Muskeg Press

Gas prices have jumped in Prince Rupert from about $1.08/litre to almost $1.25/litre, and climbing. Rupert isn’t the only place seeing higher prices, however. According to the website GasTicker.com, prices in Vancouver have risen to $1.31/litre.

News reports have blamed the latest price hike on unrest in Libya, whose output is about two per cent of global oil consumption.

So, with gas prices rising, we’d like to know how it will affect your routine.

Will you be driving less often because of the higher gas prices?

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At the end of this month, the B.C. Ferry Commission will make a recommendation to the government on the maximum fares B.C. Ferries can charge. Based on comments from David Hahn, the CEO of B.C. Ferries, the Commission has a big decision on its hands.

At the beginning of February, Hahn made province-wide headlines when he said fares will go up on all routes — and double in the northern sailings — unless the government subsidy is increased or service cuts are made.

The Commission has to make its recommendation by March 31, and then it is up to the government to decide how to proceed. By the fall, we should know what the rates will be for B.C. Ferries from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2016.

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According to an annual ranking done by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver is the most liveable city in the world, beating out such slums as New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, and Rome.

Vancouver has placed at the top of this survey for the fifth straight year, and has earned a score of 98 out of 100 for the past two years. Other Canadian cities also did well: Toronto (97.2) and Calgary (96.6) were fourth and fifth, respectively.

According to a brief article on the rankings, the scores are based on five factors: stability, health care, culture & environment, education, and infrastructure.

Now, Muskeg News would like to hear from you. What do you think of Vancouver being the most liveable city in the world?

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Next Saturday, February 26, the membership of the B.C. Liberal party will elect a new leader, who will also be the next premier of the province. In this week’s poll, we ask you who you think is best suited to be the next premier of B.C. (A B.C. Liberal membership is not required for this vote.)

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Last week, the interim chair of Ridley Terminals Inc. said expansion plans are in the works after a huge year for the coal terminal last year.

According to data from the Prince Rupert Port Authority, Ridley shipped over 8 million tonnes of throughput in 2010, most of it coal. And, at the end of January, the terminal signed a contract with Arch Coal, based in St. Louis, to ship at least 2 million tonnes of coal each year until 2015.

Interim chair Bud Smith said the Arch contract will contribute to expansion plans that have been in the works for the past few years. Not everyone is happy with this coal boom, however: environmentalists have said this expansion in production will be harmful to the environment.

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~Photo by Mike Ambach, freelance photographer

Last week, the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) awarded a broadcasting licence to Astral Media for 99.1 FM in Prince Rupert. By deciding in Astral’s favour, the CRTC rejected a bid for the same frequency by Barry Wall, a former program director of CFNR who wanted to create a radio station that included a portion of air time dedicated to local artists.

Now that CRTC has made its official decision, we thought we would ask which way you would have voted, if you had the same powers of the CRTC. For our story on last week’s decision, click here.

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Each year, a few Christmas movies are made, adding to the list of the hundreds that have already been produced. We’ve compiled a list of 10 of the more popular Christmas movies out of the hundreds that have been made. We know we have left a lot of favourites out, so feel free to submit a write-in candidate in the “Comments” section if you think a worthwhile choice has been left out.

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What story in 2010 do you think will be remembered in the days to come? Which one will have the most resonating consequences?

Let your voice be heard by selecting one of the options below. If your choice for story of the year isn’t in our poll, submit a write-in vote in the “comments” section, below.

After all the votes are counted, we’ll give you our vote on the biggest story of 2010 on the last day of the year.

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Over the weekend, NDP leader Carole James survived a test of her leadership as 84 per cent of delegates voted not to hold a leadership convention next year. The decision was seen by James as a vote of confidence in her abilities, and she has vowed to stay on as leader. But there are members of her caucus who are still displeased with her leadership, as her popularity is low and she has guided the party to back-to-back election losses.

Complete our poll below to let us know what you think of this issue.

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In about a year from now, on November 19, 2011 to be exact, British Columbians will go to the polls to vote in the municipal election. Muskeg News thought we should poll Rupertites as to who they think is doing the best job on council in the first two-thirds of their term.

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