News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

On January 5th, local army and sea cadets participated in the zone biathlon competition at the Otway Nordic Center in Prince George.

Biathlon is a high endurance sport that combines two sports of cross country skiing and precision shooting. Cadets skied either a 6 km or 7.9 km race depending on their age category; shooting a .22 anshutz rifle 3 times in-between ski loops.

For every shot missed, 40 seconds is added onto ski times for a final result.

 

Starting on July 1, 2013, all new Canadian passports issued will be electronic passports, or ePassports. At that time, adult applicants will have the option of a 5- or 10-year ePassprt for both first-time applications and renewals, while children's ePassports will be issued for a maximum of 5 years.

The Canadian ePassport will have an electronic chip embedded in the back cover of the book. The chip adds an extra layer of security to the passport and makes it more tamper-proof.

(Photo:  Machine-readable zone.)

The chip in the ePassport stores the same personal information that you see on page 2 of the passport (except for the holder’s signature), the photo and a country-specific digital security feature (or "signature") that proves the passport was issued by the Government of Canada.

When information is first stored on the chip in the Canadian passport, the chip is electronically locked. This means that even if someone were to attempt to tamper with the data on the chip, the chip would indicate that the lock had been broken and the fraud would be detected.

The chip is a proximity contactless chip that must be held within 10 centimetres of an ePassport reader to be read. In addition, the data on the chip cannot be accessed until the machine-readable zone on page 2 has first been read, which means that the passport book must be open to be read.

It is therefore extremely unlikely that personal data stored on the ePassport chip could be read without your knowledge.

(Photo: An ePassport being read by a reader.)

At border crossings equipped with ePassport readers, the ePassport is put into a scanner that reads the machine-readable zone, which in turn allows the chip to be read as well. The machine also checks other security features, such as the country-specific signature. Border authorities not equipped with ePassport readers will continue to examine travellers’ passports as they do now, looking at other security features such as holographic images.

Some 95 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and France, have been using ePassports for several years with no reported chip failures. Through a pilot project that began in January 2009, Passport Canada has already issued more than 50,000 diplomatic and special passports that contain an electronic chip, and no problems have been reported.

 

 

In the unlikely event that the chip cannot be read, the passport will still be valid.

No additional information about you or your travels will be stored on the chip. The chip will only contain the personal information you can see on page 2, your photo, and a Government of Canada signature. ePassport readers will be installed in Passport Canada’s 34 offices for people who would like to see the information stored on their chip to make sure it is accurate.

 

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New fees to take effect on July 1, 2013

Canada’s Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations was approved by the Canadian Governor General in Council on November 29, 2012.

Now, Passport Canada turns its attention to the implementation of the new fees and new ePassport. The new fees come into effect with the introduction of the 10-year ePassport on July 1, 2013.

Rather than being funded by taxpayers, Passport Canada is financed by passport applicants. As a cost-recovery organization, Passport Canada must generate enough revenues from fees charged for passports and other travel documents to pay for its expenditures.

Apart from a $2 increase to reflect rising shipping costs in 2005, Passport Canada’s fees have not changed since 2001. The new fee structure will allow Passport Canada to cover its costs and expenditures to be able to continue to provide excellent client service, facilitate travel for Canadians, maintain existing security standards, fight identity fraud, and keep pace with technological advancements and international standards so the Canadian passport remains a secure and trusted travel document.

New fees effective July 1, 2013 (in Canadian dollars)

Travel document or service	New fee
Passports: Applications made in Canada and passport delivered in Canada
10-year passport	$160
5-year passport (or less)	$120
Children's passport	$57
Passports: Applications made outside of Canada or passport delivered outside Canada
10-year passport	$260
5-year passport (or less)	$190
Children's passport	$100
Expedited services in Canada (in addition to the regular passport fee)
1-day service (urgent)	$110
Express service (2-9 days)	$50
Pick-up (day 10)	$20
Same day, out of regular hours of service	$335
Expedited services outside of Canada
Emergency travel document (one trip)	$75
Children's emergency travel document (one trip)	$30
Temporary passport (linked to regular passport application)	$110
Travel documents for non-Canadians
Certificate of identity	$260
Children's certificate of identity	$141
Refugee travel document	$120
Children's refugee travel document	$57
Addition of a special stamp or observation (at applicant's request)	$45

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By Michael Toay

Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook has proclaimed January 20-26 to be Family Literacy Week.

The annual literacy week events put on by the are designed to raise awareness of the importance of literacy for families, individuals and the Williams Lake community. On Thursday, January 24th, the group will conduct their '' campaign, which is their major fundraiser. All funds raised support literacy programs in the community.

Human polar bears spotted in Williams Lake

By Michael Toay

On January 1, the 13th Annual Polar Bear Swim took place at Williams Lake, hosted by the Williams Lake Rustlers Rugby Football Club.

The 51 registered swimmers raised $1,594 for Williams Lake junior rugby programs by jumping into the icy waters of Williams Lake. The oldest swimmers were women, 63 and 64 years old. The youngest swimmers were Sean Marshall and Jacob Schults, and there were nine jumpers from Williams Lake Secondary School and eleven from Columneetza School.

By Michael Toay

Three years ago former Stampede Queen Amanda Berkelaar, got engaged to her high school sweetheart Howard Lulua and the future looked bright. Like any of us, however, they didn’t know what awaited them around the next corner.

During a drive in the Nemaiah Valley last August, Amanda’s vehicle blew a tire, fishtailed, careened into a ditch and rolled three times. Amanda fractured vertebrae in her neck. She had two surgeries to repair her broken vertebrae. Miraculously, Amanda had no nerve damage and was given a second chance at life.

(Williams Lake couple, Amanda Berkelaar and Howard Lulua are finalists in Global's Dream Wedding Contest 2013.  Click on image to view contest details and vote for your favourite couple, for your own chance to win a trip for two to Mexico.)

 

(Photos by Kim Herdman.)

Members of the Williams Lake Studio Theatre laced up their skates on for the third annual Wrestling Day Pond Hockey Game. "No thespians were harmed by the days events and they are all fired up for the upcoming performances," said photographer Kim Herdman.

The is hosting an evening of appetizers and inquiries into the world of script choosing, reading and developing. The invitation is open to promising directors, thespians or anyone interested in the process of selecting a script.

This was the fourth year that the and Williams Lake Community Policing have worked together to offer the outstanding service in our community.

Operation Red Nose was operational nine evenings throughout the Christmas season offering free rides to folks that had been celebrating and needed a safe ride home along with their vehicle. This program was made possible by a number of outstanding businesses and volunteers.

This year, Lake City Ford, Ron Ridley Rentals, Cariboo GM, Heartland Toyota and Gustafson’s Chrysler Jeep provided the vehicles. Panago Pizza and Taylor Made Cakes and Sweets supplied the refreshments each evening and David Hall and the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre supplied the telephone system and dispatch centre.

The Williams Lake RCMP and City of Williams Lake assisted with the administration. These services were key to the success of the program.

Congratulations to Sarah and Nathan Anderson of Quensel on the birth of their son Judah Hartley Anderson, Williams Lake’s New Year’s baby.

 

 

Judah was born at Cariboo Memorial Hospital on January 2, at 3:23pm, weighing in at 7lbs 5oz.

Welcome to the beautiful New Year's baby and congratulations to his family!

By Michael Toay

The Central Cariboo Arts & Cultural Society is a service organization which manages the Central Cariboo Arts Centre and assists and promotes over 70 art and culture groups within the Central Cariboo region.

Recently, their Coordinator, Leah Selk, acquired an intriguing historical photograph from the old Billy Miner Saloon, which is now the Boston Pizza bar. The Great Cariboo Steak Company was in what is now the Boston Pizza restaurant, where Selk worked her first job when she was 15. Later when she was old enough, she worked in The Billy Miner Saloon as well.

The Williams Lake Field Naturalists held their 45th annual Christmas bird count on December 16th under very favourable weather conditions. Williams Lake had frozen a little more overnight leaving about 30% open water but unfortunately for counters, most of the water birds had seen the writing on the wall, and left while they still could.

3,646 birds of 56 species were counted on the day by 31 observers in the field and as well as 16 feeder watchers. Individual bird numbers were a little below normal while the number of species was 4 above the 10 year average. The hoped-for Snowy Owl, which was seen a couple of days before at Scout Island and on South Lakeside, was not found on count day -- but there were compensations. The bird of the day, which eclipsed all others, was not identified until three days after the count.

(Photo: A  taken yesterday at Terra Ridge by Rita Proulx.  This male bird is in winter plumage -- it is mostly 'scarlet' during breeding season.)