5 YEARS AGO (2015):
Candidates were gearing up for the 2015 Federal Election in which Stephen Harper’s Conservatives were facing off against Thomas Mulcair’s NDP and upstart Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. Due to a lack of volunteers, the South Cariboo Chamber of Commerce was unable to hold an all-candidates forum for 100 Mile House, so the Free Press stepped in. While unable to agree on a time they could all meet in 100 Mile, the candidates did acquiesce to answer questions submitted by the paper.
15 YEARS AGO (2005):
Adults, children, babies and even dogs packed the staging area for the 25th annual Terry Fox Run. The turnout was the biggest that organizer Janet Heine had seen in years, attracting 200 participants to walk, run or even bike the route. On Sept. 16 100 Mile House students held their own event where around 100 students participated, joining a million running that same day across Canada.Around $2,000 in pledges and donations were raised while $800 worth of merchandise was sold.
25 YEARS AGO (1995):
Tensions were rising at Gustafson Lake as RCMP officers squared off against a band of native militants occupying land owned by the James Cattle Company.Branded terrorists by the RCMP, around 15 to 20 First Nation occupiers were linked to a string of incidents with the RCMP including possession of prohibited firearms, altercations with forestry workers and shots fired at officers and James Cattle Co. Employees. The Cariboo Tribal Council condemned the radical actions of “outsiders” at Gustafson Lake.
40 YEARS AGO (1980):
British Columbia Premier Bill Bennett told a crowd in Williams Lake that now was “a time to trust one another” as Canada grappled with constitutional issues. Bennett advocated for a flexible constitution that would recognize a citizen’s right to retain “their individual and cultural heritage” and warned against becoming a “pale imitation” of the United States. He urged people to make their voices known to the federal government before it took actions that would create “divisions that cannot be healed.”