THE
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PRINCE
GEORGE
cetizen
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2013
PHOTO COURTESY OF CANADA POST
Canada Post has issued a commemorative stamp honouring Prince George of Cambridge - and has added a twist featuring Prince George of British Columbia.
Prince George, P.G., receive royal treatment
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
Canada Post is sticking with Prince George.
The national postal service made a surprise announcement Thursday that it is issuing a commemorative stamp in honour of the birth of Prince George to royal parents Prince William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Then Canada Post added even more pomp to the circumstances by giving Prince George an official seal of approval in the matter.
“Your city is the official cancellation site, which is especially important to collectors of stamps and to fans of the royal family,” said Anick Losier, spokeswoman for Canada Post.
Prince George the city will have the privilege of stamping all void stamps of that series. “I’m sure there will be people who
buy the limited edition stamp, and you will even have people who want to mail letters to the royal family with the stamp and the Prince George postmark.”
Canada Post launched the news by first calling mayor Shari Green to tell her the news.
“Thanks Canada Post,” Green said. “What a creative way to include our city in the celebration.”
The issuance of the commemorative stamp caught the entire philatelist community off-guard. It is usually a two-year process to design and approve an official Canada Post legal mail stamp. The Crown corporation issues its upcoming stamps about a year in advance. Baby Prince George was born in July and already there is a royal-approved stamp ready for sticking.
In the fray of preparing the mail image, someone in Ottawa also snapped their fingers and remembered there was a Canadian city with the same name as the royal baby.
“I wish I could tell you who, exactly, thought of it,” said Losier. “We have a stamp
group that does a lot of research and does spectacular work coming up with connections of meaning and linking the people of Canada to the stamps we issue as deeply as we can. This was certainly an accelerated process, but whenever there are great moments in our history like this one, we think it’s worth making that effort, and they deserve the credit for thinking of the city of Prince George and how that link will enhance this special stamp.”
The stamp itself is a photograph taken by Kate’s father Michael Middleton underwritten by the caption “HRH Prince George of Cambridge” and the French translation.
The official “Day Of Issue” sheet - also popular with collectors - has an image of the stamp, a close-up of the sleeping baby, a photograph of the Parliament Hill Peace Tower bathed in blue light when the royal family announced to the world the newborn was a boy, and also two prominent black seals from the Prince George, B.C. post office.
The stamps go into circulation on Oct. 22.
Area Tory optimistic training deal possible
Peter JAMES Citizen staff pjames@pgcitizen.ca
The federal government is determined to push forward with its Canada Job Grant plan, despite opposition from B.C. Premier Christy Clark and other provincial leaders.
The grant program was highlighted during Wednesday’s speech from the throne, opening up the latest session of Parliament. The plan, as the federal government has devised it, calls for the provincial and federal government to each contribute a third of the cost of skills training, with employers kicking in the other third.
Clark and other premiers have balked at the idea, which they see as both a claw back of federal dollars, an infringement on provincial jurisdiction and an unnecessary burden on small businesses.
Prince George-Peace River MP Bob Zimmer said he understands provincial concerns, but believes a deal can be worked out to get the grant program off the ground.
“What we’re trying to do is respond to the
ZIMMER
skills shortage that’s already here, not to mention the one that’s going to hit us in the next 10 to 20 years,” he said. “We’re trying to have flexibility with how we’re going to address that.”
Zimmer said he’s heard from business owners in his riding that some institutions aren’t providing the appropriate training
and believes the jobs grant program is a good one because it takes the input of industry groups.
“Some of the details are still being ironed out and how this thing is going to play out in the real world,” he said. “We’re building it to be an effective system, we’re not wanting to see the skills shortage unaddressed.” Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen said he found it curious that the federal government would include the grant program so prominently in the speech given the opposition from the premiers. He pointed out that the federal government has run advertisements promoting the plan before a deal with the provinces was in place.
“I don’t understand how the government is so enthusiastic about rolling out all these things that don’t mean anything in the real lives of Canadians and expect to get applauded,” Cullen said.
“It’s offensive and it distracts from the real job of trying to get those jobs back that are all missing.”
— see SPECIFIC, page 3
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RCMP jumped the gun: lawyer
Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
The lawyer representing the family of the man killed in a standoff with police at a Pineview farm last year launched into an extended confrontation with the Prince George RCMP officer who sent in an emergency response team during a coroner’s inquest on Thursday.
In a cross examination of Supt. Eric Stubbs, Cameron Ward characterized the move as an overreaction to a minor scuffle between brothers and suggested there was no need to force the issue of arresting Greg Matters.
The 40-year-old Matters died on the evening of Sept. 10, 2012 when an ERT member shot the ex-soldier twice in the back as he approached another Mountie with a hatchet in his hand.
The 15-year veteran of the Canadian military suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had a strong distrust of police, the inquest has heard.
Police were trying to arrest Matters on charges of assault with a weapon and dangerous driving for forcing his brother off the road after an incident during the early morning of the day before.
Matters had alleged the brother, Trevor, was doing doughnuts in the driveway of the home where he had been living with his mother and gave chase because he did not believe the police would respond in time.
— See ‘IT’S NOT, page 3
Last words
A recording of then Prince George RCMP Staff Sergeant Brad Anderson's last phone conversation with Greg Matters was aired this week during the coroner's inquest into the military veterans death.
Prior to a fatal confrontation with an RCMP emergency response team on Sept. 10, 2012, Matters had retreated to a cabin on the family farm and had called Anderson, who was based at the Prince George RCMP detachment.
The recording is of Anderson's side of the conversation only as he tried to convince Matters to come out and surrender himself to police.
At one point, Matters said he had arranged to have a neighbour, Valerie Pinko, pick him up and take him to the detachment. But Matters changed his mind when he saw the lock on the gate across the driveway into the property had been broken off and retreated back to the cabin.
Moments later, he was shot as he reemerged and pulled a hatchet out of his jacket.
To listen to this recording, scan this page with your smartphone using the Layar app or visit pgc.cc/1gPusVT.
— Nielsen, Citizen staff
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