At the Feb. 12 council meeting, Fort St. James mayor and council decided they will be trying to fight a decision by College of New Caledonia (CNC) executives.
The decision to cut the welding course from the Fort St. James campus in an attempt to centralize some of these courses is one mayor and council found very concerning.
“It needs to be a top priority,” said Councillor Joan Burdeniuk. “The business case is in place for (the course).”
Burdeniuk was referring to the high rate of employment of graduates of the welding program in Fort St. James.
Councillor Riley Willick commented he personally knows a number of people who have completed the program and were therefore able to stay in the community and find good jobs using the skills they learned in the program.
Councillor Russ Gingrich said the community needs to maintain these kind of services within the local community and be increasing them, not losing them to larger centres.
Mayor MacDougall and council agreed to try and attend a CNC board meeting to voice their concerns and see if the decision can be reversed.
CNC did not immediately respond to phone calls regarding the cancelation.
