Northeast B.C. is ‘one big family’ supporting Tumbler Ridge, says district chair

What happens in one community in northeast B.C. is always felt by all, says Peace River Regional District chair Brad Sperling.

So when eight people were killed in a mass shooting last week in Tumbler Ridge, Sperling says the sense of devastation and grief extended far beyond the municipality of 2,400 people.

"This district has always stood together. And what happens in one place affects us all regardless of what it is," he said. "We just seem to be one big family up in the northeast."

There's been an outpouring of support across the country, but Sperling says you can tell how close everyone is in the Peace by looking at what's being said and done locally.

When Tumbler Ridge held a vigil last Friday, people from surrounding communities travelled there to pay their respects.

Reg Whiten, who came from Moberly Lake to attend, says he feels northeast B.C. embodies what Canada is: "Kanata," the Huron-Iroquois word for village.

"That's who we are as a people," he said.

"The Peace has got this special quality that you can feel it. It's hard to describe it, but it's just something about the reverence for life and people and space and self-determination."

Fort St. John RCMP held a barbeque fundraiser on Saturday, collecting more than $10,000 for those affected by the shooting.

Sgt. Ian Rissanen moved to the Peace nearly two decades ago, and will be filling in this week for Tumbler Ridge officers who are emotionally and mentally recovering.

He says the best part about living in northeast B.C. is how much people care for one another.

"When I came up here, it kind of blew me away how community-minded everyone is," he said. "If you can weather the winter, then you're probably in one of the best spots in B.C."

Tumbler Ridge was forged in the early 1980s as one of the last planned resource towns in British Columbia, based on a coal industry that soon after began to struggle.

It endured that slowing of industry, though. Dinosaur fossils were discovered in the area, it was recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015, and people began to visit for its natural beauty.