On March 8, 1967, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George was officially incorporated.
To celebrate the milestone, the regional district is looking back on the past 50 years and the people, programs and services that helped build the region. A special reception was held at the offices Wednesday afternoon.
Regional districts were created by the province to give better representation for rural residents and a way to provide and share in the costs of services such as hospitals, drinking water and fire protection in an efficient and equitable manner.
Today, the regional district provides more than 90 local government services ranging from 9-1-1, emergency and solid waste management to fire protection and land use planning. It is a federation of the City of Prince George, District of Mackenzie, Village of McBride and Village of Valemount and seven unincorporated electoral areas.
Regional district chairman Art Kaehn says the regional district is proud of the role it has played in developing this region over the past 50 years.
“So much of the success in growing our region can be attributed to the people, whether they be current or former staff, directors or those who volunteer to make our region better through service in our fire departments, community associations and committees. To those people we say thanks,” said Kaehn.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, the regional district has developed a listing of 50 notable events, places and projects of our region. It can be viewed on the regional district website at www.rdffg.bc.ca. A special anniversary publication with the history and highlights of the Regional District has been produced and will be distributed throughout the year at community events.
The regional district board will also do some traveling in its anniversary year, with plans to hold its board meetings to McBride, Valemount and Mackenzie later this year.