Re: ‘Job possibilities applauded’, Feb. 5 edition of The NEWS.
Dashwood Fire Chief Nick Acciavatti wants what everyone else wants: good paying jobs on Vancouver Island.
Like Acciavatti, the loss of friends and family to far-away locations for better-paying jobs weighs heavy on people in communities across Canada, thanks to the exporting of jobs to China that used to be in their own backyard.
The reality about Raven Coal’s mining jobs is that the environmental assessment process was triggered due to Raven Coal admitting there would be harmful alteration, disruption or destruction (HADD) of fisheries habitat in Cowie Creek.
Cowie Creek leads from the proposed mine site to the ocean, directly where there is a century-old, sustainable $30m a year shellfish industry that employs over 600 local residents, who don’t want to join Acciavatti’s friends and family for jobs far way. And especially not for a temporary coal mine with a 16-year life span that will most likely employ foreign workers who know how to mine the room-and-pillar method, just as foreign workers do for other coal mines in B.C.
It’s doubtful Raven Coal is an answer to keeping families together and people here. If anything, Raven Coal would likely contribute to sending people away to look for jobs, especially those living close to the mine, like the shellfish industry employees.
Stacey Gaiga, Coal Free AlberniPort Alberni