Who's running in Prince George, so far?
And who's going to be left in Parkwood Mall? And our measle vaccination rates are super high! And no one wants to be our rival...
I’m back. Spring is here (wait, no it’s not/yes it is/no it’s not). And a federal election campaign is underway. Neither of the Prince George ridings have elected MPs from anything other than the dominant right-of-centre of parties since the 1970s and 1980s, respectively and as a result you don’t tend to see a whole lot of effort put into campaigning here at a national level. To that end the Liberals — the only party other than the Conservatives that polls show have a shot of forming government this time around — have yet to name candidates.
The Conservatives, of course, are being represented by incumbents Todd Doherty and Bob Zimmer who have represented their ridings since 2015 and 2011, respectively.
The NDP says they have one listed candidate, Angie Bonazzo, in the Cariboo-Prince George riding, a healthcare worker and labour activist.
The Greens have candidates in each — Jodie Capling in Cariboo and Mary Forbes in the Peace, but only Capling has a photo and bio. Both she and Bonazzo teach yoga classes, apparently!
And if you’re looking for the People’s Party of Canada, the Cariboo riding has Rudy San whose bio says he works as a BC Public Servant in the Judicial Branch and the Peace has David Watson, the Canada Post postmaster for Bear Lake.
None of these folks have run here before, so it’s a bunch of new faces. Also, if you recall the Maverick Party which ran in 2021 under the leadership of former Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill, it’s out of the race altogether.
Parkwood is losing two key tenants
By this point, I think everyone knows the Bay is going out of business. Northern Health had already been announced as taking over its top floor, no word on the bottom. Meanwhile, Atmosphere is being consolidated into Sport Chek which means the space it currently occupies will be empty, as well. And China Cup is… being kicked out of Parkwood? A little unclear. Seems odd to be getting rid of a tenant when there’s two opening up so maybe that will change.
We have really high vaccination rates for measles
So in this story using B.C. Centre for Disease Control data on measles vaccination rates in different parts of the province I was surprised to see that the Prince George region actually has the highest rates of measles vaccination for kids anywhere in B.C. — 80.8 per cent. Good news!
No one wants to be our rival :(
I listened into the announcement that the Penticton Vees are leaving the BCHL to join the WHL. What struck me is that several times they made mention of their upcoming rivalry with the Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers but no one mentioned the Prince George Cougars. They get to have a three-way rivalry in the Interior and PG is all alone :( :( :(. I don’t really know who our rival city can be, it would be silly to pick a fight with Quesnel or Fort St. John but all the similar-sized cities are so far away.
News roundup
CN Centre will remain CN Centre (or whatever CN wants to call it) until at least 2030.
Green spaces the hot topic at first Official Community Plan public hearing.
Former Cowboy Ranch one step closer to becoming an insurance office.
Alberta civilian oversight bureau still looking into past sexual abuse allegations against PG RCMP.
College of New Caledonia student leaving due to accessibility concerns.
Omineca Arts Centre seeks submissions for Indigenous Arts exhibition.
Family of Prince George jail inmate who died in custody wants answers.
'Passenger tax' class-action suit against Prince George airport goes ahead.
Victoria Street fire results in $10,000 damage, under investigation.
Horse virus forces temporary closure of Agriplex in Prince George.
Juno winner Wesli bringing Haitian rhythms to Prince George.
While it's great that we're the best in BC for vaccination rates, 80% is bad for the purposes of herd immunity. According to this article in the Tyee, we're still lower than Gaines County, Texas where the measles outbreak is going strong:
https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/03/14/BC-Measles-Vaccination-Rate/