New jobs for Tignish
Catch Certification office expansion will bring $450,000 in annual wages to West Prince town
Eleven new federal jobs are coming to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Catch Certification Office in Tignish.
Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey made the announcement Friday in the Tignish Initiatives boardroom, one floor up from where the economic development corporation provides space for DFO’s current mix of 15 indeterminate, casual and term positions.
Anne Arsenault, executive director of Tignish Initiatives, said her corporation has space available for the additional staff. She expects renovations to begin soon to accommodate the six new full-time and five seasonal positions.
“It’s not easy when you live in a rural area to keep something like this or even to make it grow at the federal level,” said Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry.
Eleven jobs, said Perry, might not seem like a lot in a large urban centre, he added, bit “for a small rural area, like Tignish, it’s huge. It’s a positive impact on our community, economically.”
“We all deserve a piece of the pie,” said Morrissey in acknowledging the importance to grow federal jobs in rural areas.
He said the 11 new jobs will bring about $450,000 in new wages to Tignish. He also acknowledged his federal predecessor, former Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, for bringing the Catch Certification Program Office to Tignish in the first place in 2011.
Friday’s announcement was also an opportunity to reflect on the impact Tignish Initiatives has had on economic development in Tignish and area, including the Wind Energy Interpretative Centre at North Cape, Heritage Inn and Gardens in Tignish and, of course, the Dalton Centre annex which houses the Catch Certification and several other services, including a cultural centre, library and Tignish Initiatives offices.