You only turn half a century once.
In celebration of the Vancouver Canucks 50th, two back-to-back games are being held this weekend in Smithers.
The first game was at the Civic Centre on Feb. 29 beginning at 6 p.m., while an outdoor game on Tyhee Lake was on Sunday at noon.
Speaking to The Interior News Jon Hulstein, editor of BullMarketRun.com said the event was the result of plans made last summer between Vancouver Canucks Alumni Association (VCAA) vice president Dave Babych and a number of exploration companies within the Province.
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He added that all net proceeds from the event will go towards the Smithers Minor Hockey Association (SMHA).
“We thought … what’s more Canadian than hockey and our resource sector? So why not kind of tie the two together a little bit and also help support a local community?”
Hulstein added that the event would likely have not been possible without the initial sponsorship of a number of Canadian resource companies, almost all of them from within the Province.
According to Hulstein, while the VCAA was keen to host the event, they wanted a certain amount of the funds required to run it accounted for before proceeding.
Several junior exploration companies stepped up to the plate … and said, OK, yeah we see that this would be a tremendous event to do, we will put the money up front and make it happen.”
That includes the primary sponsor Sassy Resources as well as Garibaldi Resources, Metallis Resources, Etruscus Resources, Canada Cobalt Works and Hulstein’s own BullMarketRun.com
Hulstein said Smithers ending up ticking off all the boxes that sponsors and event organizers were looking for.
“Smithers won out, I think, in part because this is such a vibrant community that really rallies behind good causes,” he said, adding that being able to partner with the Smithers Celebrity Golf Tournament’s [SCGT] events committee was also a big draw in choosing the town to host the event.
Hulstein said it’s events like this that are a great example of how resource companies can support the communities they are local to in more than just economic ways, adding that the local resource sector is not exactly booming and that dollars can be hard to come by.
He added that Canada is the best country in the world when it comes to resource extraction but that recent events have caused division among Canadians regarding the topic.
“We’re seeing some pretty scary things across the country with anarchists and ecoterrorists [holding] the Canadian economy hostage,” he said.
“We’re the best in the world at resource extraction with the highest labour and environmental standards in the world and we should be celebrating.”