Winter storm
BC Ferries cancelled two roundtrip sailings of the Queen of Burnaby between Comox and Powell River the morning of Wednesday, January 12 due to gale-force winds in the Strait of Georgia. The Burnaby resumed its regularly scheduled sailings with the 3:15 pm run from Comox and at 4 pm Environment Canada lifted the gale warning.
The storm and snow also knocked out power for hundreds of residents in the Powell River region. Data from BC Hydro’s website shows that 773 homes east of Southill Road and south of Thunder Bay Street were without power from 2:30 am until 2 pm due to a downed tree. North of Glenrosa Road and including Cortes Island a further 2,712 houses were without power from 1:45 until 11:30 am again due to a fallen tree.
The Environment Canada weather station for Powell River reported that as of 7 am, January 12, 16 centimetres of snow lay on the ground. In total 26 centimetres fell overnight in Powell River.
Due to the cancelled sailings the Wednesday, January 12 edition of the Peak was delivered on Thursday, January 13. The paper is printed on Vancouver Island and is shipped over on the first BC Ferries sailing each Wednesday for delivery.
Liquor licence
City of Powell River councillors are expected to consider the following recommendations at the January 20 council meeting:
• To support an application from Tree Frog Bistro to amend its liquor licence to enable patron participation entertainment, which would allow the establishment to have a dance floor to be used for special occasions.
• To approve a development variance permit for 4627 Manson Avenue to vary the zoning bylaw for an accessory building on a proposed lot by reducing the side setback from 0.9 to 0.5 metres and increasing the lot coverage from 10 per cent of the lot area to a maximum of 12 per cent.
• To approve a development variance permit for 4907 Fernwood Avenue to vary the zoning bylaw by reducing the rear setback for proposed lot one from 7.5 to five metres and reducing the area for proposed lot two from 730 to 620 square metres.
Wage increase
New Democratic Party (NDP) leadership candidate Nicholas Simons has called for BC’s minimum wage to be raised to $12 an hour by the end of 2012.
Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, proposed raising the $8 wage by $1 every six months from April 2011 until October 2012. Then he is proposing the minimum wage should be increased annually in line with the inflation rate.
“We can’t legislate a wage that keeps full-time workers below the poverty line,” he said in a statement. “I will urge the NDP membership to support this at our convention.”
Simons is one of five declared candidates for the leadership of the party. Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth, Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan, Fraser-Nicola MLA Harry Lali and marijuana activist Dana Larsen are also seeking the top job. The leadership will be decided by a party vote on April 17.
