Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Dylana Milobar

B.C FORESTRY

Laid-off Vavenby mill workers exploring job prospects — including Trans Mountain pipeline

Jun 20, 2019 | 2:17 PM

CLEARWATER, B.C. — With 178 positions impacted by a mill closure in Vavenby, Canfor hosted a job fair in Clearwater yesterday for its employees.

The event was all part of an effort to guide worker’s paths to new job opportunities.

Many Canfor employees, like Gavin Alward, have been with the same company, in the same commmunity, for decades.

“I’ve been there for 25 years, and the prospect of looking for a new job is kind of nerve-wracking,” Alward explains. “It is kind of nice they’re (Canfor) having an opportunity where employers are coming out and saying they will hire some of the locals.”

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Vavenby’s closure is one of multiple mill shut downs announced this spring in B.C.

Robert Bowie is a logger who works with various mills in the area, including Canfor, and says he’d like to see government intervention.

“I think our provincial government could do sizably better than they are right now. I believe that they’re kind of missing the boat on this one completely,” Bowie says, “and province-wide I might add, not just here in Clearwater. You look at Quesnel, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake. The whole middle of the province has been hit.”

While Canfor declined media entry to the job fair, Interfor also made an appearance at the event to meet with Vavenby employees.

In a statement, Interfor tells CFJC Today it has 19 open positions right now, and almost half of those jobs are in B.C’s Interior.

Attending yesterday’s event, Canfor employee Justin Chrystall says he was relieved to hear that there is a chance for people to find a new job in the area.

“It’s nice to see that they have this here for opportunities for people. Kind of open their eyes and see what’s available. Because often times you’re in a mill situation and you’re kind of out of the limelight, especially someone that has worked for that long, or longer than I have. So yeah, it’s actually good.”

Adding to job prospects in the North Thompson is the recently approved Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell says the hope is that locals will be hired on for twinning construction.

“These people are skilled. They’re industrial workers. They understand this kind of work. Running an excavator or a fork lift is the same on an oil pipeline site as out in a mill, or on a logging road,” Blackwell says. “So these people have transferrable skills, and I can’t think of a better time for them to have something to do for hopefully the next two years, out there in the field.”

In the meantime, Vavenby and Clearwater’s workforce will fan out to find new employment before Canfor’s mill shuts its door in July.