Editor, The Times:
Trans Mountain has been part of the community in Clearwater for more than 65 years. As the home of our North Thompson office, and with a number of operational facilities in the region, many of our team members live and work in the community.
Trans Mountain is also committed to providing benefits through the Expansion Project. On top of the nearly $900,000 annually we will pay in local taxes after expansion, we announced a community benefits agreement in 2015 with the District of Clearwater for $390,000 and have been working with our contractor to deliver on our commitments to Indigenous, local and regional jobs and contracts during construction.
We are currently housing our Expansion Project workforce in local accommodation and our workers are frequenting Clearwater’s restaurants, shopping at grocery stores, filling their tanks at local gas stations and generally contributing to the day to day economic recovery of the area following several mill closures and the more recent COVID-19 circumstances.
To date, we have spent more than $500,000 with local businesses and we conservatively estimate that Clearwater and the immediate vicinity will see $377 million in construction spending and $35 million in local spending by workers over the construction period.
As construction in the region accelerates, the workforce in the area is expected to reach 550 and the need for a camp community was identified and has been planned for many years in order to ensure our workforce will not place an undue burden on the local community.
Alcohol will be prohibited in the camp community except where served in the controlled licensed lounge, operating in compliance with provincial regulations. The controlled lounge approach provides an opportunity for the workforce to enjoy a glass of wine or a beer after work within the camp community, but doesn’t prohibit them from going to spend money at an area restaurant or pub.
During construction, our workforce are guests in the community and we are committed to ensuring they demonstrate our core values of safety, integrity and respect, both at work and after work.
Ian Anderson,
President and CEO, Trans Mountain
Corporation