A North Thompson valley working collective met in Clearwater on Wed., Dec. 20 at the Dutch Lake Community Centre to discuss Highway 5 safety in a forum bringing elected officials together to discuss a variety of topics, with Highway 5 safety at the top of the list.
The working group started their day in a closed-door meeting to discuss and brainstorm about the all-too-familiar topics of Highway 5 concerns. Frustration has been growing throughout the valley following the latest double fatal near Little Fort when Gordon and Amber Bjorkman lost their lives while travelling to Clearwater on Dec. 2 to visit their son and daughter-in-law.
The Bjorkmans, a beloved couple from Merritt, had decided to make the drive to deliver Christmas gifts to their family, a fateful trip that resulted in a head-on collision with a commercial vehicle on the first snowy travel day along that section of roadway. The crash is still under investigation.
Members of the working group on Dec. 20 have reported to Black Press the meeting was a time for elected local officials to discuss concerns, experiences, strategic planning and to begin what Kamloops-Thompson MLA Peter Milobar calls “a first step of many” in identifying some possible solutions surrounding the multiple fatal crashes and collisions along this corridor that stretches from Barriere through to the Alberta border.
“We will keep plugging away and hopefully we can put enough pressure on the government to see some meaningful planning take place and more importantly dollars allocated for this critical corridor. The reality is this government hasn’t spent any substantial money on the Highway 5 corridor that we’ve seen since they took office in 2017. There were five other passing lanes scheduled to go in prior to them taking office and all of those got scrubbed from the work plan. There has been no type of improvements done since the completion of the Darfield passing lane which was started under the previous government,” said Milobar.
Milobar announced his plan to host the meeting following the Bjorkman’s tragic crash along with Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone who will be running in the North Thompson during the next provincial election due to changes in the boundaries of the electoral areas defined by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission in July of 2023.
Invited attendees to the meeting included, Mayor Ward Stamer of Barriere, Simpcw First Nation Kúkpi7 George Lampreau, Mayor Merlin Blackwell of Clearwater, and Mayor Owen Torgenson.
Also present were North Thompson Valley Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) Directors; Jill Hayward for Area ‘O’ (Barriere), Usoff Tsao for Area ‘A’ (Clearwater) and Lee Onslow for Area ‘B’ (Blue River) as well as district councillors, and support staff.
Mayor Blackwell of Clearwater commented on the session, saying, “It was a great, well-rounded discussion. What I thought was very interesting was that we all had the same highway stories, but just on different parts of Highway 5. We’re all already on the same page as far as issues go, but now we all know we need to advocate in unison to get change to happen.”
TNRD Director for Area ‘O’ Hayward offered her own assessment when talking with Black Press following the day of conversation.
“Wednesday’s meeting was a hugely positive step undertaken by area government and Simpcw First Nation representatives. Sharing of information was a strong point, and we welcomed input from representatives from North Thompson First Responders, and School District 73. All those who participated are committed to bringing this highway corridor back to a scenic transportation route, instead of an ongoing 911 emergency.”
Usoff Tsao, director for Area ‘A’ expressed his desire to learn from the more experienced elected local officials during the meeting, saying, “I felt it was an invaluable meeting” and that he is looking forward to being part of a working “team” as they all advocate for change moving forward.
Milobar didn’t mince words when asked what he’s hoping to see come of these discussions.
“This government has an opportunity in the upcoming budget to show a solid plan and dollars for this corridor and start providing some much-needed safety improvements and we are going to hold them to account for that. We will keep fighting and advocating what is right for this corridor and the safety of the people that live in it.”
The MLA for Kamloops-Thompson was impressed with input from Simpcw First Nation representative Tina Donald, Fisheries and Wildlife Coordinator along with Ron Lampreau Jr., Fire Chief for Chu Chua at Simpcw, who shared their observations about Highway 5 safety in mentioning the toll these traumatic incidents take on volunteers across the valley that continually step up and show up while dealing with such horrific occurrences. Their question was also involving recruitment and retention when first responders are continually being asked to leave paying jobs to attend emergencies along this dangerous stretch of highway.
Blackpool Fire Chief, Mike Savage also met with the two MLA’s to brief them similarly on how the continual trauma has an impact on local fire rescue volunteers. He said there is a great concern of “burn out” for firefighters and losing key team members and also touched on the expense of continued training in hopes of further funding for those training needs.
In speaking with the local towing company for ‘On Call’ a Clearwater and valley operator, Ron Rotzetter commented with his son, Milobar observed, “It was very heartfelt listening to them both. Ron and his son were talking about what they are having to deal with in terms of the trauma and the violence of the accidents and how hard it is for the staff. They see truckers and travellers not paying attention while they are on the road trying to control traffic when they are trying to get the highway reopened after a major crash. They shared experiences of vehicles blowing through their traffic control areas at a crash site and their own staff being at greater risk as well. This type of feedback is invaluable coming from people who work this valley ongoing and are directly impacted by what they see every day out there.”
Plans for further discussions and planning will be scheduled in the new year for the working group.
In the near future, Kúkpi7 Lampreau will be inviting the valley mayors to join Simpcw First Nation in partnership as they sign a historical Memorandum of Understanding in the new year together, another “collective collaboration” as they move towards making the valley a safer, productive and sustainable place to live for the “good of all” says the Chief.
Lee Onslow, TNRD Director for Area ‘B’ in Blue River offered her own view following the meeting, saying,”The meeting was a powerful opportunity for the valley’s elected officials and representatives from Simpcw First Nation to come together to raise our collective concerns about highway safety with the intention of the concerns being carried forward to the provincial government. Many ideas and suggestions were heard and I look forward to positive outcomes from this meeting.”
