Temporary Foreign Workers at the LNG Canada project in Kitimat will not be in the numbers as reported by Les Leyne on Friday in the Prince George Citizen.
In fact, LNG Canada estimates that workers from outside Canada will comprise less than five per cent.
Put another way, fully 95 per cent of the workforce will be Canadian.
These estimates were released last summer in briefing notes to the NDP government from LNG Canada from March 2018.
LNG Canada responded Wednesday to the belated "April Fool's" brouhaha raised by Liberal Mike de Jong in a short and clear statement.
"We do not expect to use Temporary Foreign Workers and if required only at peak construction and in specialized trades," said Susannah Pierce, director of corporate affairs, LNG Canada.
For the record, here are the workforce requirements for the project.
The project will be built over six years.
At no single point in time will the Kitimat terminal facility construction require 10,000 construction workers.
At peak construction, the project will require approximately 4,500 construction workers.
Approximately 25 per cent will be labourers.
23 per cent will be plumbers/pipefitters/gasfitters.
27 per cent will be made up from welders carpenters/scaffolders, sheet metal workers crane operators concrete finishers, electricians, cryogenic insulators and other trades.
An important component of the LNG Canada project is that LNG Canada is committed to hiring 25 per cent apprentices for the apprenticeable trades.
We anticipate that most of the skilled (Red Seal) trades will be available from B.C.
When the LNG Canada project begins construction, workers who are currently working in non-industrial construction (primarily residential) will likely move to the higher salaries paid for industrial work.
It's ironic the Liberals are attacking the NDP over TFWs
It was Gordon Campbell's Liberals who imported and exploited 35 TFWs from Costa Rica to build the Canada Line.
That project oversaw the hiring of TFWs to excavate the tunnel at less than $4 per hour. The use of 80 Eastern European TFWs on the Golden Ears Bridge was horrific as well; again, under the watch of the previous Liberal administration.
In 2016, the Liberal government acquiesced to 40 per cent initial TFW labour to build an LNG facility in Prince Rupert, which could have peaked at 70 per cent TFWs.
That proposed project was subsequently cancelled due to LNG prices.
Tom Sigurdson
Executive Director
BC Building Trades
New Westminster
