Innovation Minister Allen Roach promised a comprehensive plan to help the laid-off workers of the Ocean Choice plant in Souris, but on Friday Roach confirmed that plan consists solely of a job fair.
Over 300 workers in Eastern Kings were thrown out of work last April when the Newfoundland-based seafood processing plant Ocean Choice International announced it was shutting down its Souris plant.
The province did step in initially to help workers find temporary employment while hopes remained the plant would eventually reopen.
Then last week, Roach told The Guardian he has received no indication Ocean Choice will ever reopen.
But Roach said his department has been working on a ‘comprehensive plan’ to help the laid-off OCI workers that would include training and employment opportunities.
On Friday, Roach told The Guardian that plan is to bring a job fair organized by Skills P.E.I. to Souris. Representatives from seafood processing companies in other areas of the province will take part to showcase employment opportunities they have in the coming months.
“The job fair that’s going on in Souris I think is absolutely, directly on the mark to help the workers,” Roach said.
Workers told him they want to continue working in the same field and this job fair is offering them just that.
“We have fish plant workers being basically recruited by fish plant processers, so we’re trying to help get those people get back into the exact same employment as they had with Ocean Choice,” Roach said.
“I think we’re doing exactly what we said we were going to do… that’s the plan.”
But Opposition MLA Colin LaVie, who lives in and represents the Souris-Elmira district, says this is not the comprehensive plan the former employees were expecting.
“The people in Souris, they were expecting one of our two plants to reopen,” LaVie said.
“We’ve got two fish plants here, so why not work with one of the two fish plants and come up with a plan?”
The P.E.I. government is far from being in any negotiations with Ocean Choice, however. The province launched a lawsuit against the company a few months after it closed the Souris plant, seeking nearly $10 million in damages. Government alleges Ocean Choice failed to make its minimum annual payments of $750,000 in 2010 and again in 2011.
Ocean Choice then launched a counter-suit against the P.E.I. government for more than $19 million, saying it "secretly provided" financial aid to its competitors, which breaks an agreement signed in 2004.
Opposition Leader Olive Crane is calling on government to drop its suit and try to go to mediation with OCI.
As long as the province is in court with Ocean Choice, no long-term resolution can be found for the workers and the community.
“When someone decides to sue someone, it’s sending out a message that there’s a problem, no matter who’s right or wrong,” Crane said.
“For me it’s so important rather than the energy of government and taxpayers dollars being spent fighting a battle for five years, they need to sit down with a mediator. Quite frankly the Eastern Kings economy cannot survive without something being done yesterday.”
LaVie said the workers will be disappointed government’s big plan for them is merely to offer them jobs in other areas of the province.
“We want job creation in Eastern Kings. They’re not creating jobs, they’re just relocating jobs.”
These people who work in plants are hard workers. Do not disrespect them. I do not know many with cushie Goverment jobs that could last a day or even a week at what they do. Also I would like to know the amount of Goverment jobs on PEI? Talking about subsidized.... How many waste of tax payer jobs does the Goverment issue out with pensions. Would Tim Banks even employ as many as he does without Gov contracts???? This is just the same thing as them getting EI....