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The independent engineer’s report into the collapse of a tailings pond wall at Mount Polley mine really didn’t hold too many surprises. When the breach happened there weren’t too many who felt such a catastrophic breach wasn’t preventable. It certainly was, and the engineers pointed to a faulty design. “The design did not take into account the complexity of the sub-glacial and pre-glacial geological environment associated with the perimeter embankment foundation,” according to the repor...

Northern Health is getting off scot-free. Give the health authority credit for coming forward last week and announcing that improper techniques were used when pre-cleaning endoscopes. However, as they were compelled to notify the 10,000 or so people who had the procedure over the past two years, it’s likely the news would have become public sooner rather than later anyway. Northern Health has certainly downplayed the risk of infection to those who have had the procedure. And, from how...

We are winter. It’s just too bad we’re not snowmen. The decision by the city this week to put the kibosh on a proposal to build a giant snowman next to Mr. PG in time for the 2015 Canada Winter Games is simply stupid. To listen to city staff drone on about the possible safety hazards, and subsequent liability issues, associated with building a large snowman was surreal. Could this really be happening? Yes it was, and right here in Prince George where city crews routinely pile snow five feet...

While we certainly haven’t seen the onslaught of snowstorms this year that we did last year, snow has arrived. With that has come the microscope hovering over the city’s snow removal efforts. Generally, this year, they seem to be pretty good. We’re not hearing the endless complaints about snow removal, it’s not the conversation at every coffee break, and it’s not dominating the headlines. That means the city has listened, learned, and changed since last year. Good job.

Hopefully city council’s exuberance for speaking out on issues affecting the city will continue. On Monday night city councillors didn’t hold much back as they threw their support behind the Royal Canadian Legion’s push to have Veterans Affairs re-open its office in Prince George. The local office was one of eight across the country that were closed in 2012, ostensibly as a cost-cutting measure even though the agency has returned more than $1 billion in unexpended funds to federal coffers....

From all of us here at the Prince George Free Press … Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. If you don’t have all your Christmas shopping done yet, well, you’re in trouble. Hopefully you have made it through the mad scramble that can be the Christmas season … running around to get the right gifts, getting the lights up (a tougher job if you live on Candy Cane Lane, but even if you don’t, it can still be a challenge), getting the tree up, the house decorated, the baking done, the...

It may be Christmas and we should all be filled with good cheer, but there is something amiss in the fantasy world of Victoria. There was a time when even the hint of wrongdoing by an MLA would result in either the immediate resignation of that MLA or, failing that, a banishment to the backbenches by the premier (even if only for a little while). Not so anymore. Former Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk and Premier Christy Clark have shown how little integrity those in the highest...

Cariboo-Prince George Conservatives this weekend will decide who they want to carry the party banner in next year’s federal election. Most pundits, including us, have opined that this is likely the race for who will actually be the riding’s next MP, given that it has been a conservative stronghold since the Reform days. But does it have to be? And does having two MPs from the party in power best serve our interests? One of the complaints from many pundits, including us again, is that Ottawa...

Premier Christy Clark says she’s too busy running the province to sit in the Legislature. According to Province columnist Michael Smyth, Clark showed up at the legislature on just eight days since the start of October, a period when the legislature sat for 24 days. “The leader of the Opposition isn’t running the province — he isn’t running anything,” she said, in response to crticism from NDP leader John Horgan. Clark’s attitude is endemic of a lot of politicians these days … that is...

One of the issues that surfaced during the School District 57 Board of Education elections was how much business the board does behind closed doors. Several of the trustee candidates, including some incumbents, complained that too much of the district’s business is done during “in camera” meetings … meetings that are closed to public scrutiny. Outgoing trustee Kate Cooke presented a lengthy dissertation about it at her last board meeting this week. No one questions the fact that the school...