Everything new comes with expectations and comparisons. It’s human nature to look at something new and have questions about how it will perform, whether it will satisfy, what changes might happen or if it’s even worth having.
When it comes to a new pair of pants the implications are not likely earth shattering. If they don’t measure up to the expectations then tossing them aside is not a huge deal. It comes down to one person, one opinion, and that person has all the control they could ask for. There’s not much fear attached to the process.
It’s another story when what’s new is a provincial leader – two in fact.
Both Alberta and British Columbia are now dealing with new premiers – and with that, all the expectations, comparisons and questions.
At the very least there will, or should be expectations of new policies and initiatives to address the needs of business and industry.
Questions of how those changes will deal with issues of recruitment and retention will be at the forefront of more than a few minds. Part and parcel of that issue will be dealing with the need for housing and infrastructure in the North.
There is also the ongoing issue of the environment. In Alberta the oil sands pose a number of challenges and across the region, issues of fracing and water use are still getting a lot of attention.
Dealing with royalties, subsidies, and ensuring that the communities that generate the money get to benefit from their resources could end up being a little like juggling with knives.
Whether the new premiers will address these issues well, balancing the needs of communities and individuals with the needs of business and industry, remains to be seen.
Politicians are not a pair of pants. They don’t need to fit just one person, but many. If they are to satisfy the best expectations of the people they represent, those people need to ask their questions of the premiers and be prepared to offer solutions that recognize it’s not a one size fits all world.

There are always those that go after the big boxes when it’s time for presents. Not me. Some of my favourite things have come in the small packages. Cookies my kids made or jewelry from my best friend always brought a huge smile to my face.
Perhaps that’s why I look for the gems in our business base – the small businesses that are surviving, thriving, creating, innovating and contributing.
Don’t get me wrong; the big companies are necessary anchors of our economy but the smaller local companies capture my attention with their passion and dedication in ways that bring the same kind of smile to my face that the small intimate presents of my life have.
From the challenges they overcome to the loyalty they have to this region and the people they work with, there is a never-ending source for good stories and reasons to celebrate.
NWB strives to highlight the contributions of the small businesses in our area throughout the year and we understand that without them we would not be here.
Small Business Week is a great time to take a step back and remember the good things that come in small packages. Our small businesses add to the local economy, give purpose to workers, support families, enhance technology and add passion and commitment to our communities.
This month’s issue of NWB takes a looks at Eagle Vision, a Fort St. John small business with an exciting technology they created to increase the safety of the region.
Our feature story will take a look at one of the issues facing small businesses, namely how to ensure that they are making the most of their technology in a way that ensures security for them and their clients.
And while it’s a small sampling of the business stories that surround us, you can be sure that there will be more in future issues because our small business’s passion is your business.
We would be poorer in so many ways without small businesses and NWB extends our congratulations on your many accomplishments throughout the Peace and we are honoured to bring your stories to others.

It’s not the world it used to be. My backyard used to be the stuff inside my fence. Now, my backyard has no fence, no boundaries and virtually no limits.
Competing in the global market is a daunting prospect. It’s vast, and it’s always a little harder to know what’s real when it’s all coming from a computer screen.
Whatever we do online is how people see us, and it’s no longer just a community’s judgment that matters. It’s the whole globe. And it is a reputation after all. The adage that one wrong move can have a greater impact than 100 right moves is even more true today than it has ever been with scrutiny coming from so many sources.
I can remember when computers were the domains of scientists. It seems like yesterday when the notion that even children would have their own computers seemed laughable, but here we are.
While it matters what and how companies are presented online, the basic rules are not really much different than they were 10, 20, 50 or 100 years ago. Integrity, honesty, timely service and quality control are still at the root of a reputation.
I hear a lot of people tell me they have those qualities – whether they do or not. It used to be that a good recommendation from a neighbour or friend was never more than a few doors down. It might be a bigger pond but the same holds true today.
Take the time to ask the questions you would of someone you were inviting into your home. Can you trust them? That’s a pretty good yardstick. I hire contractors and while they don’t necessarily come into my home, they do come into my business or community or other places I care about.
Gratefully, the same dynamic that has opened the market up has also made it simple to ask the questions. Social networking has made that a realistic venture.
My backyard is so much bigger but it’s still my responsibility to maintain it in a condition I can deal with, my responsibility to keep it safe for guests and family and my responsibility to use care in what happens there. Not everything changes. Values should be a constant. It’s just how and where they are expressed that has changed.

There are still clearly divided camps when it comes to industry and sustainable, responsible stewardship of our natural resources.
On the one hand, there are those that value the environment and are convinced that the multinationals and others are intentionally disregarding issues of safe and sane development in the quest for cash.
They cry foul every time they can, citing every situation where an outcome was less than perfect, and insisting that industry is the environmental hangman, willing to compromise away our children’s futures and turn a blind eye to the death and destruction they leave in their wake.
It’s a myopic point of view.
And it’s easy to judge when you only acknowledge worst-case scenarios. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, their intentions are probably honourable even if they only allow for one worldview.
It brings to mind the men that once thought of women as chattel, lacking the capacity to think or act sensibly for themselves.
They too were likely well-intentioned, thinking to protect and guide the weaker sex. Who can blame them? For the most part, it’s unlikely they ever saw a wife or daughter in a position of leadership, or gave her the chance to show her ideas had as much merit as a brother or son’s.
It’s a myopic point of view.
On the other hand, there are those that laud their own efforts to do better, to think more, to be accountable in industrial practices, to do it differently than it has been done. And they should acknowledge where they are active participants in responsible stewardship. But it really has become the cause de jour. If hundreds before have done the same responsible thing, is it really that big a deal? Is it really something that needs to be said again and again and again and again? It does get old and rather meaningless.
As things usually are, the truth is in the grey area between. There are people who don’t much care how much damage they cause to the environment (as long as no one catches them), but that’s not universal and there are plenty of companies who are implementing new technologies or practices that help improve the environmental situation – things more than worthy of praise and attention.
It’s not a static process this learning about sustainability. New understandings of how and why things are put at risk are met with new solutions. And sometimes, it’s a choice of the lesser of two evils. Compromises are made – and should be made – while ever-better solutions are sought.

It’s hard not to appreciate the advent of spring. Bring on the warmer weather, longer days, and – do we dare hope – grass. Smiles spontaneously erupt, hearts are full of optimism and the confidence that anything is possible is that much easier to grasp.
It seems the whole world opens up after a long, cold winter. In another few months however, the novelty will have passed and the grass that buoys the spirit now, will need to be mowed and raked and watered. Instead of inspiring a sunny disposition, it will become just another thing to add to the to-do list.
That dynamic isn’t just restricted to a date on the calendar; at least not this year. The optimism engendered by an industry that’s picking up can be found throughout the Peace Country. The money is starting to flow, people are starting to relax and people are planting seeds in hopes of a bountiful tomorrow.
Alpha Safety, in true northern style, shows the way with their investment in innovative growth.  The Grande Prairie branch of the Canadian School of Hydrocarbon Measurement is planning for the fall and how they will give back to the community. Wavefront is embracing new opportunities through better technology. Area trade shows experienced record-breaking attendance. That’s just a taste of the potential represented in this month’s issue of NWB.
That spring-like attitude is back. Things are indeed looking up even as caution still lurks beneath the surface like the threat of one more snowy day.
It is however, a double-edged sword, as our feature on labour projections shows. There will be issues that come with the ramped-up possibilities. It’s the companies that can hang onto spring all year round that have risen to the occasion in the past and no doubt will again.
For myself, I plan to find a picture of the bright sun and newly uncovered greenery to remind me that spring can last all year if I want it to.

Joei Warm, Editor

When I first moved north, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I knew it would be different but I really didn’t understand how much so. And I was blissfully ignorant of the significance of the region’s resources and the part they play in the region, the province and indeed, the country. I arrived and within hours was getting an education. It was oil and gas this and the patch that and my head was swimming with what amounted to a whole new language. Everywhere I went, there were signs of the Peace’s signature industry. Go for coffee? There’s a crew at the next table. Park my car? There are work trucks in most spots. Ask someone what he does? You guessed it – he has some job I’d never heard of, and turns out it’s yet another oil and gas related job. It was a culture shock to say the least.

I had no idea that one industry could be so pervasive in a community. Once the shock wore off, I started to understand just how important the industry is and what a remarkable contribution it makes, not only locally, but in the larger context. It took months to learn to think intelligently about the implications and the rewards of such a strong resource. It took a little longer to become familiar with how and why the industry works – and sometimes doesn’t. I remember one day, about a year after arriving here, when the light bulb went on and it occurred to me that while I was just getting comfy (ok, maybe even a little cocky) with the idea that I was starting to really understand my new home, that in fact, I had missed something just as important as the almighty oil and gas industry.

Agriculture, tourism, forestry and mining were all playing roles in the stability of the region and in supporting communities and families. Feeling sheepish, I then made it my business to find out about those resources as well. While there were signs of other industries, they tended to pale in the shadows of the petroleum giant. What I learned, when I started to see beneath the surface of things, was that the ‘other resources’ were every bit as important to the area. We were not alone. Without the solid foundation of those other industries, the giant would have nothing to stand on. The dynamic, vibrant nature of the region was absolutely coloured by oil and gas activity but the stability and strength came from the vast variety of resources. Many, many years down the road, I smile a private smile when newcomers’ eyes go wide and I see the surprise on their faces when they see the crews and trucks and other trappings or see the confusion when they hear unfamiliar terms that are now, to me, as common as air. And I am grateful that I stayed long enough to see the whole regional tapestry with all its richness. It’s easy to forget that agriculture, tourism, forestry and mining have their own beauty but the reaction of newbies is a reminder for me. When I was finally able to pull my head out of the – well um, let’s say the shadow – I was rewarded with unexpected surprises. Perhaps if those of us who’ve been here a while could remember to shine the light into the shadows of the patch, newcomers would get to see the whole picture of the Peace and would understand why so many of us stay here and would decide to join us in making the best place on earth home.

It’s about the almighty buck. Isn’t it? No business can afford to overlook the bottom line and no employee wants to do that either, but when it’s the only thing being targeted it can create a blind that no one can afford to get lost in.
This issue of NWB is full of examples of companies who have chosen to live outside the blind – to value more than the bottom line. It’s our safety issue and we have stories that show it’s clear that the majority of people in the Peace Region have decided that safety matters.
Sadly, that is not the only truth.
As a teeny, tiny tot I hid in the bottom of my closet thinking no one knew I was there. It was fun for a while and I was giddy thinking I was getting away with something. But it soon got boring and the walls started closing in on me.
Despite ample evidence that safety is worth investing in, there are some people out there that are willing to sacrifice themselves and others on the alter of stupidity all because they apparently don’t see the value in legitimate safety tickets.
Handing out fraudulent tickets – or knowingly using them – is dangerous, and as our special feature indicates, is something that will not be tolerated.
And just like my mother knew where I was hiding, even though I didn’t know that at the time, the powers that be know how and where to look for the frauds.
In a time when safety is not only required, it’s expected, safety shortcuts made by people living in a their self-imposed closet might think they are getting away with something but at the day’s end, that’s not the case.
Perhaps if they’re forced to trade their closet for a cage they might just find what they’ve been missing – shame. It’s a small word, small enough to have been overlooked in an attempt to get something for nothing. And it could prove to be the difference between life and death.

Joei Warm, Editor

Everyday, something new and often interesting reaches NWB email. Announcements of success, information about a new idea or innovation, queries and comments, and some – like one recent arrival – are nothing short of baffling.

It says something about a society when ‘news release’ arrives that lauds the glory of senselessness. The headline on the release read: “A True Revolution in the Art of Time-Wasting – Newad launches BubbleShout.com”.

When social media first hit the scene, it was a great haven for teens and tweens and status updates containing a running commentary on anything and everything – and more often, nothing at all.

Business, with its usual innovation, turned social media into something that added avenues for marketing, information distribution and gathering, and in many ways, revolutionized communication.

This new venture in social contact doesn’t deny that, but adds that it too has as much value in its own unique way.

“BubbleShout.com is a virtual world that invites you to have your head in the clouds or, more specifically, in constantly moving cloud-bubbles that encourage you to share the thoughts that make up your daydreams. There’s one simple rule in this absolutely useless and willfully distracting universe: human nature abhors emptiness.

Those cloud-bubbles must be filled. Thus, the user expresses himself on BubbleShout.com through an expression, a sentence, a comment, an enigma, an inside, a declaration, a frivolous thought, a testimony, a piece of gossip, a prayer, an illumination… essentially, anything that proves he’s out there! If art really has no use, BubbleShout.com is certainly a new masterpiece in the art of communication,” they explain.

The evolution of social media took directions that would have been hard to predict and thinking about what business will do with this newest social media site gives plenty of ‘bubble content’ to this editor. Maybe there’s something to this after all.

BC politicians have had a rough go of it lately. First of all there was all the foofurah about the HST and the official government intransigence, which led to the resignation of Blair Lekstrom as Minister of Energy and Mines. Then, low and behold, Premier Gordon Campbell was shoved from his lofty perch (even if he says it was his intent to step down). And now Lekstrom’s replacement Bill Bennett has been summarily dismissed for – well that depends on who you are.
Independent thinking is an expected and valued part of being a northerner. There is a sort of perverse pride in going against the grain and it seems that Bennett could fit right in here. While there are those that are offended by his outspoken criticism of Campbell’s opting to stay in office in the face of public opinion that would leave the nearly dead running for a place to hide – there are many who are not.
Maybe there is something in the water up here (and once is all it takes) that creates a special kind of backbone. Two energy ministers, two outspoken and independent thinkers, two men left out of a portfolio where they belong only to be replaced by Natural Resources Operations Minister Steve Thompson (Kelowna-Mission MLA).
Even juggling a position created in the recent government restructuring, a position that isn’t all that clearly defined, could be a plateful even if the rest of the provincial government was stable. In this situation, adding these new responsibilities is a bit like handing the baby a cactus to play with.
Our resources are too important to let hurt feelings or unbending arrogance dictate who takes the lead in guiding us through the next few years. At the end of the day, party solidarity is meaningless if it doesn’t support the people who bring in the dollars – and in this case, whether that’s what we’ve been handed is questionable at best – no offence to Minister Thompson.
Alienating one minister from cabinet and ousting another to save face in a situation where there is no face left to save is an insult to thinking people everywhere and Campbell continues to make decisions backed by the puppet cabinet at the public’s expense.
And all this instability could likely inhibit the growth of this region’s oil and gas industry at a time when it’s just crawling out of a recession. Ok, so Bennett and Lekstrom may not be the best of team players. Good on them. Ok, so Bennett and Lekstrom are branded “mavericks”. Good on them.
It’s easier to fight it out with someone who tells it like it is than someone whose opinions are buried beneath layers of rhetoric anyway.
Good thing cabinet can’t fire everyone that has a voice.