Politicians listen to concerns in Burns Lake

The struggling village of Burns Lake held a jobs fair Friday, its first since an explosion and fire last month destroyed the community’s main employer and left two local men dead.

“The tone that was set, as people came through and were wondering what was going to happen in the future, was very, very encouraging,” said John Rustad, Liberal MLA for Nechako Lakes, who attended the event along with Pat Bell, minister of jobs, tourism and innovation.

Bell agreed, telling reporters in a late- afternoon telephone call that he was encouraged to see 25 companies in attendance.

“By our count, there were 1,307 jobs available. We went around and spoke to each of the individual groups that were there offering positions and [ found] a real broad variety of different jobs — ranging from labourers, which were by far and away largest single chunk, to management positions and many skilled trades positions, as well,” he said.

An estimated 400 people came out to the fair looking for positions — many of them workers displaced when the Babine Forest Products sawmill shut down as a result of a devastating Jan. 20 fire.

The sawmill, which is majority owned by Portland, Ore.- based Hampton Affiliates, provided about 250 direct jobs to the community of 3,600. Hundreds more area residents also relied on the sawmill for contract work.

Bell and Rustad were in Burns Lake Friday to talk with community leaders, including those representing the village and area’s First Nations communities, about the potential for economic recovery.

Hampton Affiliates has yet to say whether it intends to rebuild the sawmill.

Timber supply is a big part of that decision, and whether the volume of available lumber in the region is enough to warrant the estimated $ 80 million cost of rebuilding.

The province has given the okay for a timber- supply analysis to be conducted to help answer that question, with recommendations expected to be brought forward in six to eight weeks.