Haisla Nation Chief Ellis Ross gets it right

[grammafreddy]

http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/105416/ ... -boom-jobs

"Back in 2004, when the first gas company came to us, we, as a council were basically broke," Ross said. "We had no initiatives on the table and we had no prospects. We had nothing. As far as I could see, every commercial development had failed."

He said his council sought out economic development and embraced plans to generate an attitude adjustment for village residents.

"We started to think how to get people off welfare," Ross said. "How to start building a better life for our members. How do we get them to think about independence and how do we get them to start to think about careers. It was out of that where we came to today where everybody's working."

He said anybody in Kitamaat Village who wants to work will be hired, but most of the current work consists of short-term labour or service jobs connected to the construction camps.

"If you really want a job, you can get a job," Ross said. "I'm talking to some of my membership people who have criminal pasts, who are getting jobs. I have one friend who basically has a long criminal record, and he got hired."

But Ross and his council want more than temporary jobs. He said his council has formed an economic development committee to reach out to industry, governments and institutions to set policy and goals to ensure locals are trained to benefit most from the coming energy development.

"I haven't seen anybody getting hold of this at all and that's why I want to actually try and lead this," he said. "Maybe we're the only ones who can actually pull everyone together into one room. If we don't get enough people trained for this, those companies are going to have no choice but to look outside of the region, outside of the province, outside of the country. We need a bigger strategy."

A shortage of skilled workers is often cited by energy industry analysts as one potential obstacle to full-scale oil and gas development in BC, which Premier Christy Clark says is a potential trillion-dollar opportunity that could create up to 100,000 jobs.

Ross said he doesn't want the companies coming to Kitimat to be forced to import its workforce.

"We've got to put together training for these people," he said. "We've got to do it in combination with the companies as well as the provincial and federal government. I don't care if you're government. I don't care if you're private or public. Let's get to the table and see if we can all work together providing the long-term employment training needs."

Hurray for Haisla Nation Chief Ellis Ross!

[hobbyguy]

He gets it right in more ways that one:http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/06/haisla-nation-northern-gateway-chief-enbridge_n_2251468.html

"The Haisla Nation in B.C. is reiterating its opposition to the Northern Gateway after the band pulled out of a group opposed to the Enbridge pipeline.

In response to a Globe and Mail story, Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Ellis Ross said Thursday that his band remains opposed to the pipeline and the consultation process that surrounds it.

"It's a fraud process," he said of the Joint Review Panel, which is hearing from the public and assessing the project's environmental impact."

He wants LNG, but not the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Not anti-development, but anti stupid development.

[rvrepairnut]

He gets it right in more ways that one:http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/06/haisla-nation-northern-gateway-chief-enbridge_n_2251468.html

"The Haisla Nation in B.C. is reiterating its opposition to the Northern Gateway after the band pulled out of a group opposed to the Enbridge pipeline.

In response to a Globe and Mail story, Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Ellis Ross said Thursday that his band remains opposed to the pipeline and the consultation process that surrounds it.

"It's a fraud process," he said of the Joint Review Panel, which is hearing from the public and assessing the project's environmental impact."

He wants LNG, but not the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Not anti-development, but anti stupid development.

NO he wants everything his way or no way He is anti development unless hes included.hes an idiot talking like he is
He talks with forked tongue in my opinion

[grammafreddy]

I like his way better than any other way I have heard. Read the OP again and follow the link - jobs, not boom and bust jobs but sustainable jobs with industry and government training. Jobs that are not sourced out of the Kitimat area or BC. Yes, jobs for his people but also jobs for the rest of us. How many jobs did CC say this would bring to the province?

A shortage of skilled workers is often cited by energy industry analysts as one potential obstacle to full-scale oil and gas development in BC, which Premier Christy Clark says is a potential trillion-dollar opportunity that could create up to 100,000 jobs.

Ross said he doesn't want the companies coming to Kitimat to be forced to import its workforce.

How about "none"? - let's not bring anybody - let's train and employ the workers we already have here.

"We started to think how to get people off welfare," Ross said. "How to start building a better life for our members. How do we get them to think about independence and how do we get them to start to think about careers. It was out of that where we came to today where everybody's working."

"We've got to put together training for these people," he said. "We've got to do it in combination with the companies as well as the provincial and federal government. I don't care if you're government. I don't care if you're private or public. Let's get to the table and see if we can all work together providing the long-term employment training needs."

That's just smart thinking - looking long range and working to make sure these jobs last for the people of Kitimat and the rest of BC - no outsider jobs - train locals and provincials first.

http://northerninsights.blogspot.ca/

British Columbia's provincial government is not interested in creation of jobs for ordinary citizens. It aims to advance the interests of a much more select group of citizens. As noted in comments below, the Washington Group is not working to train tradespeople to build ships, its Seapan division is in England looking to recruit foreign workers. None of us should be surprised.

How many BC workers will get sustainable long term jobs doing it that way??? Haisla Nation Chief Ellis Ross is smarter than CC and all our elected politicians. Much, much smarter.

[maryjane48]

NO he wants everything his way or no way He is anti development unless hes included.hes an idiot talking like he is
He talks with forked tongue in my opinion

more racial slurs how intelligent

[the truth]

since when is the truth a racial slur..wait never mind