Dear Sir:
In response to Kym Guno's letter of Sept. 26, 2012, in which she wonders about work being offered to local people from large companies, I would like to agree and add more to her point of view.
Last winter I noticed a call of interest by Valard for workers in this area to be trained in tower construction in Alberta.
I applied for one of those positions and considering my education and work history with a company Valard would easily recognize, one would think it would have been natural for Valard to employ me.
That did not happen and I was never offered an interview.
In any case, a group was hired, and had to work in extremely cold conditions. It seems like Valard will only hire locals when their regular crews would not accept colder and more dangerous conditions.
Not a single person become employed as of yet and during my time with my previous employers this year, I failed to notice any of that crew working.
All I can say is it looks like how the railroad was constructed in BC in the late 1880s. By making work available during the coldest periods of the year, the company in effect is saying, "we hired you to do the very dangerous work." I would call that watered down covert racism at best.
Lorne Williams,
Terrace, BC