Shirley Bond, the provincial minister of jobs, tourism and skills training, talked about layoffs at Howe Sound Pulp and Paper and frustrations with BC Ferries during her breakfast meeting with the Sechelt and District Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 9.
“I am the first person to recognize how you’ve been impacted in your region recently, when you see a pulp mill that has to readjust its workforce,” Bond told Chamber members.
“I went back and I looked at the reasons and the thinking around that, and you know what? People just aren’t using those products as much anymore.”
She said her ministry has been trying to help workers laid off by Howe Sound Pulp and Paper find new jobs.
“When something happens like that I put in place a team, a rapid response team that brings together people from across government ministries to be on the ground as quickly as possible. And in fact we’ve been engaged since July in particular on the ground, meeting with employees, working to support them in terms of transition,” Bond said, adding there was going to be a job fair for laid off workers on Nov. 20 on the Coast.“We want to be on the ground beside those families, supporting them and helping them as they work their way through those challenges.”
Another challenge for Sunshine Coast residents that Bond brought up was BC Ferries.
“I understand the challenges with BC Ferries and I know that is a passionate and challenging issue for you, and I do think that there’s merit in the fixed link concept. Who knows? We might as well ask those questions,” Bond, a former transportation minister, said.
“I can say to you, though, that again in that same role as a former minister of transportation we had to do something to get BC Ferries on a sustainable set of parameters, and believe me, as I was sitting on the ferry the other day I was thinking about all of you and what that feels like when you’re concerned about the cost and the frequency – all of those types of things – and I understand how you feel that is your link.”
She said that the government has heard many concerns around BC Ferries from citizens and local governments on the Coast to date, but that she felt it was “a dialogue that should continue.”
“I wish that was an easier discussion. It’s not,” she said.
