PORT HARDY—The Royal Canadian Legion’s Russ Hellberg and Port Hardy Chamber of Commerce’s Carly Pereboom appeared as a joint delegation before council, inviting members to support the Art Cycles Canada for Wishes program.
Art Brochu, a 70-year-old veteran, will leave Port Hardy May 1 on the first leg of a cross-Canada cycle to raise funds for the Children’s Wish Foundation.
Brochu has trained extensively with Olympic golf medalist Lori-Ann Muenzer for the gruelling fundraiser which aims to see Brochu arrive in St. John, Newfoundland, on August 15. Along the way, the tireless Brochu will forego much of his downtime to facilitate 51 seminars on health and wellness.
Councillors were invited to a meet and greet event April 30 at the Port Hardy Legion to welcome Brochu and then to the send-off the following day.
Council was also asked to donate a flag and promote the events on its website.
“I don’t see anything here that’s not doable,” said Mayor Bev Parnham before councillors passed a motion to support the event.
Torii gate
Staff met with Twinning Society members and reached a consensus on a location for the proposed Torii gate to mark the 20th anniversary of Port Hardy’s twinning with Numata, Japan.
Several sites had been suggested for the traditional Shinto shrine, but, after presenting options to council and meeting with staff, a consensus was reached on having the gate frame the Market Street entrance to Carrot Park, across from Main Street.
“The location is ideal,” said a memo from Director of Operations Trevor Kushner, noting easy access, no underground utilities issues and the formation of a gateway.
“It looks really awesome,” said Mayor Parnham, “it adds more flavour to our Carrot Park.”
Alert Bay
In the correspondence section, council received a copy of a letter from Alert Bay CAO Heather Nelson-Smith to Minister of Education Peter Fassbender.
Nelson-Smith’s letter was a scathing reply to Min. Fassbender, expressing disappointment in the ministry’s acceptance of proposed changes to SD85’s Trustee Electoral Areas, describing the new arrangement of communities as “haphazardly assigned.”
“Alert Bay has taken exception,” said the mayor. “They did not think that it was an equitable redistribution.”
The topic of Alert Bay prompted discussion of the impending Coastal Community Credit Union closures around the table, with the mayor describing the closures as “really a shame.”
“I hear they’re taking the ATMs too,” she said. “I’d have thought the least (CCCU) could do is offer that kind of service, but apparently not.”