The anticipation is building for the Mackenzie Matters rally taking place on Thursday.
One of the speakers will be Forests Minister Doug Donaldson who’s been under immense public pressure to visit communities impacted by the forestry cutbacks.
Event Chair, Kim Guthrie told MyNechakoValleyNow.com they would like to see Donaldson make a specific announcement that would see the community thrive once again.
“We have this huge fibre basket in Mackenzie and yet, we keep seeing our logs leaving this community and our mills are not running and that is just wrong. We make a difference here and I would like them to say that they are going to get rid of legislation that the Liberals put in place 16 years ago.”
“For a community like Mackenzie to survive and thrive, we need our logs to stay in this community and we need these mills to run, otherwise, we’re just going to fade away and sometimes I wonder if that’s what they want.”
In a perfect world, Guthrie would like to see the politicians make a conscious effort to get a first-hand account from the people who have been out in flux because of the stoppages.
“I would like to see them talk to the residents who have been directly impacted by these indefinite closures and curtailments. I know Mr. Donoldson won’t have a lot of time when he’s here but I would like to see him or Ravi Khalon come back and get to down on the ground to talk to these people.”
She believes the time is now for everyone including those in the political sector to come together to find a more permanent solution.
“There are so many other communities who are feeling the same pain that we are and the angst and we’ve all said enough is enough. We just started this on August 6th and it just shows how quickly this has come up.”
Other dignitaries expected to attend include Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad and PG-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer.