Bringing Optimism to the Heart of the Hazeltons
TransCanada Supports Hazelton Area Communities with a $1 Million Donation to the Upper Skeena Rec Centre
Today, the Hazelton area in B.C. is home to some 6,500 people living in the two municipalities, three unincorporated settlements and seven First Nations villages.
“When I came here 36 years ago, this was a thriving little community,” recalls Dr. Peter Newbery, an internationally recognized expert in the practice of rural family medicine, who works in the community’s Wrinch Memorial Hospital. “Today, unemployment here is high and in the winter can hit 95 per cent among the neighbouring First Nations communities. With high unemployment comes health issues. The two are directly linked. I’ve seen all of the ills that unemployment and poor health can bring — suicide, alcoholism, family breakup.”
Dr. Newbery and others in the community started talking about solutions. What could they do to bring a renewed sense of optimism back to the area, and with it, a much-needed sense of well-being? Faced with limited recreational facilities, they developed a strategy known as the Heart of the Hazeltons, with an immediate focus on replacing the 50-year-old ice arena with a new facility, called the Upper Skeena Recreation Centre.
TransCanada is committed to supporting the communities where we live and work. Regional staff working on the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project identified the Upper Skeena Recreation Centre as an important community initiative to support local needs.
