II III The Prince George Citizen - Friday, June 27,1997 - 13 by DON SCHAFFER Citizen staff If the provincial government has its way, the laws that govern the way cities and municipalities do business will change dramatically over the next couple of years. That, quite likely, will suit them just fine. Last week, the government gave first reading to Bill 46. If it becomes law, it will make many of the changes asked for last year when representatives of the province and the Union of B.C. Municipalities met to discuss their difficulties. Cities around the province are still sorting this week through the huge bill, which is the first step in what Paul Rowland of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing calls a major overhaul of the Municipal Act, which governs what municipalities can and cannot do. “When the end of the process comes in a few years, the Act will look completely different,” Rowland said. It’s about time, says Prince George city manager George Paul. “The Municipal Act needs a major overhaul,” Paul said in an interview. “The wording is archaic and confusing; the provisions are restrictive, so you don’t have the flexibility to do the things that communities in this modern age have to do to serve their constituents.” While he hadn’t seen the text of Bill 46, he welcomes changes in the legislation, which is based on the Baldwin Act of 1849. “It prescribes what municipalities can do, and you can’t do any more than that,” he said. “People contact us and they say, ‘Why don’t you do this?’ or ‘Why don’t you take advantage of that?’ “Well, we can’t, because we’re limited by the provisions of the Municipal Act.” He said one of the best examples of actions outside the scope of the Act is the concept of public-private partnerships. “Lawyers have to spend hours trying to figure out how to get around the provisions of the Municipal Act so that something that makes very logical sense can be done. For instance, a bunch of regulations were recently approved by the provincial government that apply only to Victoria, so that they can achieve the multiplex project that they’ve got on the books as a public-private partnership. “But nobody else in the province can take advantage of that — their position is that this is a pilot project.” Those are exactly the kinds of changes in the offing for the Act, Rowland said. After a meeting with the Union of B.C. Municipalities last fall, the government and UBCM created a joint council to deal with weaknesses in the Act. “The stuff that’s being done this year is essentially the stuff... that’s easy to do this year,” Rowland explained. Here are some of the changes being made to the Municipal Act in Bill 46, the Local Government Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 1997: ■ Getting rid of 50 requirements for provincial approval or other supervision of local government actions; ■ Making it easier for local governments to operate airports; ■ Permitting regional districts and the Islands Trust to take on responsibility for subdivision approvals; ■ Making it possible for local governments to finance long-term leases at favorable rates through the Municipal Finance Authority; ■ Authorizing local governments to enter development works agreements as an alternative way of recovering the costs of development. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten YOUTH HELPING YOUTH — Members of the UNITY group (left to right) Bill Coffman, Lesley Coffman, Darcy Hallett, Jackie Slusarenko and Williams Henry) demonstrate some of the food items they hope to collect Saturday and Sunday. UNITY, a youth-directed society trying to start a youth centre here, hopes that food collected will feed needy youth at weekly lunches. Anyone wishing to help collect food can contact Lesley Coffman at 565-6291 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Legion’s pipers and drummers take top places at ‘Gathering’ Citizen staff The Prince George Legion Branch 43 pipes and drums corps shone at the annual Legion Highland Gathering in Hope last weekend, bringing home 22 top-four finishes. Nine bands from around the province took part in the day-long competition, with the city corps winning the aggregate points category. Mark Christy was one of the standouts in the piping competition, taking first places in the open piobraireachd, open strathspey and reel and open jig competitions. He was part of the quartet piping first-place team along with Ian Mclnnis, Hugh Mclnnis and Peter Peebles. Ian Mclnnis won the senior amateur march category, with Peebles second and Marvin Hawke third. Peebles won the senior amateur strathspey and reel competition. Dan Fraser was first and Jeremy Cundy third in the junior amateur march, with Cundy first and Fraser third in the junior amateur strathspey and reel. Trevor Mclsaac was first in the novice march class and first in the trio competition, along with Hawke and Heather Chafe. In the drumming competition, Tom Aldoff won the open march strathspey and reel, Isaac Rogers took the junior amateur strathspey and reel competition, and David Flynn took novice march. Shane Dehod was second in drum major, while Myron Dehod took fourth in the bass drum category. The Prince George group also took first in the Grade Three band event. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten Highland dancer Kirstin Thomson and piper Marvin Hawke deliver a $500 donation with flare to a surprised board of directors at Prince George Hospice House. Clan event helped local groups Citizen staff The recent Gathering of the Clans at Massey Place resulted in more than just a fun day. It raised money which is now being shared by charitable organizations in Prince George. The day-long event, which attracted almost 2,000 people and featured Celtic bands, dancers and entertainers, raised more than $4,000 for non-profit organizations. Prince George Hospice House, Child Development Centre, Community Arts Council and Royal Canadian Legion received $500 each as did the four host groups Prince George Celtic Club, Royal Canadian legion pipe band, Central Interior Highland Dancers and Sons of Scotland. Sponsors St. Andrews United Church, Shrine Clown Unit, St. John Ambulance and the Prince George Air Show received smaller donations. “And we have enough money left to put on another gathering next year,” said Rita Thompson, president of the organizing committee. AimHi agency faces strike, threat Citizen staff Workers at 38 community living agencies around B.C. are prepared to strike after a final attempt to reach a negotiated settlement failed this week, their union representatives said in a release. The agencies, one of which is AimHi in Prince George, include group homes, vocational programs and child care centres serving people with mental and physical disabilities. “We expect to serve 72-hour strike notice on one or more agencies before the end of the week,” said John Shields, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union. The union returned to the bargaining table Monday with the understanding that the employers had a new mandate from the provincial government, which funds the services, Shields said in a release. The 3,500 BCGEU members, employed at 38 community living agencies around the province, earlier voted 87 per cent in favor of strike action. HERE and NOW Local art The Artist’s Co-op presents the opening of its show and sale of original artwork depicting Prince George. The show featuring work by coop members runs today from 7 to 10 p.m. at 2302 Hart Highway. Refreshments will be served. This exhibit of art work titled Capture Prince George will be on display and sale through July and August. For information phone 563-9500. Gymnastics camp Prince George Gymnastics offers a summer camp in July and August at the Exhibition Sports Centre at Exhibition Park. Kindergym, recreational and adult classes are offered. To re-register, go to the gym Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For new registration, go to Pine Centre Mall on July 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and July 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 564-7353. Hiking club The Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club will lead a trip to the Holiday Creek Stone Arch on Saturday and Sunday. Phone Dave at 564-8887 for information. Dressage seminar North Central B.C. CADORA hosts a dressage seminar “Through the Eyes of the Judge,” Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at the Prince George Public Library. Adults pay $5, juniors $3. Reading club The Lost In A Book summer reading club starts July 2 at the Prince George Public Library. Children of all ages are invited to drop in anytime between 10 a.m. and noon at the downtown library and from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Nechako branch to listen to stories about the Reading Express Bus. For more information, call 563-9251 or 962-9710. Tennis day The Prince George Tennis Club is hosting Wilson Play Tennis Day, three hours of fun tennis for all ages. It happens July 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the tennis club at 2833 Recreation Pi. For a $6 registration fee, you will be able to test Wilson demo racquets and have a chance to win prizes. Every participant gets a free tennis towel. For more information or to register, call Linda at 962-6874. Art exhibit Vancouver artist Richard Tetrault is in Wells on Tuesday to open an exhibition of his woodprints, monoprints and paintings at Island Mountain Arts. The opening runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Island Mountain Arts Gallery. Tetrault’s exhibit is called Illuminated City. The artist will return to Wells to teach a mural painting course from Aug. 5 to 8; space is still available for those classes. For more information about the exhibit or the course, call Island Mountain Ai ts at 994-3466 or 1-800-442-2787. Storytelling Storytelling’s long tradition continues Aug. 17 at the Huble Homestead Historic Site, when the regional park holds the inaugural Great Family Storytelling Festival. The Sunday festival gives people a chance to tell stories — true or tall, but imaginative. Young and old people who like to tell stories, or share poems, songs or prose, are invited to do so in the historic atmosphere of the Huble Homestead. For more information, call Glen Mikkelsen at 960-4400. Deaf camp The Prince George Deaf Children’s Society sponsors deaf summer camp from Aug. 9 to 11 at Camp Mclnnis. For registration or information, phone Lister at 964-3849 or Lou at 964-0681. Local pioneer did every job in the mill Citizen staff Prince George pioneer Kristjana (Christina) Moldowan died last Friday in Jubilee Lodge. She was 83. She is remembered throughout the community as a unique and courageous woman who worked hand in hand with husband Alec to establish the Moldowan Sawmill in the Chief Lake area in the mid-1940s. “She could do every job in the mill. She felled trees and skidded them with horses, she was the cook without electricity, the bookkeeper, did the hiring and firing and won the loyalty of ‘her boys,’ the employees,” said longtime friend Marge Mytting. “She was very generous and always a lady,” Mytting said. Mrs. Moldowan was the first woman in northern B.C. to get a B.C. government scaler’s licence in 1953, “but that fall polio struck me with a vengeance,” she wrote in her book Memories of Christina Moldowan. She was left paralyzed MOLDOWAN from the waist down. “But with her courage and determination and Alec’s help she got back on her feet. Three years later she was climbing into the jeep to head out into the bush,” said Christina’s niece Eleanor Minaker. “Alec built her a home at Harrison Hot Springs so she could enjoy the therapy of the hot springs,” said Minaker, who shared her aunt’s love of travel, and journeyed halfway round the world with her. Christina was born in Manitoba to Icelandic parents, and became a schoolteacher. She taught nine years in Manitoba and continued the profession at Crescent Lake School in the Spence Lake area north of Prince George where the couple first resided in a log house. They operated the sawmill for 30 years before selling it and moving to a home on the banks above the Nechako River overlooking the city. She remained in that home until five months ago when she went into Jubilee Lodge. Alec died in 1991. Christina is survived by sisters Joan Ste-fansson and Helga Scarf and brother Stefan Stefansson of Lundar, Man., stepson Eddie Moldowan of Oshawa, two grandchildren, two great grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews. A funeral service is set for 2 p.m. Monday at Assman’s Funeral Home. City hopes to get easier set of rules * «