Number of out-of-B.C. workers isn’t concrete: BC Hydro

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The BC Building Trades Council has brought hiring for BC Hydro’s Site C project back into the spotlight when a freedom of information request revealed that only 65 per cent of workers on Site C in November were from B.C.

Executive Director Tom Sigurdson stated in a press release send out on Wednesday that the early figures prove the public’s concern that BC workers are not being given the priority they deserve on this project.

However, BC Hydro spokesperson Dave Conway says the number BC Building Trades has obtained isn’t set in stone.

In fact, he says, about 82 per cent of workers on the project were from B.C. in August, and the number over the lifetime of Site C work so far averages out to around 70 per cent – and what kind of work is beginning and finishing also plays a pivotal role in the number.

But, Conway maintains, the province’s power utility is taking every measure it can to ensure local workers are a priority for employment on Site C.

More than 5,000 people attended job fairs in Northern B.C. earlier this year, from Prince George to Fort Nelson.