefly territories) of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, or tribes, stretches along approx. 300 kilometres of the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island, from Brooks Peninsula in the north to Point-no-Point in the south, and includes inland regions. Although Nuu-chah-nulth people of the past shared traditions, languages and many aspects of culture, they were divided into chiefly families, local groups and, later, into Nations. Each Nation included several local groups, each centred around a ha’wiih (hereditary chief), and each living from the resources provided within their ha’houlthee.
Northwood Pulp was established in 1961 when Canadian corporation, Noranda Mines Limited, diversified into the British Columbia forest industry. Partnering with the Mead Corporation of Dayton, Ohio, Noranda Mines Ltd. purchased the Sinclair and Upper Fraser Sawmills, both east of Prince George. After the purchase of these two sawmills, as well as the proliferation of others, there became an excess of waste wood products generated by milling in the central interior of British Columbia. To meet this specific waste reduction need, and to expand into a new wood fibre market, the Mead Corporation and Noranda Mines built Northwood Pulp Mill in 1964-1965. Northwood Pulp Mill was, and still is, a processing plant dedicated to the conversion of waste wood chips to pulp and paper products.
In 1980-1981 an expansion was added to the mill which effectively doubled Northwood's capacity for the making of pulp kraft paper from waste wood chips.
In 1999, the Canadian Forest Products (a.k.a. Canfor) acquired all of the shares of Northwood Inc.; a purchase which included the Northwood Pulp Mill, Prince George Sawmill, North Central Plywoods, Rustad, Houston and Upper Fraser operations, the Kyahwood Forest Products joint venture and J.D. Little Forest Centre. This acquisition gave Canfor the unique designation of being Canada's largest producer of softwood lumber and kraft market pulp.
In February 2006 Canfor effectively separated its pulp business from its wood products business; a strategic move which resulted in the transfer of its northern softwood kraft pulp and paper business, including its Northwood Pulp Mill, Intercontinental Pulp Mill and Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill, together with associated management and employees (now referred to as the “Pulp Income Trust”) to an indirectly owned limited partnership known as the “Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership”.
Northwood Mills was Noranda's first foray into the forestry industry. Northwood Mills was resurrected from National Forest Products when it was purchased by Noranda in April 1961 (Zimmerman p. 33). National Forest Products was in receivership and had 6 sawmills in the Okanagan Valley (Summerland Box Company, Tulameen Forest Products, and the Osoyoos and Oliver mills) and in Prince George (Upper Fraser Mills and Sinclair Spruce Mills) (Zimmerman p. 31). The Prince George mills were larger and more successful, making Prince George the centre of Noranda's forest investment. Included in the purchase of National Forest Products was the harvesting quota for the sawmills and a 3 million acre pulp-harvesting area (pre-approved for a pulp mill) that had been created by the provincial forestry minister, Ray Williston (Zimmerman p. 31). Dick Porritt was named the first president and CEO of Northwood Mills (Zimmerman p. 34).
An agreement between Noranda Mines and the Mead Corporation dated April 24, 1964 provided for the formation of a new company called Northwood Pulp. The capital stock of this new company was divided evenly between Northwood Mills Ltd. and Canamead Inc. (later named Forest Kraft Company). Northwood Pulp purchased from Northwood Mills all the outstanding stock of two of Northwood Mills' wholly-owned subsidiaries: Upper Fraser and Sinclair Spruce Mills. Northwood Mills would provide knowledge and experience with respect to sawmills. Mead would provide knowledge and experience with respect to the engineering and design of pulpmills. Northwood Mills was Northwood Pulp's exclusive agent for soliciting and servicing sales of logs, lumber and other sawmill products globally.
At 1976, Northwood Mills continued to operate four sawmills in the Okanagan region of British Columbia with the capacity to produce approximately 200 million board feet of lumber per year, principally western white spruce. It had a building materials division which operated a lumber brokerage and wholesale building materials business through warehouses across Canada. Early in 1975, it acquired Airscrew-Weyroc, which was then renamed Northwood Panelboard Ltd., with a 145,000 tons per year particle board plant in Chatham, New Brunswick.
Between 1964 and 1985, Northwood Mills purchased holdings in other subsidiaries, including Fraser Inc., W.H. Miller Co Ltd., James Maclaren Industries, Lynn Stevedoring Co. Ltd., MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., McBride Lumber & Building Supplies Ltd., Northwood Properties, and Northwood Panelboard Ltd (Stats Can).
Northwood Mills' Sales Division marketed its own production as well as that for Northwood Pulp and Timber and other non-affiliated producers. Over 80% of the sales were to North America.
Sources:
Zimmerman, Adam. Who’s in Charge Here, Anyway?: Reflections from a Life in Business, (Don Mills, Ontario: Stoddart; Distributed in Canada by General Distribution Services), 1997.
Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Noranda Mines Limited: A Corporate Background Report. 1976. p. 64.
Statistics Canada. Inter-corporate Ownership Directory, 1975, 1982, 1985, 1987.
The Northern holds a place in the foundation of the Northern region of British Columbia. Not only is the store a recognized cornerstone of Prince George, it's a landmark. Opened in 1919, only four years after the City of Prince George was incorporated, Alex Moffat and partner Frank Whitmore bought out the Northern Lumber Company and renamed it the now famous "The Northern".
During the 1920s, most of Alex and Frank's customers were loggers, prospectors, and homesteaders arriving to settle the region. With such a diverse clientele, Alex and Frank established an inventory of building, farming, and in-home supplies which is still honoured to this day. When the store first opened, there was so much growth in the region that a second location was opened up in the Wells area in the mid-1920s.
A varied and large inventory helped The Northern survive the Great Depression in the 30s, along with the help of a small gold rush in the Cariboo during that time. Business didn't exactly boom during this economic dry spell, but the store developed a reputation for customer service above and beyond what other stores could offer. From cashing pay cheques to extending credit, The Northern etched out a unique position in the economic development of the region, and the Province.
Despite a fire in the main store on Boxing Day 1933, The Northern managed to grow and evolve when other businesses faltered. In fact, growth was strong enough to require a move to a new location at Third Avenue and George Street (1934), then another to Third Avenue and Quebec Street two years later.
The 40s were also a challenge. The Second World War had a mixed effect on The Northern. Troops and work crews stationed in Prince George kept the store hopping, but both locations felt the strain of heavy taxes imposed by the Government's War Effort. When the war finally ended, Alex and Frank sold the Wells location and began construction on a new building adjacent to the store's operational location. Moving to the corner of Third Avenue and Brunswick Street would turn out to be a huge success: The Northern occupies 1386 Third Avenue to this day.
By 1946, Frank Whitmore had sold his share of the business to Alex Moffat, who arranged for his son Harold and the company's Secretary-Treasurer, Thompson Ogg, to take on a partnership role. As the years passed, The Northern became more and more a family business. By 1949, Alex's sons (Donn, Gilbert [Corky], Earl, John and Keith) were partners along with another employee named Hilliard Clare. Eventually, The Northern included all the Moffat children; in 1951, Betty, Alice and Joyce (Alex's daughters) became equal partners. Just a short four years later, Alex chose to retire, leaving The Northern in the capable hands of his children.
The Northern continued to expand under the direction of the next generation of Moffats. In 1956, the top-floor apartments were vacated and renovated to accommodate the evolving and growing business. A customer parking lot was paved in 1957, the first paved lot in Prince George. When Alex passed away in 1963, his son Harold became company president.
Under Harold's direction, The Northern expanded further with the purchase of the neighbouring Five & Dime store in 1965. And growth continued. It was during the 70s that Harold opened AMCO, a subsidiary wholesale company, a few blocks away on Queensway Avenue. To this day, both AMCO and the Northern Appliance Centre are located there.
Harold's political ambitions ultimately placed him in the office of Mayor of Prince George from 1970 to 1979, so his brothers took over much of business at The Northern and the sister companies.
Today, The Northern continues to thrive under the direction of a third generation of Moffats, and members of the fourth generation are presently employed there.
Northern BC Archives & Special Collections is an administrative unit of The Geoffrey R. Weller Library located on the 4th floor of the Library Building. In February 1992 informal discussions began regarding the establishment of an archives to preserve the University’s history. In 1996 a committee drafted “The Plan for a UNBC Archives” that expanded on these ideas and outlined the need to establish an archives of Northern BC that would preserve, acquire and provide access to public and private records related to the history and culture of Northern BC. Hence, the position of Archivist was created and the Northern BC Archives was officially opened in November 2000. The Archives also houses rare book collections and maintains the University’s artworks and artifact collections. - The mandate of the Northern BC Archives is to acquire, preserve and provide access to materials of permanent value related to the institutional history and development of UNBC and its institutes and to acquire, preserve and provide public access to archival materials of value related to the history and culture of Northern British Columbia. The Archives will serve research and scholarship by making these records available to researchers, university personnel, students, faculty and the general public.
The North Central Plywood plant in Prince George was a sawmill that produced 185 million square feet of plywood annually and employed approximately 250 people. The sawmill closed in 2008 after it was destroyed by a fire.
Noranda Sales Corporation Ltd. was responsible for marketing the metals and minerals from Noranda's own operations, its associated companies and 25 other Canadian companies. The products sold included copper, zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver, gold, selenium, tellurium, fluorspar, cadmium, bismuth, sulphuric acid, phosphate fertilizers, potash, and copper sulphate. These sales were conducted internationally.
In 1974, the total value of its transactions amounted to about $1.5 billion from 23 products in 45 countries. The company had a 50% interest in Rudolf Wolff and Co., a charter member and the largest metal broker at the time on the London Metal Exchange.
Source: Royal Commission on Corporate Concentration, Noranda Mines Limited: A Corporate Background Report. 1976. p. 49.