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Bell says heart issue won’t stop him from working on temporary workers file
VICTORIA – Jobs Minister Pat Bell says a heart condition he’s been diagnosed with won’t stop him from trying to clear up a controversy over using foreign miners at a project in northeast B-C.
The veteran Liberal cabinet minister from Prince George says the discovery he suffers from a heart aneurysm is forcing him out of politics after 12 years in Victoria.
But Bell says he’s staying on until the election and one of his goals is to help resolve the issue involving HD Mining bringing temporary foreign workers to Canada.
Bell says he’s speaking with federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley about reworking the temporary foreign worker program that both Ottawa and the B.C. government acknowledge hasn’t been a success.
Unions have mounted legal challenges against HD Mining over the use of Chinese workers at a new mine near Tumbler Ridge.
The company has since sent its temporary workers back to China and is trying to negotiate an agreement with the unions.
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