Cash advance needed for farms
Peace Region grain farmers were seeking payment of $15 per cultivated acre for 1984 crop and loan guarantees for the following season, the Alaska Highway News reported on this day in history.
District agriculturalist Jim Collins told the local chamber of commerces that some 500,000 acres were seeded in grain in the Peace in 1984, and about 48 to 50 per cent of the crop was still in the fields. He said that up to 20 per cent of the farms in the region were going bankrupt.
"It's not possible to save those that are already going under, but we are asking consideration to alleviate the problems facing other farmers," he said.
Farmers were seeking the payment from the province through the B.C. Federation of Agriculture.
June Davidson, executive assistant to then-MLA Tony Brummet, told the meeting that the minister and her office were aware of the problems facing the region's farmers, and that requests for assistance had already been made to the agriculture ministry.
Vacancy rate coming down
There was a staggering 25.4 per cent vacancy rate in Fort St. John's apartment blocks in fall of 1984, it was reported on this day in history.
The vacancies were down slightly from April, when the rate stood at 26.8 per cent, and down further from 28.4 per cent in October of 1983.
The city saw a peak vacancy rate of 35.2 per cent in September 1981, shortly after the announcement of the National Energy Policy, which was widely held responsible for the sudden and dramatic slump in western Canadian communities dependent upon the oil industry, the newspaper reported.
In October 1980, when the policy was announced, the city's vacancy rate stood at 2.2 per cent, according to the newspaper.
In fall of 1984, there were 2,000 apartment units in Fort St. John, with rents averaging $312 per month for a two-bedroom suite, the newspaper reported.
School board urged to keep Grade 12
Parents in Hudson's Hope were unanimous that Grades 11 and 12 must be maintained in the district, it was reported on this day in 1984.
Parents turned out to a school board meeting in droves to discuss the issue, and the amalgamation of the district's elementary and secondary schools.
Barry Eyre, then-principal at Hudson's Hope, said the whole community was at stake. Closing the senior grades would force residents to leave, weakening community sponsorship and involvement at all levels, he said.
Parents rejected the notion of busing Grade 11 and 12 students to Fort St. John and having them board in the city.
At the time, there were just 16 Grade 11 students, and 23 Grade 12 students, it was reported.
