A shortage of food sector labour in BC; Some National Parks in BC are set to reopen for day use

A shortage of temporary foreign workers has prompted the Ministry of Agriculture to launch a website, for jobs related to food production. The BC Farm, Fish and Food Job Connector has 600 jobs posted, ranging from forklift operators to berry pickers. The Minister of Agriculture says the food sector in BC needs up to 8000 labourers this season. Lana Popham says most of those jobs would have been filled by temporary foreign workers, but this year, only 1500 such workers are in the province.Many Parks Canada sites are set to reopen for day use, starting on June the 4th. Pacific Rim National Park will open some beaches, parking lots and trails near Long Beach, but the Parks Canada website does not specify which ones. Currently, all access is forbidden, all washrooms and parking lots are closed. Overnight camping in some limited areas of Pacific Rim park may be open by the third week in June, but no final decisions have been made. The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is also set to reopen for day visits one week from today, but the ferry passenger service from Sidney Spit is closed indefinitely, as are several docks and boat launches. The Parks Canada website says trails and day-use areas on the Gulf Islands sites are not being maintained and people are warned they use them at their own risk. The West Coast Trail and camping in the Broken Group Islands will likely remain closed for the entire season. Parks Canada has respected the requests by area first nations, to keep those sites closed, but will revisit the issue in July.Nanaimo residents are reminded to round up their invasive plants in preparation for a free drop zone on Saturday. The drop off runs from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. at the Bowen Park Upper Picnic Shelter.Another deadline coming up this weekend is a survey being conducted by the BC Center for Disease Control. It wants to hear about your experiences with COVID-19. It also asks people to volunteer to have their blood tested, in an attempt to study anti-bodies in those who have had the virus, along with gathering statistics on those who may have had unconfirmed cases of the virus. All the details are on the BCCDC website, including instructions on how to take the survey by telephone. BC's Provincial Health Officer says the survey will help health planners with managing next-steps in the pandemic. The survey closes on Sunday.This update is brought to you by the Local Journalism Initiative of the Community Radio Fund of Canada, Heritage Canada as well as listeners like you. If you'd like to support local news, please consider making a sustaining donation, choose your monthly amount at chly.ca/donateWritten and reported by: Lisa Cordasco, News Director for CHLY 101.7FM.Have a tip? Email: [email protected] Find us on social media at Twitter: @lisacordasco / @chly1017FMFunded by Sustaining Donors and the Community Radio Fund of Canada and Heritage Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative. Sustain CHLY’s News Department for many years to come by signing up for a monthly Sustaining Donation.