Employees of PIM thankful for rezoning
As someone who is able to support my family due to a job with Pacific Industrial & Marine (PIM) at the Cowichan Bay Terminal, I want to personally thank all those elected CVRD directors who supported the recent rezoning application.
This decision will allow me and my 70 co-workers to keep living and working within the Cowichan Valley.
We also want to extend our thanks to Cowichan Tribes, the Chamber of Commerce and many other supporters who recognize that the economy and environment can co-exist.
The Cowichan Estuary has been a working harbour for more than 100 years, and continues to play an important role in the economic development of Cowichan Valley.
Jobs at the Cowichan Terminal support dozens of families who in turn spend money in the community, helping local government provide services and allowing my fellow employees to keep protecting lives and private property in Cowichan Bay throughout the year. We all recognize the ecological significance of the estuary.
This is why PIM voluntarily rescues vessels that break free and removes those that have grounded and become derelict. PIM’s owner, Brian Thacker, along with Western Stevedoring, and Western Forest Products, have invested in protecting and enhancing the estuary by installing breaches and mapping eel grass beds to restore habitat.
The rezoning process has been an unnecessarily divisive time for our community, especially considering that nothing significant will change as a result of the rezoning, and has personally affected the employees who work at the Terminal.
I sincerely hope we can bridge the divide by continuing to work collaboratively with Cowichan Tribes, government agencies and the community to keep improving the health of the estuary for future generations, while maintaining good paying jobs for families in our community.
John Ellis
PIM employees