Editor:
This is a tough time for our community. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the closure of paper production operations at the Howe Sound mill. This is a tremendous loss for our entire community and with about 180 employees without jobs, a third of the mill’s workforce, this will have a real negative impact on our local economy and will affect the health of our community.
I met yesterday morning with Local 1119 president Don Rheaume and employees affected by the sudden layoffs. This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about real lives, working families, community connections and good living wages that are not easily replaced. It’s about the young couple I met with two kids who moved here several years ago to work at the mill – an active family engaged in the community now both without jobs. They told me they would most likely be selling their home and moving from the Coast in search of employment.
What can be done? There must be other products these paper machines can make. We need to sit down with workers and companies and stakeholders to revitalize the forest industry and find ways to keep good paying jobs in our community. Let’s work together and find solutions.
Larry Koopman, Gibsons
