SPEC headlines, March, 30, 2003

Community visioning conference shows positive results
Charlene Eden

    Seventy-two people attended a community-visioning event at St. Paul¹s
Anglican Church in Gaspé this past Saturday.  A variety of exercises and
activities occurred during the daylong conference to determine the needs of
the English community between Gaspé and Pabok.  The end result of the
conference was a list of priorities and plans of action for the English
community to work on.
    The conference began with Jennifer Johnson, a facilitator from the
Holland Centre, talking to participants about the community¹s demographics.
According to statistics, 19% of the population within the Gaspé-Pabok area
has English as their mother tongue, with the largest group in the population
being those in the 65 and over category.  Furthermore, the English
population has seen a steady decline in population since 1991.  A community
inventory also suggests that the English community lacks services for
seniors as well as cultural and historical organizations.

PCLSC-CHSLD Chaleurs  to cut $450,000 in its 2003-2004 budget
Between 12 and 14 employees will be affected, but should continue to work
Gilles Gagné

The CLSC-CHSLD Chaleurs will have to cut $450,000 in its 2003-2004 budget,
in order to respect the zero deficit rule of Law 107. The attempt by the
management of the institution to spread the $450,000 current deficit over
three years was not accepted by the Department of Health and Social
Services.

The impact will affect the CLSC in Paspébiac, the New Carlisle seniors home
and the CLSC service centre in Caplan. Between 12 and 14 employees will have
to adapt to changes in their schedule, and possibly will be left without a
job for various periods of time. Five of these employees have job security,
and should not absorb any financial loss due to the budget cuts.

The other five or seven employees, the exact number has not been determined
yet, should be able to find occasional work. Some of their colleagues are
almost ready for retirement, others will get work replacing vacation time
and other leaves,  explains the director general of the CLSC-CHSLD, Michèle
Langlois.

The panelboard project reaches a turning point this Spring
Wood Producers Union members asked to supply it, and invest in the project
Gilles Gagné

NEW RICHMOND - The Gaspé Wood Producers Union is currently holding two
important campaigns that will be instrumental if the Grand River panel board
project, named Gaspan OSB, is to take off. The organization consults its
members in order to determine if they want to guarantee the necessary supply
for the plant, and invest $4 million in the project.

The $150 million initiative, first submitted in 1999 by sawmills owner
Groupe GDS, would create 147 jobs. The Gaspé Wood Producers Union joined the
initial promoter soon after and has been very active in that file over the
last three years.

But government rules do not allow an organization such as the Union to
invest directly in a wood processing venture. But two of the Union's goals
consist in promoting a higher degree of wood processing in order to boost
the development of the region, and to increase the market for the logs unfit
for sawmills, the wood of lesser quality.