Mayor Shane Brienen reported at the Sept. 5, 2017 District of Houston council meeting his attendance at the Aug. 29, 2017 Canfor update meeting in Prince George.
Topics discussed included how each community is doing, Canfor’s operations in each community, Canfor’s community involvement, B.C. forestry’s economic contribution, land use management, business update, softwood tariffs, wildfire issues, as well as future workforce and training.
“We also talked about the logs and how they are being farmed out further and further,” said Brienen.
At the economic development meeting, Brienen said that a topic of discussion was how to make new community members feel welcomed.
“There was talk about a welcome wagon. That is something that comes up again and again in communities,” said Brienen. “It doesn’t happen that much anymore. We are looking into something similar at the next meeting. Going forward we will split it that into a task force that each person will be responsible for.”
On Aug. 18, 2017 Brienen also attended the Northwest B.C. Resource Benefits Alliance via phone conference.
“It was an update on where we are at,” said Brienen. “Things are moving along good at this point. We have commitments from the province to further discuss revenue sharing at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference later this month.”
Brienen added, “This is without a doubt the biggest regional issue that northwest municipalities and regional districts are working on. It has the potential to make a positive impact on everyone who lives in the area for now and future generations.”