One of B.C.'s most popular and long-standing broadcasters will be beamed across the province live from Prince George, later this week.
Bill Good, a veteran of radio and television news in British Columbia, will bring his CKNW talk show to Prince George on Wednesday. He will be broadcasting from the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals (ABCFP) convention at the Civic Centre. The event runs Wednesday through Friday, and Good's mic will be hot on opening day.
"It was good timing to be able to link with a major forestry conference at a time when forestry is in heavy discussion, and we were looking to come to Prince George," Good said. "Our being in Prince George was not driven by the conference, we had been planning the trip because we feel it is very important to do that. We enjoy travelling the province with the show, we have been to Prince George before and it is always a good experience."
He has loaded his speakers' schedule with forestry officials and others. The government's Minister of Forests Steve Thomson, the NDP's forestry critic Norm Macdonald, and local independent MLA Bob Simpson are on his slate. So too is Joel McKay of the Northern Development Initiative Trust, to discuss the overall northern economy.
"We will be looking at the impact UNBC has made in northern B.C., we will be discussing First Nations issues, job skills and training in northern B.C., we will get into the Canada Winter Games...," Good listed. "Prince George, for obvious reasons, is a hub for the province and I'll be talking with Joel especially about the role the north plays in the province in terms of all the money that comes from the general Prince George region and seemingly flows to the Lower Mainland without much thanks."
It is not lost on Good that a demographic shift, a lifestyle attitude, has started to take aim at Prince George. Instead of just resource industry sojourners coming to the area for quick money - a typical condition in the history of all northern and rural B.C. - now young families and white-collar professionals are making the deliberate choice to buy into P.G.
"I'm very impressed by the number of people who have gravitated to Prince George. It seems to be becoming a bit of a magnet, and that's something we want to explore," said Good.
The ABCFP conference is the gathering of Canada's largest association of forestry professionals. It is the 65th annual AGM and convention for the group. Good's attendance is one of many highlights on their agenda. Anyone interested in registering to attend can do so online at www.abcfp.ca.
Good's show broadcasts weekday mornings on radio station CKNW and its related website.
