It’s a tradition at the final city council meeting of the year for everyone sitting around the horseshoe to say a few words about the holiday season and the year behind us.
At the Dec. 21 city council meeting, Mayor Lyn Hall and councillors each took a moment to reflect on 2020 - a year unlike any other - and the challenges and (sometimes) opportunities that we have all been faced with during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are excerpts of Prince George city council’s season’s greetings and thoughts on 2020 (in no particular order):
Coun. Cori Ramsay:
2020 has been a challenging year even more so as a first-term councillor. We have had to make tough decisions about closing facilities and laying off staff, reopening facilities, thinking about financials and through all of this our social interactions have been reduced to basically nothing. We are social distancing and reading article after article about COVID cases, vaccines and wondering how much longer this is going to go on. It certainly isn’t the first term I had hoped for, but it’s the one we got. I am proud to sit around the table with each of my council colleagues as we try to navigate our way out of a global pandemic — I encourage everyone to reach out to your loved ones and friends living alone to make sure they are okay during this holiday season that unfortunately has to be a little different than we are used to and here’s hoping 2021 isn’t as awful as 2020.
Coun. Garth Frizzell:
Shut-in working alone in our rooms at home, we missed life-changing moments of our families and friends, sacrificed so much to flatten that curve only to see if rise from the depths like the Kraken. The economy, city revenues, airports, busses gutted again and again […] It is today right now the darkest day of this dark year. But tomorrow is going to dawn a new day and the Hart and the Heights will rise again, on Cranbrook Hill, on Carney Hill, will rise again, from North Nechako and South Fort George and homes throughout the city we will rise again. With united resolve, because we are Canada, with northern resolve because facing down adversity is our regular routine, and with Prince George resolve to be there for friends and for family for the elderly the vulnerable the lonely and even for strangers.
Coun. Murry Krause:
I’d like to say 'thank you' to my council colleagues and for everyone who works for the city, those in this room and throughout the entire community and of course the residents of Prince George. The simple message is... stay safe and comply with Dr. Henry’s restrictions and recommendations so you can be healthy in 2021 and I know how generous the citizens in Prince George are so please don’t forget the people who have less. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.
Coun. Kyle Sampson:
This year has looked absolutely nothing like anything I could have imagined going into it and it’s been more challenging than anything else I could have imagined or expected at times. But I don’t want to dwell on the negative parts of 2020. Prince George is a remarkable community. We come together in the face of diversity and we come together when the road is rocky. So, if there is one thing I want to take away from 2020 is all the unique ways in which our community came together to support one another this year. It’s the kind of thing like the hearts in the windows I’m talking about or the random acts of kindness that have taken place.
Coun. Susan Scott:
I am inspired by the strength of character demonstrated, I am inspired by the willingness to support one another, I am inspired by the creativity of connecting safely. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year; let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear. May we soon bid a soon firm and safe farewell to the term pandemic.
Coun. Terri McConnachie:
To the people, City of Prince George – it has been a tough year. Our hearts go out to the people who have lost loved ones this year and it’s a tough time of year, Christmas, at the best of times let alone with the pandemic on top of it. For those that are struggling reach out, because you are not alone. The Northern BC Crisis Centre is there 24 hours a day (1-888-562-1214) so take that offer if you need it. For sure, we have had lot of challenges this year but we have also had a lot of great things. I think I have never been more grateful to be a Canadian so far in my life, I have never been so grateful to live in my city, in my province.
Coun. Frank Everitt:
It is an honour to be a city councillor, but it also has a great responsibility and we have that responsibility given to us in spades this particular year. Our staff have done (an old word that’s out there) a “yeoman’s job” of it, but they have. They have picked up and changed and whatever task that’s been given to them they’ve been able to do on behalf of the citizens of Prince George. We have more work to do in the new year and we hope and pray that it will be a better year for everyone. As mentioned, a number of people have left us way too soon and the opportunity to grieve wasn’t there and we have had to look at other ways to deal with that loss, but there is a future for all of us and these dark days will go by us as we get the vaccine.
Coun. Brian Skakun:
I just want to make sure we don’t forget the homeless, those that have lost a loved one, or folks that have failing health. I just want to thank my council colleagues, for their hard work, admin and employees, the healthcare workers, law enforcement, first responders, social workers, mental health advocates, that are working around the clock trying to help folks. But the residents of Prince George are resilient and we will get through this.
Mayor Lyn Hall:
“As has been said many times 2020 has been a tough year, but there have been some positive things happen in 2020 as well. Nevertheless, I want to make sure Christmas is much brighter start to look forward to for everyone,” said Mayor Lyn Hall before tabling a special resolution to declare Santa and Mrs. Claus essential workers to ensure their visit to Prince George.
