Prospective workers outweigh protesters, claims pipeline company rep
The company behind a controversial gas pipeline project in Northern B.C. says, despite high profile opposition, the project has the support of many local workers.
Coastal GasLink has been holding a series of job fairs and networking events this year in northern towns and Indigenous communities to connect job seekers with contractors involved in the pipeline's construction.
Communications advisor Suzanne Wilton said the company is focusing on a 'local first' recruitment policy and there have been thousands of face-to-face meetings with prospective workers, some of whom have received job offers on the spot.
"It's like speed dating for business," she said.
High profile protests
The gas pipeline, which will run through Wet'suwet'en territory to LNG Canada's planned $40-billion export facility near Kitimat has been the site of protests and arrests in recent months.
TransCanada-owned Coastal GasLink is in court on Wednesday for injunction hearings against hereditary chiefs with the Wet'suwet'en First Nation and members of the Unistoten Camp who have tried to stop its staff from accessing worksites.
Protesters have gained support on social media and even from celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio.
'Local first' hiring plan
The company is trying to improve its relationship with Indigenous communities, said public affairs manager Kyle Giddens.
Coastal GasLink has announced $620 million of the pipeline project budget will go to contracts for Indigenous companies, and the company has a team dedicated to hiring Indigenous and local workers
"We're going to continue to work locally to find solutions that will work for the hereditary system but also for the community members that really can benefit from this project, as well as through jobs and contracting opportunities," he said.
Giddens said the pipeline project will create 2,500 jobs over the planned four years of construction.
One of those jobs went to Judy Desjarlais's sister-in-law, who was recruited at the Prince Rupert event.
Desjarlais from the Blueberry River First Nations owns a company that clears land for pipeline construction.
She came to the event to scout work opportunities and said it was worth the trip.
"I very much appreciated that TransCanada and Coastal GasLink have done their due diligence with First Nations and it puts back into our community ... it's time to start building," she said.
Listen to the CBCs Andrew Kurjata speaking to organizers and attendees at the Prince Rupert job fair here:
