By Kendall Robertson

Greyhound Lays Off Local Employees

Jul 10, 2018 | 2:37 PM

PRINCE GEORGE- Nearly 5 months after Greyhound Canada announced it will eliminate passenger service in Northern BC, it announced it will no longer provide any service in western Canada. That means the only route Prince George has left as well as freight service will be cancelled on October 31. It appeared local Greyhound staff had a meeting this afternoon discussing the layoff, however, their contracts prevented them from providing a comment. Employees we spoke to were understandably upset by the decision. Greyhound says 415 people will be without a job across Canada once this takes effect, however, it’s not known how many people are out of work locally. “Any job losses in any community will have impacts across the board, that’s fewer people that are spending money in the market, that’s fewer people that are going out and attending events and going to activities, so you’re drawing money out,” said Chamber of Commerce CEO, Todd Corrigall. The cancellation of Greyhound’s freight service may drive up the costs of shipping items in our community, as there will be fewer options for consumers. “Inherently, when one competitor leaves the market that says to other competitors there’s an opportunity to increase costs,” added Corrigall,” or if they don’t increase costs, keep them level and then the lower cost competitor is no longer in the market.”