“"S?- “CITIZEN
SPORTS 11
P.G. musician linked to Jays
NEWS 2
1916 - 2016
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 www.pgcitizen.ca
CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN
Promise made, promise kept
MP-elect Todd Doherty made good on one of his promises by taking his dog Dex out for a walk Tuesday along the Nechako River. Dex has patiently waited the past few weeks to have an afternoon with his human. See OPINION 6, to see how those weeks paid off for Doherty.
Student voters make their picks
Charelle EVELYN Citizen staff cevelyn@pgcitizen.ca
Though not eligible to vote, northern B.C. students have gone with a red/blue split for the two Prince George-area ridings.
Nearly 3,000 student ballots from 37 schools in the Cariboo-Prince George riding - including D.P. Todd secondary, Foothills, Malaspina and Quinson elementary and IMSS English language students - selected Liberal Tracy Calogheros as their MP.
In Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, more than 4,600 students from 46 schools - including Duchess Park secondary, Blackburn, Giscome and Hart Highlands elementary - picked Conservative Bob Zimmer to return to Ottawa.
Calogheros was mock elected with 35 per cent of the students votes, followed by New Democrat
mIt is astounding that more than 850,000 young Canadians took part in this year's Student Vote from nearly every riding in the country.
— Taylor Gunn
Trent Derrick with nearly 23 per cent of the vote. Conservative Todd Doherty was the third-place pick (20.59 per cent), followed by the Green Party’s Richard Jaques (12.45 per cent), Independent Sheldon Clare (4.12 per cent), Christian Heritage Adam De Kroon (3.24 per cent) and the unaffiliated Gordon Campbell (1.75 per cent).
Zimmer was mock elected with 37.45 per cent of the student votes with Liberal Matt Shaw coming in second with nearly 30 per cent of the votes. Green candidate Elizabeth Biggar came in third (14.77
per cent), followed by New Democrat Kathi Dickie (11.65 per cent), Libertarian Todd Keller (4.13 per cent) and Progressive Canadian Barry Blackman (2.3 per cent).
Nationally, the 850,000 students participating in Student Vote 2015 - a parallel election held last week following weeks of students learning about the democratic process from teachers and, in some cases, the candidates themselves - elected a Liberal majority government. The Liberals, took 37.5 per cent of the popular vote and won 223 seats, leaving the Conservatives to form the official Opposition with
69 seats.
Students gave the NDP 40 seats in the House of Commons, the Green Party four seats and the Bloc Quebecois one seat.
“It is astounding that more than 850,000 young Canadians took part in this year’s Student Vote from nearly every riding in the country,” said Taylor Gunn, president and CEO of CIVIX Canada, in a press release. CIVIX, a charity aimed at building the skills and habits of citizenship among young people, partners with Elections Canada to operate the Student Vote program.
“We have nearly doubled the number of schools that took part in the last federal election. These numbers are a reflection of the incredible effort put forth by Canadian educators to ensure that, by using Student Vote in their classrooms, they are building their students into citizens.”
Cancelled surgeries due to staff shortage: nurses
Samantha WRIGHT ALLEN
Citizen staff, sallen@pgcitizen.ca
At least 27 elective surgeries have been cancelled in the last two months, leaving operating rooms empty at the University Hospital of Northern B.C., according to numbers compiled by the B.C. Nurses Union.
“It was due to short staffing of (operating room) nurses,” said Veronica Lokken, union representative for the northeast region. “There is not enough OR-trained staff.”
mWe are
working
on
stabilizing staffing in the operating room in Prince George...
— Jonathon Dyck
In September, 19 elective surgeries were cut and as of last week, between eight and 10 had been cancelled in Prince George in October.
Northern Health spokesman Jonathon Dyck said he couldn’t confirm the numbers or why the surgeries had been cancelled, but acknowledged operating room staffing is a problem across the province.
“We are working on stabilizing staffing in the operating room in Prince George by adding staff to the team and providing additional training opportunities,” Dyck said. “Recruitment for operating room nurses is a challenge not just in northern B.C. but nationally and internationally so it’s something to keep in mind.
We look at creative ideas to be able to do that.”
He added a number of factors could go into rescheduling surgeries.
“Elective surgeries may be postponed for patients for a number of reasons including an unexpected emergency surgery, or unexpected illness from the surgeon or nursing team,” he said, including other scheduling conflicts, like vacations. “We have to make sure we have the appropriate team available. It’s not just about having the space.”
— see ‘THEYNEED, page 3
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