Northern BC Graduate Student Society (NBCGSS) embraces year ahead as it elects Directors
As the snow melts, UNBC’s Graduate Student Society (NBCGSS) membership is electing its Board of Directors. Offering CFURadio their perspective on this is Behrouz (Bruce) Danesh. The 2024 UNBC Valedictorian was a past undergraduate student society Director, and a current NBCGSS Grant Administration Assistant. He brings his perspective as a former Director in the NBCGSS to the conversation, reflecting on a busy year which included the resolution of a pending BC Human Rights Tribunal complaint lodged against the society in 2021.
Looking ahead, the society’s candidates hope to strengthen policy, increase transparency, host inclusive events, and strengthen connections with UNBC to leverage resources that the institution provides, particularly when it comes to employee training. EDI orientations offered by UNBC have become integral to new part-time staff employed at the society, the number of which has increased over the past year.
In retrospect, after becoming one of the society’s part-time staff, Danesh mentions the benefits of having more than a sole Executive Director (ED) hired, citing burnout prevention, on-campus employment opportunities, and protecting institutional knowledge as an asset.
What he can specifically speak to, in terms of what awaits future Directors, is some of the grants coming to the society. A NBCGSS Food bank is one of those things with assistance from Food Banks BC, PHABC, and the United Way. This, along with the streamlining of numerous society operations with AI through a MITACS grant, and perhaps a MITACS assisted modernization of accounting procedures.
While there is a lot for NBCGSS members to look forward to, their electoral candidates have platforms available in every members @UNBC.ca domain email account, with included voting instructions. Elections occur March 25th to 27th, with results announced by email and whatsapp, on Monday March 30th.
For any inquiries regarding the election process, please contact gssadmin@unbc.ca.
- Ian Gregg, CFURadio 88.7FM, Due North News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Check out our stories on FrequencyNews.ca
Podcast RSS url:
Want to drop a dollar into local news, info, & entertainment?
Click the button———>
Due North Info Bulletin - 23 March 2026
An audio bulletin for the week of March 23rd 2026
This week in Prince George–Lheidli T’enneh we can expect the forecast to bring us colder temperatures & snow, though starting off with great air quality.
Some municipal events of note:
Prince George City council held a meeting Monday the 23rd whereupon UNBC made a case to gain support for developing part of its Land Trust into a residential area.
Additionally, the city made some changes to procedural matters which include a reduction of details required of letter writers who submit correspondence to city council. Letters no longer require the sender’s full address to be associated with their name.
The city has also released an interactive map to better navigate the municipal cemeteries.
The Two Rivers Art Gallery exhibit From Far and Wide: The Soundscapes carries on to April 6th.
NASA, or Northern Adapted Sport Association invites everyone, of any level of ability, in the community to participate in para ice hockey on Sundays at CN Centre’s Kin1, wheelchair basketball Mondays at UNBC’s Sport Centre 4:30-6 & 8-10pm, Wheelchair Rugby on Wednesdays 7-8:30. All this in addition to individual sports like adapted kayak, wheelchair tennis, badminton and more.
Contact programs@northernadaptedsports.ca for more information.
March 27th will see the first Thrash Metal Rock Opera to ever be performed in Prince George–Lheidli T’enneh, Space Race
Local/Regional acts Half Smoke & Puddy Waters (of Terrace) are set to play the Prince George Legion #43 on Saturday the 28th
More to come on Due North, your local source of news, updates, events, & information. Airing weekdays at 7am & 5pm on CFURadio 88.7FM / www.cfur.ca/listen-live.
Stay tuned to CFURadio 88.7FM & www.cfur.ca/listen-live for local news, updates, events, & information. Due North airs weekdays at 7am & 5pm.
- Ian Gregg, CFURadio 88.7FM, Due North News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Boomhauer has hot info for you
If you like locally grown veggies & produce, consider locally produced journalism from your friendly community-campus radio station
Check out our stories on FrequencyNews.ca
Podcast RSS url:
Join host Sara Jones as she plays her favorite music by local Canadian Artist while filing you in on all the local events that you can check out at Omineca Arts centre. Omineca Arts Centre is a local non profit community Art centre serving Prince George and surrounding areas. A safe space for creativity to flourish.
Hello, World!
Prince George’s Safe Streets Bylaw scrutinized by expert
A presentation and panel discussion was held March 12th 2026 at the House of Ancestors in downtown Prince George–Lheidli T’enneh, critiquing the city’s Safe Streets Bylaw. University of Toronto Scarborough’s Sociology Dept. Chair Dr. Joe Hermer took an interest in the subject in the bylaw after he was contacted by the BCAFN in 2021. At the event, he summarized his publicly available report, The Complaint is the Crime for the assembled crowd. He primarily spoke to five aspects of the research which included recommending an immediate moratorium on the enforcement of the bylaw’s open drug use section, identifying dubious criteria for enforcing various aspects of the bylaw, and encouraging better communication between bylaw enforcement and assorted outreach services or agencies during encounters.
Notably, a number of outreach, social-service, frontline, and municipal workers were in attendance alongside some elected municipal officials. CFURadio separately caught up with Dr. Hermer, Mayor Simon Yu, and Councillor Trudy Klassen for comment after the presentation, whereupon Dr. Hermer issued plainly:
The city has to start being honest or more frank. This is enforcement. It has impacts. It is a real law. It has to be followed lawfully. Let’s not get into vague sort of discussions around being education. Let’s take it for what it is. That’s law enforcement, and it has impacts. Let’s start the conversation there, instead of pretending it’s something else to obscure, potentially, a real critical discussion.
UNBC's 'Count Us In' Survey
You may have seen the email in your @UNBC inbox, or maybe a handbill or two on a table around campus advertising UNBC’s Count Us In Survey, open until April 1st (no joke). The data collected is intended to inform the further development of an equitable and inclusive environment for UNBC students, staff, and faculty.
This anonymous survey is the first of a series to be launched year over year. In this instance, various demographics are sought. The data is intended to help meet UNBC’s regulatory needs, and among other things, measure progress towards its institutional priorities.
Mindy Gobbi - Manager of UNBC’s office of Equity and Inclusion
UNBC’s office of Equity and Inclusion manager Mindy Gobbi spoke to CFUR about the survey so you can know more before taking the five minute plunge.
20260320 - Let's Talk Music - Episode #51
Tune into Let's Talk Music for some fun questions like favorite foods, silly movies I love and upcoming events, AND of course some Music!
Will Happily Ever After, or Happy For Now, do for this International Women’s Day?
On International Women’s Day 2026, an SFU Limited Term Lecturer Dr. Reema Faris visited Prince George–Lheidli T’enneh and hosted a discussion on the relationship between women, reading, and power at Books & Co. The discussion centred around her research, which in part, examines Happily-Ever-After and Happy-For-Now (HEA-HFN) narratives. She argues that an overwhelming presence of these narratives in media tends to influence our understanding of what a typical relationship is, creating expectations for ourselves and others.
In our March 8th conversation, Dr. Faris validated the choice to have a heterosexual marriage and a number of children, but highlighted that there are more just as valid options. While reading can offer different global perspectives, Dr. Faris noted that localized selections offer alternative perspectives too:
Have you read memoirs of folks who have immigrated to Northern BC? Have you read what it’s like for them? Because if you read what it’s like for them, it might open your eyes to things that you might have to address in your own community. It’s not just about looking elsewhere. It’s even understanding where we are in a particular moment. Let alone, as we talked about, the history that shaped the place that we occupy or that we live in.
Reading provides entertainment, but it also offers a window into local histories that could otherwise be unconsidered as we make choices that affect our communities and families. We asked Dr. Faris about what she feels we have access to in Northern BC that expands our understanding beyond current norms, as opposed to narrowing them. Dr. Faris extolled the opportunity post-secondary education provides saying, “Online learning is not the same as in-person learning. It works for some people. It doesn’t work for everybody.” She continued, “I think that if we believe in ‘better’ for Northern BC, or anywhere else in the world, it is tied to education.” She illustrated some concerns and noted, “I hope people will do what they can to ensure the health of the education sector here in Northern BC.”
- Ian Gregg, CFURadio 88.7FM, Due North News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
