Fort St. John

Fort St. John
Downtown Fort St. John
Location in British Columbia
Fort St. John
State :	Canada
Province :	British Columbia
Regional District :	Peace River
Coordinates :	56 ° 15 ′  N , 120 ° 51 ′  W Coordinates: 56 ° 15 ′  N , 120 ° 51 ′  W
Height :	690  m
Area :	26.27 km²
Residents :	20,155 (as of 2016)
Population density :	767.2 inhabitants / km²
Time zone :	Mountain Time ( UTC − 7 )
Postal code :	V1J
Mayor :	Lori Ackerman
Website :	www.fortstjohn.ca

Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     26th   -10 -18     22nd   -6 -15     21st   0 -9     19th   9 -1     40   16 4th     71   19th 8th     83   21st 10     57   20th 9     46   15th 5     26th   8th 0     29   -3 -10     27   -8th -16 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1971-2000. In: Environment and Climate Change Canada . Retrieved September 20, 2012 .

Fort St. John , more rarely also Fort Saint John , is a city in the Peace River Regional District of the Canadian province of British Columbia . The city has 18,609 inhabitants on an area of ​​22 km² (2011 estimate). It is located at mile 47 of the Alaska Highway and is one of the largest cities on this highway , along with Fairbanks and Whitehorse .

The first predecessor town was established in 1794 as a trading post , making it the oldest European establishment in British Columbia today. As early as 1948, the area with the buildings used between 1806 and 1896 was declared a National Historic Site of Canada .

The slogan of the city is today Fort St. John: The Energetic City (dt. The city full of energy ).

history

Early history

The region is home to the oldest archaeological site in British Columbia, Charlie Lake Cave , a cave 7 km north of Fort St. John that has been explored since 1983. The artifacts go back as far as 12,500 years. The cave consists of an opening 4.5 by 6 m, in front of which there is a platform. At another location, about 100 km north of Fort St. John, the Pink Mountain site was found, a settlement with a continuity of around 3000 years.

Fur trade

The current settlement has been relocated several times over the years for economic reasons. It is believed to be the sixth branch in the area. The first trading post in the area, and hence in all of British Columbia, was called Rocky Mountain House . It was founded in 1794, one year after Sir Alexander Mackenzie explored the area . It was located southwest of what is now Fort St. John and was one of several forts built on the Peace River for the fur trade . It was mainly used for trade with the indigenous people of the Dunneza and Sikanni , and at the same time ended the Cree's monopoly on trade with the local tribes, which had existed since 1718. It also served as a warehouse for long-range expedition trips. The fort was closed in 1805. In 1806, the North West Company built the Fort d'Epinette , which was renamed Fort St. John in 1821 after the North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company . This fort was about 500 m downstream from the mouth of the Beatton River , then called the Pine River , from which the French name d'epinette was derived. It was closed in 1823.

Forty years later, in 1860, Fort St. John was rebuilt, this time on the south side of the Peace River, just south of the present-day settlement. Francis Work Beatton moved it to the other side of the river in 1872. It stayed there until 1925, when the river was no longer the most important traffic route and the fort was moved closer to a new settlement that was being formed by settlers. This new town was on Fish Creek, northwest of where it is today, on the new route to Fort Nelson . It lasted until 1975. In 1928, Clark Finch relocated his general store to where the government had built an administrative building for the land, telegraph and post offices.

The current location of Fort St. John was eventually formed after Finch donated 20,000 square meters (five acres ) of land to a Roman Catholic Church and additional land for a hospital.

Fort St. John was officially established as a village in 1947. It has had city rights since 1960 and is now officially called the City of Fort St. John .

population

Canadian Census, 2001
	Fort St. John	Canada
Median age	29.6 years	37.6 years
under 20 years old	31.5%	25.9%
25 to 64 years old	62.3%	61.1%
65 years and older	6.3%	13.0%
Religions
Roman Catholic	19.0%	43.6%
Protestant	37.8%	29.2%
without	35.7%	16.5%

Population development, Fort St. John (1976–2006) Sources:

The first census , which recorded Fort St. John as a separate census unit, took place in 1951 and counted 884 inhabitants. The population grew rapidly in the period that followed and doubled about every five years, so that in 1966 there were 6,749 inhabitants. The population growth slowed in the 1970s when it rose by just 1,551 people from 8,264 to 9,815 between 1971 and 1978. In 1981 the population had risen to 14,337, so by 4,522 in three years. An economic crisis in the 1980s meant that the population did not exceed 15,000 until 1994. Since then, the population has been increasing steadily by around 2% per year.

The 2001 Canadian census found 16,034 residents in 6,155 households or 4,240 families. That was 6.7% more than in the census five years earlier. The median age was eight years below the Canadian average and nearly ten years below that of the province of British Columbia, showing that the city has a comparatively young population. 94.3% of the population (2001) were born in Canada (compared to 88.2% of the population of the whole of Canada) and 93% of them only spoke English as their first language. 11% declared themselves to be members of the Canadian indigenous population. The largest national minority were 100 people of Filipino origin (0.6% of the population).

The census in 2016 showed a population of 20,155 inhabitants for the municipality, after the census in 2011 still showed a population of 18,609 inhabitants for the municipality. The population has increased by 8.3% compared to the last census in 2011 and is thus well above the provincial average with a population increase in British Columbia of 5.6%. In the census period 2006 to 2011, the population in the municipality had increased, almost on average, by 6.9%, while it increased on the provincial average by 7.0%.
For the 2016 census, a median age of 31.5 years was determined for the municipality . The median age of the province in 2016 was only 43.0 years. The median age was 33.4 years, or 42.3 years in the province. For the 2011 census, a median age of 30.6 years was determined for the municipality. The median age of the province in 2011 was only 41.9 years.

In 2005, there were 4,048 crimes registered under the Canadian Penal Code, a rate of 228 per 1,000 residents, well above the provincial average of 125. In particular, the rates of cocaine and cannabis offenses, non-sexual assaults, property damage and arson-related offenses were far higher than the provincial average , while robbery , theft from motor vehicles and company break-ins were recorded far below average.

Geography and climate

The city is located in the upper prairies north of the Peace River and is characterized by a cold continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. Wind mostly comes from the southwest with average wind speeds of 13.7 km / h. In Fort St. John, Mountain Standard Time is year-round. Due to its northern location, the days are very short in winter and very long in summer.

Infrastructure and public facilities

Streams, rivers and transport infrastructure in and around the city

Fort St. John is a major transportation hub in the area. The main highway is Highway 97 ( Alaska Highway ), which the US Army built in 1942. It crosses the city and connects it with Fort Nelson , the Yukon Territory and Alaska to the north and Dawson Creek to the south. The highway significantly reduced the town's dependence on the river as a means of transport.

The CANAMEX Corridor also runs through the municipality. This trade route was defined under the North American Free Trade Agreement and is used for transportation between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

North Peace Airport ( IATA airport code : YXJ, ICAO code : CYXJ) is located a few kilometers east of the city . The airfield has two paved runways, 2,042 and 2,106 meters in length and is the only airport between Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. It is served by scheduled flights from Air Canada Jazz , Central Mountain Air and Peace Air , while North Cariboo Air is represented with charter flights. On Charlie Lake, 8 kilometers northwest of the city, there is also a local sea airport (Transport Canada Identifier: CEY7).

The railway connection, which affects the northern and eastern city limits, was extended by the Pacific Great Eastern Railway from Chetwynd . In 1958 a train reached Fort St. John for the first time. Greyhound Lines intercity buses stop in town and connect with the Yukon Territory capital, Whitehorse , to the north (via Fort Nelson) and Dawson Creek to the south.

The streets within the city are laid out in the form of a grid. The main streets are 100 Street in north-south direction and 100 Avenue in east-west direction .

The water supply works mainly with treated water from the Peace River. There are two septic tanks, one of which discharges the treated wastewater into the Peace River and one into the Beatton River to the north. The rainwater canals run along the sewers, but direct the water they collect into the rivers.

The police tasks are assigned to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police , which maintains two departments, one for the city with 26 members and one for the rural area with ten members. The local fire station has full-time and volunteer firefighters. It is responsible for the city and an area of ​​five miles (about 8 km) radius.

There are 14 public schools in the city area, only one of which is secondary. They are operated by the 60 Peace River North School District . The Northern Lights College opened a campus in 1981 north of the city. The 2001 census found that only 10.5% of residents ages 20 to 64 had a university degree, less than half the Canadian average of 21.6%. 27.2% of the same age group did not have a high school diploma; this rate is seven percentage points above the Canadian average and that of British Columbia.

Culture, leisure, media

High on Ice Winter Carnival in January 2007.

Fort St. John serves as a leisure and cultural center for an area with approx. 30,000 inhabitants. Many of the city's cultural and leisure activities are located in and around Centennial Park in the city center. This large park is home to the Fort St. John North Peace Museum , the North Peace Leisure Pool swimming and wellness center , the North Peace Arena ice rink (home of the Northwest Junior Hockey League ice hockey team of the Fort St. John Huskies ), another ice rink for children, a curling ring and an open-air water park, as well as a speed skating oval. Other parks in the area include the government-run Fish Creek Community Forest, and Beatton Provincial Park, approximately 6 miles northwest, and Charlie Lake Provincial Park . In the city center is the North Peace Cultural Center with the public library, theater and other cultural facilities.

Fort St. John hosted the British Columbia Winter Games in 1984 and the Northern British Columbia Winter Games in 1975, 1976, 1994, 2000 and 2007. Every August the Great Canadian Welding Competition takes place, a competition in artificial welding where art welders produce sculptures on a given topic. Every January, on the occasion of the High on Ice Winter Carnival , the frozen Centennial Park is filled with ice sculptures carved by ice sculptors in a competition.

Several local newspapers are available in Fort St. John. The Alaska Highway News and the Peace River Block Daily News both appear daily and are part of the Canwest Global local newspaper chain. The Alaska Highway News and the free weekly Northeast News are produced locally and are more concentrated in Fort St. John, while the Peace River Block Daily News is published in Dawson Creek. Radio programs broadcast from Fort St. John include 98.5 Energy FM (CHRX) , 101.5 The Bear FM (CKNL) and 100.1 The Moose FM (CKFU) , while 890 CJDC AM and 94.5 Peace FM (CHET) can be received in town , but broadcast from Dawson Creek and Chetwynd, respectively.

economy

Fort St. John is a sub-center for its 18,000 inhabitants and a rural hinterland with around 12,000 inhabitants. British Columbia's oil and gas industry is centered in and around the city; the provincial oil and gas commission is in the city. With the opening of a chipboard factory in 2002, forestry gained in importance. Agriculture has traditionally been an important industry in the region, for which Fort St. John is a market and transshipment point.

The 2001 Canadian census registered 9,985 income earners over the age of 15 in the city. Of these, 4,500 were full-time employees throughout the year. The high proportion of employed persons in the total population is related to the comparatively young population structure. Many of Fort St. John's workers were drawn to the high wage oil and gas industries in the city and its surrounding areas. The median annual income of all 15+ year olds was Canadian $ 25,898 , 17% above the Canadian average. The pay gap between men and women is relatively large in the city.

Politics and administration

The city is governed and administered according to the council manager procedure. A six-member city ​​council , elected every three years, governs together with the mayor. The current mayor is former police officer and former city councilor Jim Eglinski, who was elected on November 19, 2005 . He won the election against incumbent Steve Thorlakson, who had previously been mayor for 15 years. The mayor and a member of the city council represent Fort St. John on the Peace River Regional District board . The city is also sending three members to the Board of Trustees for School District 60, Peace River North .

For British Columbia Parliament elections, Fort St. John is part of the Peace River North constituency . The MP elected is named Richard Neufeld and was first elected to the Provincial Parliament in 1991 for the British Columbia Social Credit Party , with his party at Fort St. John receiving 56% of the vote. He was re-elected to the Reform Party of British Columbia in 1996 and received 44% of the vote at Fort St. John. In 2001 and 2005 he was re-elected to the British Columbia Liberal Party , receiving 73% and 59% of the vote in Fort St. John, respectively. Since 2001 he has served as British Columbia's minister of energy, mining and oil.

In elections to the Canadian House of Commons , Fort St. John belongs to the electoral district of Prince George-Peace River , in which the district has been represented since 1993 by Jay Hill, who is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada . He was born and raised in Fort St. John. He was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2007, and received 74%, 77%, 70% and 72% of the vote in his re-elections at Fort St. John. He has been Chief Whip (a kind of factional discipline) of the government since February 2006 and was previously Whip of the Canadian Alliance . He has been Secretary of State since January 2007 under the new administration of Stephen Harper .

The second strongest party in the last provincial and federal parliamentary elections in 2005 and 2006 respectively was the New Democratic Party , whose candidates Brian Churchill for the British Columbia parliament and Malcolm Crockett for the Canadian parliament in Fort St. John 28% and 12% of the vote, respectively received.

sons and daughters of the town

• Brad Fast (born 1980), ice hockey player
• Mark Hartigan (born 1977), ice hockey player
• Brian Young (born 1970), artist
• Michelle Kelly (* 1974), skeleton pilot
• Denny Morrison (* 1985), speed skater (born in Chetwynd, lives in Fort St. John)
• John van 't Schip (* 1963), former Dutch national soccer player

literature

• Roy L. Carlson: Introduction to Early Human Occupation in British Columbia , in: ders. And Luke Dalla Bona (eds.), Early Human Occupation in British Columbia. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1996.

Web links

• Official site of the City (English)
• Census data for Fort St. John (2001) from Statistics Canada (English)
• Tourist introduction to Fort St John on Discover the Peace Country.com (English)
• Website of the radio station Moose FM (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Fort St. John Community Profile. Census 2016. In: Statistics Canada . August 9, 2019, accessed September 1, 2019 . 
2. ^ Census agglomeration of Fort St. John, British Columbia. In: Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census. Statistics Canada , accessed September 20, 2015 . 
3. ^ Fort St. James National Historic Site of Canada. In: Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved May 26, 2018 (English). 
4. ^ Origin Notes and History. Fort St. John. In: GeoBC . Retrieved September 20, 2012 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c} 2001 Canadian Census data: Statistics Canada, 2001 Community Profiles: Fort St. John British Columbia (City) (accessed February 25, 2007; English).
6. ^ BC Stats, Municipal Census Populations, 1976-1986; BC Stats, Municipal Census Populations, 1986-1996; BC Stats, Municipal Census Populations, 1996-2006.
7. ^ BC Stats, Municipal Census Populations, 1921–1971.
8. ↑ Fort St. John Community Profile. Census 2011. In: Statistics Canada . May 31, 2016, accessed September 1, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Calculations from Police Services Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Province of British Columbia: Police and Crime Summary Statistics 1996-2005 , Vancouver 2006, Appendix B: 2005 Crime and Police Statistics , pp. 106–110, and Appendix D : Jurisdictional Crime Trends, 1996-2005 pp. 151, 154, ISSN  1198-9971
10. ↑ Canadian Climate Normals 1971-2000; Fort St. John. In: Environment and Climate Change Canada . Retrieved September 20, 2012 . 
11. ^ Police Services Division, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Province of British Columbia: Police and Crime Summary Statistics 1996-2005 , Vancouver 2006, Appendix A: Municipal and Provincial Police Strength 1996-2005 , p. 97; ISSN  1198-9971 .
12. ↑ KPMG, Marketing Strategy for the BC: Oil and Gas Service Sector ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , October 29, 2004 (accessed February 27, 2007; English). 
13. ↑ Adam Reaburn, Municipal Election Results , Fort St. John Now! dated November 19, 2005 (accessed February 26, 2007; English).
14. ↑ Board of Directors on the homepage of the Peace River Regional District (accessed on February 26, 2007)
15. ↑ See - (4-05) - ELECTION BY-LAW.pdf BY-LAW NO. 4/05: Trustees Election Bylaw  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , School District No. 60 (Peace River North) (accessed February 26, 2007, PDF).  
16. ^ Electoral History of British Columbia, Supplement, 2002-2013. (PDF; 560 kB) In: Electoral History of BC. Elections BC, pp. 9-10 , accessed September 20, 2015 . 
17. ^ Peace River North Electoral District , Statement of Votes - 36th Provincial General Election (May 28, 1996) on the Elections BC website (accessed February 26, 2007)
18. ^ Peace River North Electoral District , Statement of Votes - 37th Provincial General Election (May 16, 2001) on the pages of Elections BC (accessed February 26, 2007, English, PDF)
19. ^ Peace River North Electoral District , Statement of Votes - 38th Provincial General Election (May 17, 2005) on the pages of Elections BC (accessed February 26, 2007, English, PDF).
20. ↑ ^{a b} Elections Canada 36th and 37th General Elections: Official Voting Results: Poll-by-poll Results , Elections Canada On-Line | General Information (accessed on January 22, 2006, English, database download required).
21. ↑ 38th General Election 2004 - Poll-by-poll results , Official Voting Results / Résultats officiels du scrutin on the pages of Elections Canada (accessed on February 27, 2007, English, navigation to Prince George — Peace River required)
22. ↑ 39th General Election 2006 - Poll-by-poll results , Official Voting Results / Résultats officiels du scrutin on the pages of Elections Canada (accessed on February 27, 2007, English, navigation to Prince George — Peace River required)