Burns Lake is not alone in confronting sudden economic disaster.
It is one thing if a town eventually stumbles into obscurity due to changes of economy over time. It is one thing when a town folds after it's mine runs out of metal or its well runs out of oil. These are expected and more or less calculated.
But many small towns in B.C. got sucker-punched in recent years, and they have stories to tell. Barriere's mill and other structures burned in a 2003 forest fire; Kitimat had major employers close or curtail operations, most notably the Eurocan Pulp Mill; Mackenzie lost a total of about 1,600 forestry jobs during the global economic crash of 2008-09; even Alberta's Slave Lake forest fire last spring plays a teaching role now, since the fatal Babine Forest Products explosion on Jan. 20 changed life in the Lakes District forever.
Lori Henderson has been on the front lines of economic recovery in a number of these communities. She works for Prince George MLA Pat Bell's Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation. She was sent in almost immediately following the blast to work with Burns Lake's community leaders on ways to survive the fiscal body blow and emerge stronger in time. The millions announced this week for the construction of a community recreation centre - a long-term economic generator and attraction/retention tool - would have been talked about at Henderson's table.
"Previous experience has been very key," she said. "In order for the province, and for me in my role, to bring support to communities, there needs to be knowledge of best practices and what has worked in other situations. I don't consider myself an expert, and it is difficult to be an expert in this, but I have worked with other communities who have gone through major industrial closures and with Burns Lake there is an additional circumstance that there was injury and death involved that impacts the overall situation, but the economic part of the transition has similarities to past situations."
Henderson said the community had to be the leader in its own recovery planning. She was not telling Burns Lake mayor and council anything about how to survive, she was taking their direction about what the town now needs in the immediate, short and long terms to continue being the capital of the Lakes District.
"No balls have been dropped by the provincial government. We have been very pleased with those connections," said Burns Lake mayor Luke Strimbold. "We have been so thankful for who they brought to us and what they have done and I don't think that is going to end any time soon. We had a whole list of things we needed help with, and Minister Bell told us that the process we went through to get prepared and make our list of needs - that really helped them direct their resources to the most important places."
Henderson concurred.
"Each area needs its champions on the ground," she said. "That leadership is key. It is all a collective and a collaborative effort, but having that vision and the communication is essential. There is a new reality being developed, and communities themselves have to be the ones co-ordinating what that new reality will be. It is certainly not just a government response."
The government's response has been large, however. On the provincial side, Henderson only one resource made available to the Lakes District. So too is Bob Clark, the former chief forester in charge of mountain pine beetle infestation. In all, more than 10 different ministries have had involvement with the blast and its aftermath, plus the provincial agencies investigating it.
Then there is the federal government. Strimbold said the area's MP, Nathan Cullen, was in frequent and constant contact over the blast, and has done his best to motivate the federal players on the one issue most contentious among the affected workers: the slow, clumsy and sometimes unforgiving process of Employment Insurance. The Burns Lake mayor stressed, however, that much was done by the region's EI staff to expedite the process early.
Henderson said the town of Mackenzie was a great example of a district that did the right things themselves and motivated the provincial government to act as well, to get to a much better economic reality. She hopes Burns Lake's experience will also add to the knowledge base of success for when the next small B.C. town inevitably faces a sudden crisis of its own.
