BENJAMIN HAAB
FACTOID
Established in 1794 as Rocky Mountain Fort, Fort St. John is the oldest European settlement in B.C.
F
or a city of just 30,000
residents, Fort St.
John punches above
its weight. The north-
eastern town is B.C.'s oil-and-
gas heartland, along with
neighbouring Dawson
Creek, and home to some
of the highest incomes
in the province; it is
also, according to this
magazine's 2015 Best
Cities for Work list, the
top place in B.C. to …nd
a job. Now, the biggest
infrastructure project
in provincial history,
the $8.8-billion Site C
dam, is moving in next
door, with construction
having kicked oŠ this
summer. At the centre
of it all: Mayor Lori
Ackerman, who has been
serving her municipality
for a decade (four years
as mayor, six on council)
and last winter was
named chair of the
Peace River Regional
District—or, as she calls it,
B.C.'s prairies.
Fort St. John depends so
heavily on the oil-and-gas
sector. With falling oil
prices ravaging Alberta's
economy, is there
concern about the
fallout locally?
Lori
Ackerman
T h e C o n v e r s a t i o n
Most of our economy is in ser-
vicing the oil-and-gas sector, so
while there is a downturn for
those in new production, the
servicing companies remain
busy. Unfortunately, because
we don't have an export mar-
ket, natural gas is still linked
to oil prices. We are de…nitely
seeing the unemployment rate
increasing. When I talk to our
industry people here, it is slow-
ing down, but things have not
come to a halt.
Former forestry boom towns
now have some of the
highest unemployment rates
and lowest incomes in the
province. What happens to
Fort St. John if the world
shifts away from oil and gas?
There will be a downturn in the
economy, absolutely, but there
are still going to be the existing
facilities to manage. Oil and
gas is not something you can
mirror with forestry.
And there's still an impe-
tus—especially with Site
C—to recruit new work-
ers to the Peace.
Absolutely.
What does the Site C
project mean for Fort
St. John?
We had a robust
conversation with our
community about how
Site C would impact us.
We want to be left better
oŠ. We have a desire to
work with any proponent
who is going to ensure our
community is not knocked
oŠ the compass bearing we
have set for developing the
community.
UnemPLoyment
in fort St. John
UnemPLoyment
in B.C
The mayor of oil-and-gas boom town
Fort St. John on B.C.'s northern job
market and the mega-dam next
door by Trevor Melanson
6.4%
6.1%
JULY
JULY
4.2%
6.3%
MARCH
MARCH
SOURCE:
STATISTICS
CANADA,
LABOUR
FORCE
SURVEy
OCTOBNOVEMBER 2015 BCBusiness 23
