Regarding the issue of employee shortages in Powell River, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a lot at us as a community, but how do we know the real reason behind these shortages?
A controversial topic that is being discussed is the government benefits and pandemic support programs. Are these programs still beneficial to those who need them, or are people beginning to take advantage of them for their own personal benefit?
These support programs were originally aimed at helping struggling families and small businesses through the hardest days of the pandemic. Now, these small businesses are seriously lacking employment.
Maybe this problem is from large groups of people retiring, or because people are returning to school, but I think that a big part of the problem is because of these support programs. People do not want to go back to work if they still have money they can live off for a while.
If you want to support small businesses and young families in your community, we need people to get back into the labour force, and work to make a prosperous community.
Madison Belyea is a City of Powell River resident.
