Transportation and its routes in and out of Port Alberni were hot button issues as business owners and politicians met with provincial MLA Kevin Krueger and the Small Business Roundtable, Tuesday at the Best Western Barclay.
An alternate highway into Port Alberni, reviving the rail and creating an industrial route were all discussed, as was establishing an Asian Pacific gateway through the port, Mayor John Douglas said.
Krueger said the city’s deepwater port could be a job generator for the region, and he would take Port Alberni’s concerns to the minister of transportation.
Krueger and Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell created the roundtables in 2005. The roundtable has come up with business solutions like mobile business licences in the Okanagan, for people who do business in multiple communities, Krueger said.
Douglas said the meeting also offered people a chance to ask about expanding training, developing a seniors community as an economic driver, recreational tourism and bringing in institutions to create a wider curriculum.
“Things like trades, a larger curriculum for trades, paramedicine, first responders and curriculum the Justice Institute offers, and career training workshops,” he said.
Krueger said he heard complaints about signs cluttering the roadways in Port Alberni, and that he would talk to the highways ministry about regulations governing billboards.
He also heard concerns from community forest officials who would like a better allocation of fibre.
Krueger said he was heartened to see members of municipal government at the meeting because the different levels of government need to talk to one another.
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