By Adam Berls

fraser lake

‘I’d hate to see Fraser Lake die’: Town hall discusses village’s future

Mar 1, 2024 | 2:36 PM

FRASER LAKE — January 22 was the day that Fraser Lake found out they would be losing their sawmill, with West Fraser announcing that the sawmill would be closing in May 2024, affecting 177 employees. Thursday’s town hall, which saw around 100 in attendance, was to discuss how the Village will move forward.

“We really wanted to hear what the community was, was thinking and feeling, because this isn’t our first industry that we’ve lost. This is our second and this is our last. So it is important that the community gets together, whether it’s to mourn, to celebrate, to listen. All of those things are important.” – Mayor Sarrah Storey, Village of Fraser Lake

In conversations with residents, Mayor Sarrah Storey says that there are some encouraging signs, a month on from the inital announcement. She says that 55 out of 177 employees from West Fraser have the option to take a retirement package, and to her it sounds like folks want to retire to Fraser Lake. Mayor Storey also mentioned that so far it sounds like the school population in Fraser Lake will not be as badly impacted as was initially thought back in January.

Members of the community did make their voices heard, whether it was putting forward ideas, expressing concerns or just asking questions. One lifelong resident said “he’d hate to see Fraser Lake die”, and that Fraser Lake needs to “help themselves” because the government in Victoria won’t.

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One of the frustrations for the Mayor and Council is that they cannot move faster in bringing more economic opportunities to the village.

“You can only do so much so fast as a municipality, especially when you’re small. It’s capacity and you know that staff capacity is important. Then also finances. You need the money and small municipalities can’t find the money as easily as some and we don’t have the ability to tax.” – Mayor Sarrah Storey, Village of Fraser Lake

Amidst uncertainty, local leaders say they are dedicated to providing opportunities for everyone who resides there. The Mayors of Houston and Burns Lake, were present, vowing to help the community of Fraser Lake in any way they could. Councillor Brian Frenkel from Vanderhoof was also present and says that his community has also been affected by the West Fraser closure, and that the closure also affects the entire region.

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X: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com