North Island Gazette, March 26, 2015

Page 1

Gazette NORTH ISLAND

Publications Mail Agreement No. 391275

50th Year No. 13

March 26, 2015

www.northislandgazette.com

Newsstand $1.29 + GST

• Smoke...

Historical presentation of the good ol’ days. Page 4

• Peewee...

North Island Eagles Peewees finish second in province. Page 5 Emma Twamley photo

Port Alice PJ Party

The Village of Port Alice hosted a Spring Break PJ party March 13 at the Port Alice Community Centre. The event included skating, games and dancing. Getting into the spirit of the event were, from left to right, Taylor Spafford, Becca Stewart and Abby Roberts.

Port Alice coordinates with Ministry • Portugal...

Soccer plays selected to attend scouting camp in Portugal. Page 7 opiNioN Page 4 lEttErS Page 5 SportS Page 7-8 claSSifiEdS Page 9-11

By Kathy O’Reilly-Taylor Editor The closure of the Neucel Specialty Cellulose pulp mill in the Village of Port Alice is being felt across the Tri-port region. At the Regional District of Mount Waddington council meeting March 17, Port Alice Mayor Jan Allen said 400 employees will be impacted by the six-month shutdown. Of those, 198 are from Port Alice, 124 are from Port Hardy, 26 are from Port McNeill. The remainder are from down island, said Allen. As of last week, there were 11 union and 21 non-union staff still working at the plant, Allen said. There are currently two employees from BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training

from the Economic Development Division working on a transition plan for the community, Allen said. The Port Alice Worker Transition plan pulls together representatives from the Neucel pulp mill, Unifor Local 514, Service Canada, Work BC, North Island College and the Village of Port Alice. “This year we’ve included a representative from Community Futures,” said Allen. The group gathers via conference call and has had three calls so far. The purpose of the calls is to facilitate the exchange of information among all relevant stakeholders and ensure that services to impacted employees are coordinated and responsive, said Allen The facilitator is Carrie Dusterhoft who is

with the BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training. The Village of Port Alice is also looking at having an economic development study done. “It pulls together different employers on the North Island and introduces new aspects for tourism, new jobs and new businesses. “We’re looking into that right now,” she said. The study would cost between $40,000 and $50,000, however, the village is watching its spending closely right now. “Is there something we can do regionally to help Port Alice,” asked Town of Port McNeill Mayor Shirley Ackland. “When we have one of our little town’s having a tough time, we support them,” said District of Port Hardy Mayor Hank Bood.

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