Pattison Group shuts down canning operations in Prince Rupert

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Plus, Massey Bridge project causes a stir in Richmond and the Yale Saloon serves again 

No Can Do
The Canadian Fishing Company, Canfisco, part of the Jim Pattison group of companies, alerted the UFAWU-Unifor yesterday that it is closing the canning lines in Prince Rupert. The reason? Both the supply of salmon and the demand for fish in its canned form, are dwindling– making the costs of maintaining and operating the canning operation too high. With a capacity to can over 400,000 cases a year, the facility was a relic designed for Prince Rupert’s boom times. Last year it canned a mere 40,000 cases. Hundreds of workers–usually hired in the spring–will have nowhere to go come May, and the company plans to meet with UFAWU-Unifor to discuss the restructuring soon. (via North Coast Review)

But a different kind of watery career may await hundreds in Squamish, courtsey of Pattison Group. The company has just purchased a two-acre parcel earmarked for Canada’s second Great Wolf Lodge, a waterpark-theme resort. Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman said that an operation the scale of a Great Wolf Lodge could result in 400 full-time equivalent jobs. (via Squamish Chief) 

Troubled Waters
The plot thickens on the new Massey bridge proposal–a provincial project that aims to connect Richmond and Delta. First, delays–the Premier first announced the plan in 2013. Then mystery–the Ministry of Transportation hasn’t shared documents or plans for the proposed $3 billion project. Now local politicians complain that the province has approached Richmond landowners to acquire land needed to expand Highway 99, without consulting them. With protected agricultural farmland on one side of the highway and cultural and religious buildings and schools on the other, any land acquired would have a big impact on the community, said Richmond’s Mayor Malcolm Brodie. (via Vancouver Sun). 

Granville good times
The neon saxophone lights up again in front of the Yale saloon at the corner of Granville and Drake, as the next chapter in the storied venue begins. Dark for years and restored by the Rolston Group, in exchange for increased density at the adjacent condo development, it was then bought by the MGR Group that owns the Vogue and the Biltmore. Tonight, one of the oldest surviving buildings in Vancouver will serve up an Austin, Texas style mix of music and barbecue. Built in 1899, it offered a cheap place to stay for populated by workers who moved to Vancouver in the 1880s to service and build the Canadian Pacific Railway and was known as the centre of the “notorious Yaletown nightlife,” according to Canada’s Historic Places. Now, it also offers a mechanical bull.