That was 2012!!

January
• The year started with 200 residents at the 17th annual President’s Ball put on by the Fort Nelson Chamber of Commerce and was held in the newly opened Recreation Centre Hall.
• Fort Nelson’s 2012 first born arrived on January 5th. Newborn Valéry is a sister to Brandon and Natalya, her parents are Dawn Badine and Luc Lalonde.
• On January 9th, a Calgary-based Energy Jet charter service 737 jet overshot the runway. There were 112 passengers and six crew members on board, no injuries were reported. Transport Canada launched an investigation into the cause of the incident and its full report will be available next month.
• Hearings had begun into the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal.
• A five-year moratorium on oil and gas drilling was placed on 550,000 hectares in Northeast B.C. to enable habitat restoration for the boreal caribou.
• Dean Layden, with help from friends, built an impressive ice rink in his backyard featuring a Hockey Night in Fort Nelson centre ice complete with buried toonie.
• Joseph Huszti worked the Christmas shift on his rig in the Horn River and then returned home to Blind Bay to discover he had won $1 million in the lottery.
• January 20th – natural gas sales netted $32 million for the province .
• The Northern Environmental Action Team and Roseneau Transport bring recycling to Fort Nelson.
• Vivian Cheung was awarded the Governor General’s prize for the top grade average in Fort Nelson Secondary School.
• Liberty Income Tax held its grand opening in the new Landmark Plaza.
• The Horn River Play had increased to 75,000 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves.
• Minister of Education, George Abbott, visited Fort Nelson schools to see the classroom practices that led to School District #81 scoring the highest in the province in reading, numeracy, and writing on the provincial FSA test.
• Helen Knott, from Prophet River, had been chosen to go to Geneva to speak at the UN Committee on the Rights of Children. She is a recent graduate of the social service worker diploma program and is an indigenous woman. She is a community leadership candidate.

FEBRUARY
• Mayor Bill Streeper met Premier Christy Clark in Prince George and discussed Fair Share issues.
• A public hearing had been called into an application from Nova Gas to build a pipeline in the Northeast.
• Buddy Streeper won the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race in Wyoming.
• JS Clark and G.W. Carlson schools were amongst the top 20 most improved schools in the Fraser Institute survey.
• Fort Nelson firefighters were called to a fire in the Klahanni Trailer Park after fire broke out in a garage.
• Hillcrest United Church held its 50th anniversary celebration.
• The Stats Canada 2011 census showed that the population of Fort Nelson was down 13.6 per cent since the last census five years ago. Council decided to appeal this finding.
• The Deer River Slashers hockey team won 4-1 at the Kiki Bird Hockey Tournament in Watson Lake.
• Encana Corporation announced its sale of Cutbank Ridge assets for $950 million to Veresen Inc.
• James Gilbert won a $2,500 scholarship from the University of Alberta Augustana campus.
• The Chamber announced its annual awards: Educator of the Year, Diana Samchuck; Employer of the Year, Lucille Guitard; Public Service Award, Nicole Lougheed; Business of the Year, Salus Safety Solutions; Community Leaders of the Year, Bill & Sheryl Streeper; Volunteer of the Year, Carmella Maga; Customer Service Award, Wenda King; Youth of the Year, Nicole Sawin; Entrepreneur of the Year, Northern Rockies Maintenance and Cleaning; and Athlete of the Year, Donia Deinstadt.
• The Jared Fowler Trio performed at Capp*A*Lu’s.

March
• The Fort Nelson teachers joined their colleagues on the picket line in -18°C weather to protest lack of action on the part of government to provide more money for education.
• Canfor Corporation advised counsel that it was selling off its machinery and real estate but not its Fort Nelson forest tenure agreements.
• Coco Carew was chosen as the Pet of the Month.
• Graham Prouse was one of several former FNSS students featured in the Northern Star series for his work to enhance curling as a global sport.
• March was a busy time all round with the 50th Annual Canadian Open Sled Dog Race held at Parker Lake and won by Eddy Streeper. The Trappers Rendezvous, held the same week, was one of the most successful for many a year. The Fort Nelson Aboriginal Friendship Society won this year’s best business award displaying an amazing collection of artefacts used during the time when trapping was a million-dollar business at the Old Fort.
• Chelsea Beaven and Rory Desjarlais died in a motor vehicle accident in Grande Prairie.
• Thomas Mulcare elected as leader of the National Democratic Party with 57 per cent of the votes.
• Fort Nelson hosted the Pee Wee Provincial Championships which was won by Hazelton, 2nd Langley, and 3rd Kelowna. Fort Nelson placed 4th, ahead of Whitehorse and Chetwynd.
April
• MLA Pat Pimm opened the Front Counter BC office in the forestry building.
• Nine charges were laid against two Fort Nelson males after RCMP arrested intruders in a residence at the Midnight Sun Trailer Park, following a knife wielding incident.
• An unidentified object was seen in the night sky on April 1st over the Fediw Subdivision. The object was photographed by Bernard Grimard.
• The Deer River Slashers won the Yukon Native Hockey tournament in Whitehorse.
• Council heard complaints about problems with evacuating patients from Fort Nelson. One pregnant woman was refused medevac transportation.
• The Fort Nelson Petroleum Association hosted the 40th Annual Oilman’s Bonspiel. The ‘A’ event was won by Rhyason Contracting, sponsored by Finning Tractor, Cat the Rental store, and Skinner Brothers Contracting Ltd.
• $24 million was raised for the province from the sale of oil and gas leases in the March sale.
• Emerson Drive and Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers performed in concert at the Phoenix Theatre.
• Blakelyn Bramhill was voted the cutest baby in the Fort Nelson News online contest.
• The Long-Gun Registry was repealed by the federal government.
• $1,790,000 was budgeted for the rehabilitation of Liard Street.
• Council formed a new committee to study medical services in the Northern Rockies Regional District.
• Norman Foote visited Fort Nelson schools and gave a concert at the Phoenix Theatre, much to the delight of all the children participating.
• An increase in reported earthquakes raised the question of how safe fracking is in natural gas extraction.
• The Fort Nelson Chamber of Commerce decided to oppose FortisBC’s proposed rate hike for the Northern Rockies, which would see a 50 per cent increase in the price of natural gas here. It was Fortis’ intention to create a postage stamp rate for the whole province that seriously penalises residents living near gas fields. One resident, in a letter to the editor, noted his heating bill for January was $543.75. Broken down, this consisted of $62.14 HST, $18.80 carbon tax. FortisBC would then receive $437.78 for gas supplied from local fields and purchased on the New York stock exchange for $109.60.
• Treaty 8 received $40,000 for a feasibility study into a closed windfarm from B.C.’s first nations clean energy business fund.
• Students at the engineering and gas processing program in Fort Nelson received their graduation certificates. Eleven students competed the course at Northern Lights College.
• Fort Nelson Secondary School was listed as one of the most improved secondary schools in the Fraser Institute annual report.
• Minimum wage was raised to $10.25 per hour by the provincial government.
• Rotary exchange students were in the midst of their respective billetings. Outward-bound was Reggie-Anne Harrold who was headed for Denmark, Krystina Spraklin had returned home from Thailand, and the inbound student Julie Reibell was spending her school year here from France.
• Western Copper and Gold Corporation announced it will be shipping liquefied natural gas to the Yukon from Fort Nelson to power its energy requirements.
• EOS Pipeline Team won the second annual Horn River Basin Charity Hockey Tournament.
• Buddy Streeper and Lina Glad took the Steeper Kennels teams to La Paz, Manitoba, to win the 65th annual dogsled race.

May
• The Fort Nelson Bantam Tournament sponsored by Kledo Construction was won by the Whitehorse Mustangs.
• Rod Eichel, manager of Northern store, had been recognised by his company for 25 years service.
• The annual Rotary Radio Auction raised $45,535 to support community projects.
• Encana announced a cut back on its dry gas spending, i.e. Horn River Basin, and concentrated on developing its more lucrative liquids assets.
• Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc. announced its proposal to build a natural gas processing plant called Fortune Creek Gas approximately 110 km north of Fort Nelson.
• The province announced it would spend $24 million on North Peace highways.
• Diversified reported a bus driver had sustained spinal injuries following an accident on Highway 77.
• The annual FN Chamber of Commerce Trade Show had 96 exhibitors showcasing their businesses. The event sponsors were Central Mountain Air and Northwestel.
• Chris Gale’s story of the moose rescue that he, Jason Ellingson and Matthew Burton did at Muncho Lake was a story that hit the headlines in many other communities.
• Canadian Zinc Corporation reported a non-brokered private placement with Zhongrun International Mining Co. Ltd., for approximately $9 million.
• Fort Nelson observed the total eclipse of the sun on May 20th lasting from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.
• Figure skating students from the two skating clubs performed their annual presentations for the public.
• Fort Nelson’s long-standing editorial cartoonist, Adrian Raeside, published two books – The Rainbow Bridge– A Visit to Pet Paradise, and a collection of his cartoons on the BC Ferry Corporation.

June
• The annual Relay for Life event raised $30,000 for cancer research.
• The Nexen Inc. team won the Fort Nelson Hospital Foundation’s 7th annual bed race. The event raised over $36,000 for the hospital.
• The winners of this year’s Milk Run were Braden MacLeod, who finished one second ahead of Colton Peace. Mrs. Sparshu was the first female home, followed by Lindsay Clarke.
• Washouts on the road north of Fort Nelson caused Alaska Highway travellers to wait in Fort Nelson until the mess was cleared up.
• A 4.1 earthquake had been reported in the Rocky Mountain trench near the Wokkpash.
• Northern Health announced the closure of the Fort Nelson maternity department.
• Shelby Hodson won a drawing competition announced by the Shelby Corporation to recognise its founder, Carroll Shelby, who died in June.
• The Angus Moose Run winners this year were Cody Dancevic and his sister Ally with teachers Mrs. Gilbert and Mrs. Dogherty placing first and second.
• The Tough Mudder “ultimate warrior” team trained to participate in the Whistler competition. All the Fort Nelson team members completed the course which uses plans from the OAS course in England.
• Fort Nelson First Nation received $3.5 million from the economic benefits, oil and gas consultation agreement for community planning. Mary Polak, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, announced the payment in Fort Nelson.
• Five Grade 12 students graduated from Chalo School.
• The long-awaited production of Annie Jr. took place at the Phoenix Theatre with Annie played by Abigail Kosmynka and Owen Law as Daddy Warbucks. David Johnstone and Sarah Nay directed the production.
• Apache Corporation reported a huge gas find in the Ootla shale play 60 miles from Fort Nelson. Horn River News described it as “the best shale reservoir in North America.”
• Hundreds of runners took part in the annual Toad River Run this year sponsored by Stone Mountain Safari Ranch.
• Rachel’s Challenge presented acts of kindness towards to students in the district.

July
• Premier Christy Clark and Energy Minister Rich Coleman signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mayor Bill Streeper and Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.
• The federal government approved $5 million in rehabilitation of the Alaska Highway.
• Ryan Bhan from Vancouver worked at the opening of the New Tokyo Sushi restaurant in the Landmark Plaza.
• Fire crews assembled at the airport to fight fires east of Fort Nelson.
• A home on 42nd St. was completely destroyed by a fire on July 12th. The occupants had been away at the time.
• Doreen McAllister, commercial transport inspector–supervisor at the Fort Nelson inspection station, received a leadership, mentorship, and public service award from Dave Duncan – assistant deputy minister of transportation.
• Encana Corporation announced Enbridge would take over its Cabin Lake gas plant. As a new corporate citizen in Fort Nelson, Enbridge was welcomed at a Council meeting. Once Encana has completed Phase 1 of the project the facility would be turned over to Enbridge and will complete Phase 2. At the present time Encana owns 71 per cent of the plant.
• The Rotary Club presented a $5,000 cheque to purchase the aeroglider for the Carlson playground.
• The Northern Explorers Off Road Society donated the $5,000 proceeds from its 6th Annual Mud Bogs in June to the Carlson playground project.
• Northwestel announced the upgrading of its digital service to Fort Nelson.
• Public hearings had been held into the expansion of the Northwest Mainline Expansion pipeline. The line runs from the Sierra plant site to Rainbow Lake.
• The National Energy Board refuses to allow Westcoast to be exempted from set-aside and collection mechanisms re-abandonment costs for unused infrastructure.
• Northern Lights College graduates from the Fort Nelson campus held graduation ceremonies and also awarded an Honourary Associate of Arts Degree to Mavis Brown.
• Mayor Streeper presented the B.C. long service medal to Fire Chief Gord McCleary for 25 years service.
• RL Angus elementary students had won $3,850 in the Northwestel recycling challenge.
• Hydration stations were introduced into Fort Nelson Secondary School.
• Progress Energy announced it would sell all of its outstanding shares to Petronas, Malaysia, for $5.5 billion.
• An evacuation alert was ordered for various installations in the Northeast gas development areas as a result of continuing forest fire growth.
• Muskwa Kechika study completed by the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative recommends an expansion of the area originally designated to include the area west of Fort Nelson and north into the Yukon and the NWT shale gas rich areas.
• The Rotary Club Duck Races were won by Denis Somerville, $2,000; Jay Hagen, $1,000; Bonnie Gardner, Sheila Roy, and Sue McEwan, each of whom received $500.
• Nexen Inc. announced a $15.1 billion deal to sell to China National Offshore Oil Company.
• July sale of oil and gas licences netted $3.92 million for the province.

August
• Vancouver Aquarium brought the Aquavan to Fort Nelson and Fort Liard this year.
• Randy Bennett, Canada’s swim coach at the 2012 Olympics in London, received his early training as a swimmer at the newly opened Fort Nelson Aquatic Centre when he was a student at Fort Nelson Secondary School in 1980. He later became a lifeguard and when an opportunity came up at Fort McMurray. He moved there to be a swim coach. The rest, as they say, is history.
• More crews were brought in to fight the forest fires in the Fort Nelson area.
• IDL Construction and DGS Paving work for most of the summer on the upgrade of the Alaska Highway through town and the Liard Street and hospital hill. The projects totalled nearly $18 million
• Fort Nelson Go Kart for Girls Participants beat out the opposition at the Dawson Creek go kart competition.
• The Fort Nelson First Nation’s annual celebration included canoe trips from the Muskwa bridge to the P3 bridge. The Yellow Ribbon Dancers performed their intricate routines as part of the celebration.
• Doug Gordon’s North Country Maintenance won the contract to maintain the Alaska Highway for five years from Fort Nelson to the BC Yukon border at a price of $36 million.
• Tervita Corporation opens new wastewater facilities at Maxhamish and Mile 103. Wastewater facilities consisting of deep disposal wells produced water and wastewater. Wells are designed to provide, safe, permanent disposal of saline heavy water streams generated by oil and gas development activities.
• Spencer Gairdner won the 32nd Annual Petroleum Association’s Golf Tournament and Devin Loeppky was the runner-up. Championship consolation was won by Ken Villeneuve, runner-up Tyler Andrews.
• Members of the Rotary Club welcomed Nora Kurzwelly, a Rotary student from Poland, when she arrived at Fort Nelson airport.
• Brian Spooner, a consultant for the Northern Health Authority, met with citizens to discuss a lack of obstetric care and air ambulance services for the area.
• Oh and yes, the Fort Nelson News was taken in by an Internet hoax of a photograph that had been doctored, then submitted to us by Dean Badine.
• Oil and gas lease sales for August totalled $8.3 million revenue for the province.
• Mayor Bill Streeper calls for the province to act to replace the Fort Nelson River Bailey Bridge located on the Liard highway and built 30 years ago as a temporary solution to replace the ferry service across the Fort Nelson River. This would greatly enhance access to the Northwest Territories shale gas.
• The Historic Military Convoy, containing 90 vehicles, arrived in town and an official welcome barbecue was held in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the building of the Alaska Highway. 1,400 people attended the event to witness the parade of World War II military vehicles and participate in the official ceremonies.
• A full-scale emergency exercise was carried out at the airport to test the emergency services response procedures.
• Fort Nelson First Nation once again this year participated in the Peace and Dignity Journey.

September
• Elections were held and Sharleen Wilderman was elected chief of Fort Nelson First Nation in place of Kathi Dickie. Counsellors were: Roberta Dendys, Theresa Fincaryk, Curtis Dickie, Kathi Dickie, and Vince Parsons.
• Spectra Energy chooses the BG Group to develop its new transmission system from northeastern B.C.
• Suspension of short-term water withdrawals were put into place for the Fort Nelson, Liard, Muskwa, and Sikanni Chief rivers as the summer drought continued.
• The vandals destroyed a picnic table on the community trail. Overwaitea staff decided to remedy this situation by raising $1,236 to have the cement restored.
• The B.C. Government Professional Employees picketed outside the Ministry of Children and Families offices and in other areas to highlight their disagreement with the province in a one-day work stoppage.
• The 9th Annual Ladies Classic Golf Tournament raised $25,000 for local charities. There were 15 teams involved in the tournament this year.
• Mayor Bill Streeper received his Queen’s Jubilee medal presented by Bob Zimmer MP for Prince George Peace River.
• A hunter from Vanderhoof sustained significant injuries after being attacked by a grizzly bear in the Kluachesi Lake area in the Northern Rockies Mountains Provincial Park. He was brought to Fort Nelson General Hospital by emergency services and later transferred to Alberta full third level care.
• Charges of sexual assault, forcible confinement followed an incident on 43rd St when a man allegedly sexually assaulted a female. Police cordoned off the street while they negotiated with the man to give himself up. The incident ended peacefully.
• MLA Pat Pimm presented the emergency services personnel in Fort Nelson with citations and thanked them for undertaking their brave work each and every day.
• There were six new teachers welcomed at the breakfast held at the high school.
• The fifth Annual Shale Gas Symposium and Energy Expo was held at the Phoenix Theatre.
• The ban on the withdrawal of water from the Fort Nelson, Liard, Muskwa and Sikanni Chief Rivers was ordered by the Oil And Gas Commission, due to the continuing summer drought.
• It was an exciting day for Canucks fans when Trevor Linden arrived for an autographing session at the CMP Sports. Linden was the guest speaker at the shale gas symposium.
• Canada’s 21st Prime Minister, Paul Martin, came to Fort Nelson Secondary School to launch the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, aboriginal youth enterprise program for Grade 11 and 12 students. Fort Nelson was chosen as one of the few schools from across the nation to offer a new entrepreneurship course.
• Ron Glaves announced the opening of the Fort Nelson Hapkido School and the Little Dragon program.

October
• Two Prince George men, who were bear sprayed after threatening students on the Fort Nelson Secondary School property, face numerous charges.
• An injured hiker was airlifted off a mountain near Toad River after his GPS beacon was activated. The 40-year-old Fort St. John man and was flown to Fort St. John and treated for a broken foot.
• A hunter sitting on his ATV was mistaken for wildlife by another hunter near Pink Mountain and received an injury to his knee.
• A public hearing was held in Fort Nelson into the proposed construction of the Komie pipeline.
• Two hundred people packed into the Northern Rockies Regional Recreation Centre for three days during the highly successful sixth Annual Keepers of the Water conference in Fort Nelson. Keynote speaker was Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians.
• Fort Nelson schools all participated in the Terry Fox Walk on a beautiful fall day.
• Toopy & Binoo appeared before packed houses at the Phoenix Theatre and some lucky children were able to go backstage to meet their favourite characters from television.
• Mayor Streeper led a delegation in Victoria to plead the case for a new way of developing shale gas in the Northern Rockies.
• A $24.6 million contract was awarded to Kledo Construction for work on the Sierra Yo-Yo Desan road.
• Harry Rusk made a return visit to Fort Nelson to play a concert sponsored by the Fort Nelson Métis Society.
• During a large part of 2012 the issue of the implementation of the updated Official Community Plan received much coverage. Numerous meetings were held to oppose certain aspects and the Northern Rockies Regional Municipal Council decided to shelve its implementation.
• An extremely messy smash and grab was executed at the Roadhouse Liquor Store when thieves backed a stolen vehicle through the front doors, causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage. They made off with a quantity of liquor and a stolen vehicle, and made their way to Fort Liard, where they where apprehended at a house party by Fort Liard RCMP.
• Nexen held its official grand opening at the TSA compression station in the Horn River basin.
• Denise Ryser opened Simply Bread, a popular new bakery and café.
• Marl Brown received the Victoria Olmstead Visionary award for services to tourism in British Columbia at a ceremony in Prince Rupert. The award was presented by Minister Pat Bell. Wayne Sawchuck received the educator award at the same event for work he has done to promote and advocate the Muskwa Kechika management area.
• Fort Nelson Airport is the ‘busiest small airport in Canada” recording about 4,000 movements for July, and August 2012. The airport is in dire need of upgrading and estimates vary from $51 million to $33 million to do this.
• The North Peace Savings & Credit Union held an open house announcing the promotion of Lois Warren, business development manager and Nolan Hill, new branch manager in Fort Nelson.

November
• Senator Richard Neufeld attended the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Fort Nelson and in a ceremony at the One restaurant, he presented the Queen’s Jubilee medals to Judith and Dr. Anthony Kenyon, Marl Brown and Grace Bumstead.
• Fort Nelson First Nation takes its case to the lower mainland where chief Sharleen Wildeman was interviewed by media on the FNFN’s attempts to get public interest in the long-term water contracts being issued to oil companies. Twenty-five thousand people signed an online petition supporting the cause. The independent MLA’s in the provincial legislature also support Fort Nelson First Nation.
• NEAT held its first “new to you” fashion show that featured donated prom dresses modelled by high school students.
• BC conservative party leader, John Cummins, spoke to interested citizens about the aims of his party.
• Kanta Reddy receives Rachel’s Challenge “International Educator of the Year” award.

December
• Elene Dolan is awarded her the Master of science degree in Speech and Language Pathology.
• Christopher Mostert won the Junior men’s figure skating title for Alberta Skate Canada Provincial Competition 2012.