2 ­ The Prince George Citizen ­ Tuesday, January 13, 2009 www.princegeorgecitizen.com a division of Glacier Ventures International Corp. AT YOUR SERVICE The Prince George Citizen is a member of the British Columbia Press Council. The Press Council serves as a forum for unsatisfied reader complaints against member newspapers. For information go to the BC Press Council website at www.bcpresscouncil.org or phone (toll free) 1-888-687-2213. You may also write to the B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby Street, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2 Fax 250-245-1060. The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments please. They can also be faxed to 250-5627453 or mailed to Box 5700, 150 Brunswick St. Prince George, BC, V2L 5K9. Maximum length is 400 words and writers are limited to one submission every three weeks. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the newspaper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned letters will not be published. GENERAL INQUIRIES 250-562-2441 PUBLISHER Hugh Nicholson Winter chores Citizen photos by David Mah EDITOR Dave Paulson READER SALES Colleen Sparrow ADVERTISING Lu Verticchio Classified Dept cls@pgcitizen.ca 250-562-6666 Eric Stormer flings snow off the roof of his house on Second Avenue to lighten the snow load, right. Annette Sunesen feeds her horse Dusty at the Prince George Exhibition Grounds, above. Ron Adams of Canada West Belting cleaned the snow off the roof of the Canada West Belting and Riverside Collision building on Pulp Mill Road, left. Advertising Dept ads@pgcitizen.ca Helping people key role for MLA and staff -- from page 1 Although not as high profile as some of her colleagues, observers will tell you she works every bit as hard. Her dedication and determination was not lost on Premier Gordon Campbell, who appointed her Minister of Advanced Education, then Minister of Health and now Minister of Education -- three of the largest portfolios by budget size in the provincial government. She's also the deputy premier, which means she fills in for Campbell whenever he's out of province or too busy with other matters. Bond likes to be visible and spends much of her time at community events -- from puck-droppings to ribbon-cuttings -- just to let people know she's out there. She also represents the Robson Valley and the office tries to get out to Valemount and McBride at least once each month. Given the time it takes to get out there, it can make for some early mornings and full days once they've reached their destination. On the bright side, she said it's also a chance to get some "windshield time" with her husband, Bill. Bond also makes a point of attending events like the Valemount rodeo and the Dunster ice cream social. "I love the Robson Valley and I want people to believe that their MLA takes their issues to Victoria and are just as important to me as the ones in Prince George," she said. Bond has detractors. Lois Boone, now a school board trustee who held down the riding for the NDP for a "I've met some very nice people," she decade prior to retiring from provincial politics, said she couldn't speak to said. "Some I want to take home but I Bond's work ethic, but questioned her can't. My husband told me I can't." Titchener said her job is largely accessibility. "Sometimes she's been easy to get in about helping people navigate through contact with and other times it's been a the system to get their problem dealt bit of a challenge for us (the school with, but can sometimes involve some board) to get a meeting with her," she extra effort, like the time she bought a new purse for a senior who lost hers. said. Also in the office is Dustie Hall, Bond says her first priority is to her constituents but also admits her other Bond's senior constituency assistant. responsibilities can pull her away. Her The 33-year-old mother of three is in charge of helping Bond establish priordays are a bit of a balancing act. "Victoria tends to want all the time ities and set her schedule. Hall is also busy working with local that they can get to deal community groups to bring with ministry issues and my constituency staff pushes "I just got government programs to the city. back all the time to say no, Chris Steinbach is Bond's no, no, MLA first, cabinet interested minister second," she said. in working executive assistant in Victoria but is often in Prince "And that is actually how I with George to help with educaview my job. My first and m o s t i mp o r t a n t r o l e i s people." tion-related issues and events. MLA." She's not a one-person -- Executive Steinbach, 29, and a fashow. assistant Chris ther of one, grew up in where Enter Bond's Fifth Avenue Steinbach Burnaby Simon he graduated from Fraser Uniconstituency office and the versity with a degree in first person you'll meet is Dorothy Titchener, a 55-year-old moth- computer science. But due largely to a er of three and grandmother of six stint on SFU's senate, he picked up the who's been the receptionist for two public service bug along the way. "I just got interested in working with years. Because of the downtown location, people and helping people getting Bond said the office probably gets their concerns resolved," he said. Titchener, Hall and Steinbach all say more walk-in traffic than most. Titchener, whose resume includes working they were drawn to their jobs not by in the non-profit sector and helping the politics but by a calling to help peoher husband run a small business, ple. "That's just what gets my motor runmeets all sorts as a result and takes a ning," Titchener said. motherly approach to helping them. If anything, said Hall, the political side posed the biggest learning curve for her. "Wins" for the group include helping a woman get her teeth fixed as part of finding a new job, finding winter clothing for the children of a family in a tough financial strait, getting a program going for young people suffering from obesity or finding $1 million to provide insulin pumps to children with diabetes, which was inspired by conversations with constituents. "We met over and over again with people who said insulin pumps make a difference for children and their quality of life, but not everyone can afford them," said Bond. "So then we put together a strategy and said we're going to go to Health Minister George Abbott and remind him over and over again the importance of insulin pumps. "When we as a government moved forward with $1 million for insulin pumps for children, that's when we did the high-fives in our office." Bond said she's not the only one who puts in long hours. "They (her staff) have enormous commitment to bettering the lives of people and it really isn't about the politics," she said, and added there are times when her staff takes the brunt from constituents upset over political decisions they had no influence over. "Certainly, these guys don't have to wear or deal with those issues," Bond said. "That's my job, I'm the elected representative. They're just a great team of people who want to make our community better." Circulation Dept rss@pgcitizen.ca 250-562-3301 Newsroom news@pgcitizen.ca COMMUNITY City Desk 250-562-2441 Local 753 Reporter Bernice Trick 250-562-2441 Local 395 btrick@pgcitizen.ca Photography 250-562-2441 Local 326 SPORTS The Prince George Citizen is the only source for complete daily sports scores and activities. Call our sports staff at 250-562-2441 sports@pgcitizen.ca Jim Swanson Sports Editor Local 400 Ted Clarke Local 401 Jason Peters Local 402 Direct Line 250-960-2764 WANT TO SUBSCRIBE? 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All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of any of this material you must first obtain permission of the owner of the copyright. For further information, please contact the editor or publisher. Letters to the Editor: Copyright in letters and other materials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the Publisher and its licencees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms. Today's weather picture was drawn by Scott, a student at Springwood elementary. 631998