Quesnel receives Community Transition $$$

Courtesy of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition:

The Chair of the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition (CCBAC) today presented the Mayor of Quesnel, Mary Sjostrom, with a cheque for $50,000. The money will assist the City of Quesnel with unanticipated community transition expenses brought on by the permanent closure of the Canfor mill in March 2014. The announcement means the loss of several hundred sawmill and forest harvesting and hauling jobs. The funding comes from the newly created Community Transition Assistance Account established by the CCBAC Board of Directors last month. The CCBAC has set aside $300,000 in this account.

CCBAC Chair, Chad Mernett who is a Cariboo Regional District Director for the Alexis Creek area (Electoral Area 'K'), stated “the CCBAC Board unanimously approved the request by the City of Quesnel for community transition funding. Quesnel’s request met the two requirements of the new fund. Those are that a community in the CCBAC region experience the announcement of a permanent closure of a sawmill, and that the closure is directly attributed to mountain pine beetle impacts. In making its announcement Canfor cited the declining timber supply in the Quesnel area due to impacts from the mountain pine beetle epidemic. The CCBAC Board is pleased to contribute these funds to assist Quesnel with its community transition initiatives. This new program meets the CCBAC strategic objective of helping sustain communities in the Cariboo Chilcotin impacted by the mountain pine beetle epidemic. The announcement of a permanent closure of a sawmill is devastating enough for a community without the additional burden of finding additional resources to help with transition planning. CCBAC was established in 2005 in part, to assist communities in the region during times like this and our Board was quick to respond to Quesnel’s request.”

Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom said “This money will assist with the challenges in responding to the Canfor mill closure. A community never budgets for situations like the closure of a sawmill and CCBAC’s support of our request for assistance from the Community Transition Assistance Account is greatly appreciated. Our City Council, staff and the community will support the affected families and do everything possible to assist the groups and agencies working with those affected by the mill closure. We applaud the provincial government for making funds available to support CCBAC to help sustain communities in the Cariboo and Chilcotin as they respond to the impacts of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.”