Fort St. John honours Brian Surerus with top civic award

Fort St. John has awarded pipeline contractor Brian Surerus the freedom of the city, the municipality’s highest civic honour, recognizing his long career in building energy infrastructure and his support for local charities and organizations. Surerus began working in northeast British Columbia in the late 1960s after moving west from Ontario. He later founded Groundhog Enterprises and went on to build one of Canada’s largest independent pipeline companies, Surerus Pipeline Inc., which has worked on major projects including Coastal GasLink and the Trans Mountain expansion. Mayor Lilia Hansen presented the award on July 30, saying the Surerus family has contributed to arts groups, seniors’ programs, child development services and the food bank. Surerus said he has tried to give back to the community and remains optimistic about future energy work in the region.