B.C. town unable to recover from lengthy forestry strike amid COVID-19

PORT MCNEILL (NEWS 1130) – First – it was an eight-month-long strike that affected their forestry workers.

And now COVID-19.

It’s been nearly a solid year of bad news for B.C. towns that were just emerging from a lengthy strike at Western Forest Products. The strike lasted from July 1 to mid-February and affected thousands of workers.

“This may very well be the end for them,” explains Port McNeill Mayor Gaby Wickstrom, referring to the town’s small businesses.

Wickstrom was one of a handful of civic leaders who pushed for an end to the strike, only to see businesses close because of the pandemic.

“You hear provincially of businesses saying they don’t know how they’re going to survive this. So, when you factor in a seven-month-long strike, it’s really difficult. They have nothing to fall back on.”

Fortunately, a one-week shut down of Western Forest Products in March had no impact on Port McNeill, as the production curtailment only affected mills. Company employees in Port McNeil work on the harvesting side of the industry.

Plus, the town’s gravel pit, operated by Polaris Materials, has been deemed an essential service.

However, other industries such as the hospitality and retail sectors are shuttered.

“When you factor in the fisheries closures that we had last year, for some businesses this is a trifecta of bad news. In our tourism industry, we are not encouraging people to come. We are asking them to stay home.”

She stresses each of the towns in the area, including Alert Bay, and Port Hardy have small hospitals with one ventilator each, and serious cases would need to be moved to Nanaimo.

During the strike, Wickstrom was quick to point out how the community rallied to offer meals, groceries, and toys to striking families. But this is different.

“Because you can’t get together. You can’t give that shop-owner, or a neighbour or a friend a hug with self-isolation and social-distancing. It’s very odd.”

But she’s proud of residents like Megan Hanacek, who rose to fame as a competitor on the TV series “Alone,” which has filmed on northern Vancouver Island. Hanacek is now behind a daily challenge conducted on Facebook. Families are encouraged to fulfill a task and post a video of it, or to nominate a local essential worker. Their names get put into a draw for gift certificates, donated by generous residents.

“Every day it’s something to look forward to and you can see what else people are doing.”

An outbreak has been identified just a few kilometres away – at Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island, east of Port McNeill.

A 59-year-old woman, a member of the ‘Namgis First Nation, fell victim to COVID-19 — the first member of a B.C. First Nation community to die of the virus. The mayor of Alert Bay has also tested positive and is one of a number of cases in a cluster of cases on the island. Alert Bay is under a state of emergency and residents have to abide by a curfew between 9:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

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