A City on The Edge

Ep 144

A City on The Edge

Site C Uncertainty

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Fort St. John a town on edge. With all the talk about pausing or cancelling Site C no one is looking at the impact on the people who work on the project, the impact on the City and Not For Profit organizations.

Jamie Hartnell is a carpenter foreman at Site C, he loves his job. It’s long term, it’s good work and it allows him to go home to his family at night. If the project is cancelled he worries he will have to leave his hometown and look for work elsewhere. The official unemployment rate is the highest in the province at 10%, unofficially it’s higher. Hartnell says, “there won’t be another job like this in Fort St. John”

Mayor Ackerman says the City will lose more than $1 million dollars a year BC Hydro is committed to pay during construction. Not For Profit organizations will also be hit. Add in the downturn in oil and gas and Fort St. John is a City on the edge.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

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