The Ministry of Immigration and Career Training says it will deploy its Rapid Response Training Teams to Wollaston Lake and Prince Albert to assist employees affected by the production shutdown or layoffs at the Northern Wild Fishery.
20 jobs in Wollaston Lake and five in Prince Albert were slashed last Thursday when the fishery closed.
Ministry officials will provide information about employment services, training options, job opportunities and how to apply for Employment Insurance.
The closure is being blamed on rising transportation costs, as there is no all-weather road to Wollaston Lake.
“Both provincial and federal governments were committed to building an all-weather road to Wollaston, but that road hasn’t happened,” Anne Robillard, Chief Executive Officer of Hatchet Lake Development said.
Robillard explained that transportation of barge, plane and ice road of the product is costing way too much to turn a profit, adding the longer the fishery is operating, the more money is being lost.
The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure confirms that it is awaiting approval from the federal government for phase one of the project.
Steve Shaheen, communication says phase one includes building a winter road to eliminate the ice road. Phase two is upgrading to a seasonal road, which would operate approximately 10 months per year, and phase three would be and all-weather road.
Shaheen would not give a timeline on funding approval or when construction would begin.
Robillard says the Fishery could be closed until the all-weather road is constructed.