Muskeg Press

As the year draws to an end, we look back on some of the bigger stories that happened in 2010, starting in January. Some, we think, will be consequential, while others are more interesting than significant. Check here on Friday morning when we give you our pick for the biggest story of 2010.

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If one was to try and come up with a word to describe 2010 when it comes to sports, perhaps the easiest thing to say would be “busy.”

After all, unlike 2008 where every huge Northwest sports story on the planet took place, 2010 could have been like every other year. Rainmakers winning at basketball, Hydaburg winning at the All-Native Basketball Tournament, or the Grassy Bay Mariners easily winning the Kaien Island Softball League title in a walk.

But 2010 had an allure of its own. After all, Prince Rupert was about to celebrate its 100th birthday, PRSS is celebrating its final year of senior high school existence, and the Prince Rupert Swim Club, as reported by Muskeg News on Tuesday, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. So indeed — everyone in town was very busy.

As there were other reasons to celebrate in 2010, here are the 10 best reasons that we can think of and remember. Think we missed any? Feel free to remind us by posting your thoughts at the bottom of this article.

10. ANQT cancelled

No, it’s not the ANBT that was cancelled, so perhaps this may not seem like that big of a story.

But hang on a second. Yes, the ANQT was cancelled for November 2010, but the Committee is using this opportunity to gauge whether they even have to hold an ANQT any more. For the first 30 or so years of the tournament, it wasn’t necessary, but since the addition of the ANQT, it’s been apparent that teams travelling a long distance (Ahousaht, the Okanagan, etc.) or from the U.S. like Alaska have a lot of difficulty trying to make both tournaments.

Peter Haugan pointed out that costs just keeping getting higher, and that it’s difficult for anyone to fundraise once, never mind twice a year. If the ANBT grows again popularity like it did leading up to the 50th annual, the ANQT could return — but don’t count on it.

9. The birth of high school rugby

Members of the Prince Rupert Seamen had every reason to be excited in 2010. For the first time ever, Prince Rupert was able to put together a high school rugby team over at Charles Hays Secondary School. Considering the two schools will amalgamate in 2011, the opportunity to have an established high school rugby program that feeds the men’s team looks promising, considering just five years ago, the Seamen nearly folded due to a lack of players. It’s expected that the Hurricanes should have another strong rugby team this spring.

8. The North Coast Coy Cup

Watch for this one making the top 10 next year, especially if Rupert wins it. Williams Lake had originally been given the blessing by the CIHL to host the provincial tournament, but when it became obvious they weren’t ready, Rupert became the next choice. And the timing seems perfect, as the Rampage have their strongest team so far, currently in a three-team dogfight for first place in the West with Terrace and Kitimat. The Coy Cup will run March 8-11, 2011.

7. The year of the Friendship House (boys)

It’s true that the Cubs mimicked this feat back in 2007: the Intermediates won the ANBT, and then the juniors won the provincials a month later, in front of the home fans.

But 2010 might have been the best Friendship House team ever, as they absolutely dominated. True, the ANBT was close at the end, but no one could even touch the Tribesmen in March. The final was a bit of a yawner, as at least eight Rupert players hit double digits in their final win over Skidegate. 2011 will be somewhat of a rebuilding year at the junior level, as many of their top players have graduated, but look out for the Intermediates team this February.

6. Rainmakers over Hurricanes

No, this isn’t a box score from a basketball game. This fit the saying “what’s in a name.” With the amalgamation of the two schools imminent, teachers, students, and the public in general debated whether to carry the Rainmaker name over to Hays, to keep the current Hurricane nickname, or to go with a new name.

Not surprisingly, Rainmakers won out, based on history and tradition, while the school will stick with Hays’ blue as its prime colour. As for the middle school, that is still an ongoing debate.

5. All fired up

Olympics, schm-Olympics, many in this town have said, and still say. Fair enough, I say, considering the kazillion dollars that were thrown around leading up to the Games.

But like it usually does, that attitude quickly changed when the Olympic torch came through Rupert on February 1. Local athlete Justin Barton got to hold the torch first, and then Rupert’s own Charlotte Rowse was chosen to officially light the flame on the stage on 3rd Avenue West on a typically perfect Rupert night (at least, it seems, when it comes to huge public events): clear, sunny, and calm.

4. Rupert’s luger wins nationals

Brendan Hauptman is one of those Rupertites that just hasn’t lived here for a while: he moved away when he was nine. But his mom and dad are back town (both were long-time Rupertites before moving away back in the 1990s) and they’re probably still smiling from what transpired just over a month ago. Hauptman, who in all honesty should have been a member of Canada’s luge team at the Olympics last February, showed everyone he belonged by winning the nationals, including beating out two of the three men who were chosen ahead of him for the Olympics last year.

Canada traditionally doesn’t perform well on the global scale in this sport, but Hauptman has the best chance to become the first Rupertite to medal at the Olympics. We’ll see come 2014.

3. Slubowski signs on the dotted line

Back when the Daily News existed, it was a common thing to write about the latest high school basketball star to get a scholarship somewhere to play college ball. Normally, it was in Canada, but on the rare occasion, sometimes it was the States too.

But goaltender Frank Slubowski made history earlier this year when he became the first Rupertite to ever sign a U.S. scholarship to go play college hockey. Slubowski was an all-star last season, and he’s continuing to tear it up this year, despite playing behind a much younger team. Western Michigan saw that, and quickly offered the netminder a full scholarship. Nice — a free education, and four more years of hockey.

And … maybe one day the NHL?

2. The Prince Rupert hall-of-fame

If anyone still doubts why the Rainmaker name won out over the Hurricanes, perhaps the foreshadowing came at the 2010 Basketball B.C. hall-of-fame induction ceremony. Ken Shields, a famous Rainmaker from that 1964 team who went on to coach the men’s national team, joked that “they’ll have to open a new Rupert wing for us,” and he might be right.

John Olsen, that great Rainmaker from the 1960-62 teams who was chosen back in 2004 as one of the top 60 AAA basketball B.C. players of all time by the Province, was a pretty obvious chose, even though he was inducted as a builder. But joining him was Luanne Krawetz (formerly Hebb), a famous Rainbird from the 1970s, who was chosen for her play as a member of those great UVIC ladies teams from the early 1980s.

But it doesn’t end there. The UBC women’s team from the early 1970s was also inducted, and that team just happened to include Kathy Shields; not a Rupertite, no, but she went on to marry Ken Shields. Oh, and by the way, the coach of that great team just happened to be Norm Vickery, coach of the 1964 Rainmakers team. There were probably even more Rupertites listed that day, but we’re running low on our word-limit here so …

1. Tearing up the track

Okay, so let the debate begin. Why is this number one? Because this story happened here in town, whereas No. 2 through 5 all occurred elsewhere.

Coach Brian Johnson should be applauded for the amazing resurgence of the local track and field team. Not only has their been a rebirth over at Hays, last season, PRSS also got at least 30 athletes involved.

The end result? Two zone banners (one by each school) and a fairly good indication that once these two schools amalgamate next summer, this track team is going to be absolutely dominant, not just in the Northwest (look out Smithers, you’re in trouble), but the entire province.

~Written by Patrick Witwicki

A tax legislated into law after the government invoked closure. An octogenarian former premier’s political career revived. Revelations high-level government bureaucrats knew of the tax’s implementation before the 2009 election. Seven hundred thousand-plus signatures on a petition that forced an upcoming referendum. A premier’s resignation. A leader of the opposition’s resignation.

The Zalm returns, Gordo quits, the Wrath of Kwan boots out James: only in B.C.

Yes, politics in 2010 has been the most fun to watch on a provincial level, as the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) loomed large, and led to all the events described in the first paragraph. Things were more ho-hum at the federal level and, on the municipal level, the ongoing soap opera over the ownership of the pulp mill influenced decision-making in council chambers for yet another year. On an aboriginal level, there was one election at the beginning of the year, but not much more political news.

Starting with provincial politics, the introduction of the HST was the prime mover for many of events of the political season. The tax, announced shortly after the 2009 election, caused Bill Vander Zalm, former Social Credit premier, to start up a grassroots political movement that gathered over 700,000 signatures across the province to demand a referendum on whether or not the tax should stay (scheduled for September 2011, for now). As that was going on, the actual HST bill was passed into law in the provincial legislature after the B.C. Liberals enacted closure to shut down debate. By September, a freedom-of-information request showed that high-level bureaucrats were discussing the HST months before the 2009 election, even though B.C. Liberal politicians said the tax wasn’t on their “radar.” The anger towards the whole thing pushed Premier Gordon Campbell’s popularity into the single-digit range, caused him to step down in October. Across the aisle, the NDP went through its own power vacuum at the end of the year, as 13 dissident MLAs forced the resignation of their leader, Carole James, on December 6.

And, as North Coast MLA Gary Coons points out: the battle isn’t done yet. “I would say this was the year of the HST and it’s not over,” he said in a recent interview. “We go into the next year, you got the Ida Chong recall and who knows what, and then the actual referendum vote, supposedly in September.”

While Coons said he never thought he’d see the day when the NDP teamed up with a former Social Credit premier, he didn’t seem surprised about the wild HST ride of 2010. “I think the most hated thing that people despise are taxes, and so you know there’s always going to be a cringe factor,” he said. “I think it was just a benchmark for the way not to do taxation.”

Speaking of taxation: residents of Prince Rupert once again saw their property taxes rise, as the City grappled with a shrinking tax base and the ownership of a pulp mill that was costing between $74,000-$100,000/month in maintenance costs. The City had taken ownership of the mill in September 2009 after the previous owner reneged on paying taxes; by September of this year, the City signed an exclusivity deal with a joint venture consisting of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, Lax Kw’alaams, and the Metlakatla Development Corporation. In essence, while the joint venture performs its due diligence, the City agreed not to entertain bids from other suitors. The agreement also had the side-benefit of taking the monthly maintenance costs off the City’s hands.

In a recent interview, Mayor Jack Mussallem was asked if the signing of that exclusivity deal brought him a sense of relief. “It’s not a relief, but it’s a proper and up-front way of doing business,” he said. “So it is appreciated, not on by the council, but it’s appreciated by the residents of the city of Prince Rupert.”

There were a number of other groups knocking on the City’s door to buy the mill, but these offers were turned away — this caused some consternation in the community and city council came under fire for rejecting what looked like viable bids. But Mussallem argued the other suitors simply didn’t meet the City’s conditions with their offers. “The City was very, very specific in its advertising for the divestiture of Watson Island,” he said. “It was advertised as a sale where specific terms and conditions would be met. The other groups did not meet those terms and conditions.” To date, those other groups have not come back to make on offer at the stated price, he said.

While the sale is in a sort of limbo, the previous owner of the mill, Sunwave Investments Ltd., has taken the City to court. Mussallem said he doesn’t think this court case will affect the possible sale to the joint venture. While he did not give an exact dollar figure, he said “the legal fees are continuing to add up.” He also said there is an upcoming court date with Sunwave, but would only say it’s “before the new year.”

On the federal front, nothering really happened for the region until earlier this week. Sure, there was a budget released at the beginning of the year with yet another deficit, as well as rumblings about a spring election which never came. But things didn’t really heat up until the fall session of Parliament, when a gun-registry vote split the NDP caucus. After some wrangling, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen ultimately voted to abolish the long-gun registry, putting him on the side of most of the Conservative party — the bill, however, was voted down, and as of today, we still have a long-gun registry.

But the highlight of Cullen’s year had to be on December 7, when he submitted a motion to ban tanker traffic on the north coast. With the support of the three opposition parties, the motion passed 143-138, with the Conservatives firmly in opposition. While the vote is non-binding, Cullen said it puts political pressure on the Conservatives to do something about tanker traffic. He said the government has “weeks, not months,” before he launches phase two of his plan: to co-ordinate the groundswell of support by environmentalists, commercial fishermen and aboriginal groups to lobby the government to pass a bill banning the tankers.

In aboriginal politics, there was a spring election in Kitkatla (Gitxaala), where incumbent chief councillor Elmer Moody retained his position. The election may prove to be a trendsetter, as councillors were voted in based on their clan (eagle, killer whale, raven, wolf) instead of voters choosing from a general list of candidates. There will be a by-election in February, as one of the councillors was removed by his council peers after he had missed three consecutive meetings.

Kitkatla also made some noise towards the end of November, when it blocked a logging barge ramp at Oona River, protesting the Province’s system of awarding forestry licences; the blockade was taken down at the beginning of December. Meanwhile, the other nearby villages, Metlakatla & Lax Kw’alaams, became involved with the aforementioned joint venture with the Port.

With all that, we’ll give the last word to Jack Mussallem, who has lately been promoting the increased economic activity around Prince Rupert at the end of this year.* These claims, however, have been met with some skepticism by the general public.

“I respond to all the naysayers in this way: you aren’t the decision-makers. You aren’t the ones that are looking at Prince Rupert, looking at the Pacific Rim, recognizing Prince Rupert’s potential as a transportation centre,” he said.

“So a local person here, while they may remain skeptical about this, they don’t have all the information about the bigger picture, and where Prince Rupert’s future could be going, and the type of companies that we’re gettting inquiries from as to what interests them about Prince Rupert. And once again it’s all about transportation, and it’s all about location, location, location.”

~Written by Chris Armstrong.
*NOTE: Mussallem’s comments toward the end of this article about increased economic activity were recorded before Norwegian Cruise Lines decided to pull out of Rupert in 2012.

As 2010 draws to an end, Muskeg News has decided to look back on the year in a series of articles. This week, we examine the economic activity of the past year.

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