Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and MLA for Chilliwack John Les spoke to regional chamber members, local businesses and community organizations in Grand Forks recently.
He spoke about job creation and development at the Community Futures office on Sept. 13.
“What I hear from folks in Grand Forks is that the local economy is struggling and there are great opportunities at the same time,” said Les. “One gentleman earlier today was telling me how 100 years ago, this was a great agricultural producing area and even 50 years ago, there was a lot of agriculture and production here.
“To me that sounds like an opportunity; if it was then, it can be now. We just have to find what the Grand Forks place is. Agricultural production that will open up avenues, so that’s one area.”
With a history tied to the forest industry and farming, Grand Forks continues to grow. Additions including the new Trans Canada Trail and updates to the infrastructure reveal a town ready to boom once again.
Aside from agriculture, Les said it was also important to keep people within the community, especially the younger generation.
“We need to provide services to younger people, like Internet connectivity, broadband access that is second-to-none because it’s really key to provide education and also for professionals to stay connected to their professional worlds,” he added.
One of the participants in the meeting mentioned that residents need to find a method locally to connect globally.
As of Aug. 31, the B.C. government has sought to provide additional funding towards Job Options B.C. training programs.
The $4.3 million in funding will aid people in small, rural communities by providing training programs that will help in life skills, job searching and short-term training.
On the other hand, the referendum to remove the HST will affect everybody differently pending on the size of the business to what type of business.
Les stated the since the HST is no longer viable in B.C., the film industry here will be affected by its ability to provide benefits to producers and directors. When the HST was cut, Les was in Ontario and he saw how everyone was excited for the future prospect of the film industry booming in Ontario.
“There are businesses that had a huge impact for the good with the removal of HST and there were some that were negatively impacted by the HST; restaurants, hair cuts, those sorts of things,” stated Les.
“Obviously, those people who run a hair salon will say that going back to the PST will be better for them and their customers, I understand that. But there are a lot of businesses, farmers for example, are not very happy about it because the HST was helpful for them.”
Future initiatives include the completion of the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, also known as the New West Partnership, that will allow mutual recognition of professional classifications like teachers, nurses, doctors and engineers.
“So if you’re a massage therapist in Edmonton, you’ll be recognized when you enter B.C.,” Les said.
“You have to have mutually- agreed-upon standards to agree upon such things. For goodness sakes, what’s all this about we’re in Canada, but if you’re a nurse in British Columbia, you can’t practice in Saskatchewan?”
The agreement only involves B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.