Shut down
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JUST WHEN you think the area can’t take anymore hits, the closure of Eurocan’s mill in Kitimat is announced.
While not all of the 535 workers are from Terrace, quite a few of them are. These are people who pay taxes, contribute to the community, and have built their families here.
A lot of people live in this area or move here because the cost of living is low and they love the lifestyle it offers, and it would be a great loss if these people moved out.
Eurocan workers come here and throughout the region for services and shopping too. So what’s going to happen to the northwest now?
The situation could easily mirror the decline in the forest industry here, when families packed up and moved out in search of work. What’s to stop this migration?
When hundreds of jobs can be taken away in one sweep, in an industry that continues to decline in this region, perhaps now is the time for the northwest to reinvent itself.
Diversifying industry is one way, but there will come a time when the now-plentiful resources will dry up, and we’ll be right back in the same situation.
There are people working on innovative ways to market our resources and create employment, and these are the people who need to be supported now more than ever.
In this sense, the northwest has a window of opportunity to become the face of the future.
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