Ft St James Says Town Could Become Another Tumbler Ridge

By 250 News

Residents of Ft. St. James say more than 500 people in that community are laid off or not working because of the crisis in the forest industry.

An Independent operator, Kevin Wilson said when you take 500 workers out of a community of 3500 people, there is nothing left.

He was part of group of 100 people gathered at the round table meeting in Vanderhoof, to protest the fact that the meetings are being held in camera. We were promised a meeting in the Fort said Kevin Johnson who says he lost his business, after buying a new truck in 2007 and then to find out 3 months later that he was no longer employed. I feel like it is no longer any good to own your own equipment. I have been a Stewart Lake lumber hauler for 32 years and that’s now all over.

What bugs me says Johnson is the fact that 2 to 300 truckloads of logs go through the community of Ft St  James every day heading for the super mills and places like Dunkley. It’s 160 miles to get to Dunkley and the government is saying we have to reduce green house gas, how does that do it.

Winson Cheung who organized the rally, says if it keeps going like it is, Ft St James will be like Tumbler Ridge, for example he said we used to have two grocery stores now we have just one, so they can charge whatever they want. Cheung said 80% of the people on hand at today’s rally are laid off workers from Pope  & Talbot.  

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