Wharfside
November 2017
Cori and Pierre earn Red Seals
The Interprovincial (Red Seal) for Cook is affixed to the Professional Cook 3 certificate. Each qualification level consists of an in-school training program, practical and theoretical examinations and a workplace time requirement.
In this issue Something to think about: Marine Harvest employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Purchasing Team shares results of survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Multiple milestones mark Clarke’s year. . . . 3
Cori and Pierre completed the workplace requirement on the charity barbeque, as well as catering special events such as the Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race, seafood buyer tours and employee recognition events.
Great BC Shakeout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 SAVE THE DATE Breakfast with Santa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Competing for the best local talent. . . . . . . 4 Donation of elbow grease to a church in Alert Bay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Sayward school raises funds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Show your support on the dance floor. . . . 5 MHC participates in Chamber awards across three communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Did You Know? 67.8 per cent of the Canadian population own homes.
Trivia time! How much do truffles cost? Answer on Page 4
Comments about this Newsletter? Please email comments, articles and ideas to Ian Roberts, Director of Public Affairs, at ian.roberts@marineharvest.com
Pierre Conroy and Cori Wheeler earned their Professional Cook Red Seals in 2017, after many years of hard work on and off the Marine Harvest charity barbeque trailer. “We’re extremely thankful for the opportunities provided by Marine Harvest and the BC Salmon Farmers Association. Their support greatly contributed to our Professional Cook apprenticeships,” Cori says. Cori and Pierre attended North Island College from 2010 to 2012 to complete Professional Cook Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the Culinary Arts Program. After graduating they were recruited by MHC to help on the barbeque. Two years later, Cori was hired as the BBQ event coordinator meaning the pair took over the majority of the fundraisers. They introduced the salmon taco in 2015 and the salmon noodle salad in 2016.
“We’ve worked hard to achieve this certification and we aim to pay it forward by encouraging upcoming apprentices. Thank you to the salmon farmers of BC for supporting apprentices like us, for cheering us on and showing true appreciation for our work,” Pierre says. Their mentor, Chef Lesley Stav, presented Cori and Pierre with Red Seal certificates at a dinner meeting of the North Vancouver Island Chefs Association (NVICA) at Locals Restaurant in June 2017. Cori says the experience gained through working with the community and for catering salmon farmers events has been invaluable. She is also thrilled to have worked with a healthy, local, fresh product. “I love working with farmed Atlantic salmon raised in BC. It’s a delicious, delicate and extremely versatile protein,” she says. To find out more about the Culinary Arts program at North Island College please visit nic.bc.ca/program/culinary_arts
Something to think about: Marine Harvest employees Ian Roberts, Director of Public Affairs, Marine Harvest Canada
Our company has been in the news lately. Quite a bit, actually. We’ve responded to media questions about Sea Shepherd activist videos, First Nation engagement, people illegally trespassing on our worksites, and concerning statements made by politicians. Media reports can be read online – I won’t spend my 200 words with our responses. What isn’t communicated in media reports is our employee’s response to what I consider workplace harassment and intimidation. Quite simply, staff ’s
reaction has been nothing but respectful, patient and professional. Farm staff live hours away from civilization and from their families. Picture yourself working on a remote floating structure, watching boats filled with activists drift toward you. They enter your legal and permitted worksite: some just yell at you, others with cameras try to bait you into confrontation, and some decide to set up make-shift camps on your workspace as a daily reminder of their dislike for your business.
Staff have been so patient – allowing people to demonstrate. But they’ve had enough now, and rightly so. We have clearly asked trespassers to leave and to meet with us respectfully to discuss their disagreement. We will continue to seek legal means to make that happen. Activists are allowed to have opinions, however it would be nice if those opinions were based on fact and their actions respected Canadian law. Intimidation, harassment and trespass are not “peaceful” as advertised, and no employee in Canada should have to put up with it.
Purchasing Team shares results of survey Marine Harvest Canada spends more than $20 million dollars on services and supplies every month, and it has a team dedicated to making sure that every purchase counts. There are four full-time employees in Campbell River who negotiate and buy goods and services on behalf of the company. MHC’s Purchasing Team recently carried out a survey in a quest for continuous improvement in its service. There was a 51% response rate and from these 81 responses, an overwhelming majority (94 per cent) were happy with the service provided by the team. 2
Employees responded that they were happy with: • CAPEX approval process • Obtaining quotes from multiple suppliers • Picking up orders from local suppliers • Knowledge of where to source products and services • Generating and processing purchase orders Employees responses suggest improvement can be made in these activities: • Sourcing new and innovative products
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Putting contracts in place with key suppliers Managing and reducing cost
Some of the opportunities for improvement identified were more time and effort into maintaining the Basware catalogue and tracking orders from warehouses to sites. Some good feedback for the team was a high satisfaction rating on smaller value purchases. It is not always easy to shop for hundreds of people and hundreds of purposes, so congratulations to the Purchasing Team for a job well done!
Multiple milestones mark Clarke’s year By Gina Forsyth
Rodney Clarke has had a successful year and it’s not over yet. Earlier this year he celebrated 20 years with Marine Harvest, as well as earning his certificate in Professional Project Management from the University of BC’s Sauder School of Business in Vancouver. He was born in Bishop’s Falls in central Newfoundland and is an only child. His dad was a mechanical engineer while his mom managed an egg grading facility for a local farmers coop. Rodney completed high school in 1990 and moved onto first year sciences at Memorial University in Newfoundland. That post-secondary education was followed by two years at Holland College in Prince Edward Island where Rodney earned a certificate in each of three distinct areas – shellfish, finfish and aquaculture. “I came away with a comprehensive and broad education,” he says.
projects in Prince Edward Island. And then came a unique opportunity – to be a manager with a start up company focusing on the commercial culture red drum, a tropical fish – on Long Island in the Bahamas. “I attended a crash course at the University of Miami,” Rodney reveals. After his year abroad, Rodney returned to Newfoundland and soon after made the move to Campbell River without a job. Within a week of arriving, Rodney had several interviews. He joined Omega Salmon Group in 1997 as a site technician and later as an assistant manager, eventually working his way up to manager responsible for the daily operations of sites well as long term planning, staff development and budgets. In 2012, Rodney took on the role of Operations Manager for the Port Hardy area and in 2015 his reach was extended to Klemtu. He manages area logistics, workboats, contractors, all the while
looking out for operational efficiencies. Rodney also reports monthly and annually on financials and prepares budgets. In addition, he manages about 25 people. This number will increase in 2018 to more than 30. As part of his ongoing training, Rodney completed “six courses in six months” and completed his Project Management Certification in April. This knowledge provides a base for project planning such as site building and tear downs. He spends about half of his time in Campbell River, with the balance split between Port Hardy and Klemtu. Rodney and his partner, who works for West Jet, appreciate the plethora of outdoor activities that the North Island provides, including biking, quadding, kayaking and camping. They also enjoy travel, especially to warmer climates. The couple lives in Comox.
101 North Island Squadron President Bob Hemphill cooked traditionalbarbeque salmon at the final RCAF Station Coal Harbour Dedication.
“I knew of aquaculture because of my time spent on Fogo Island [Newfoundland] when I was younger,” Rodney says. “I could tell aquaculture would be needed. The cod and salmon stocks weren’t sustainable.” With four years of education behind him, Rodney joined the National Research Council in 1993 for three years, leading MarineHarvest.ca
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Great BC Shakeout By HSE advisor Dan Pattison
Marine Harvest staff joined thousands of British Columbians on October 19th at 10:19am for the annual earthquake drill known as the Great BC Shakeout. More than 3,000 earthquakes occur in British Columbia each year. Most are too small to be felt, but the risk of one big enough to cause significant damage is very real. Marine Harvest Canada Finance Manager Michelle Stuart knows all too well about the devastating effects of nature. She was woken up one early February morning in 2011 to learn that a powerful 7.8 earthquake and hundreds of strong aftershocks rocked her home town of Christchurch, New Zealand. The earthquake prompted a tsunami warning that sent thousands fleeing to higher ground.
“Seven years later I am still reliving that moment, in tears. The fear of not knowing, not being there to help them is something I will never get over. It was the longest most terrifying day in my life.” To this day, Michelle can barely recognize the home she grew up in. Areas around Christchurch have grown, leaving the damaged city forever changed. Every year, thousands of British Columbians prepare for quakes. Schools perform drills and business units review their contingency plans but there are still a lot of people who feel that these types of disasters cannot happen to them.
If Michelle Stuart had been living in New Zealand at the time, she would have been in this building at the time the earthquake hit.
more were made homeless, and an area more than four times the size of London’s Hyde Park was deemed uninhabitable. Michelle advises British Columbians to have a kit ready, change the contents as needed and be prepared because “Unfortunately it does happen. Don’t think it will happen somewhere else, to someone else.”
In Christchurch, the most violent aftershock happened on February 22nd, 2011. It killed 181 people. Thousands
Competing for the best local talent With a workforce of almost 600 and counting, Marine Harvest is actively recruiting in North Island communities. Marine Harvest attended a job fair in October in Campbell River with over 40 other employers. Human Resources advisor Shylo Loock says the search for new team members does not stop.
“Our workforce is definitely expected to grow, we are expanding, we’ve got new boats on the way, so we’re looking for people who love being outdoors, working physically,” Shylo says. Watch the full report on cheknews.ca
SAVE THE DATE! Breakfast with Santa for Marine Harvest employees and their families.
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CAMPBELL RIVER, Thunderbird Hall – Saturday, December 9, 2017 (NOTE VENUE CHANGE) PORT HARDY PROCESSING PLANT – Saturday, December 2, 2017 MarineHarvest.ca Answer: $800 to $1500 per pound
Tie knots, examine plankton and taste salmon at the MHC booth.
Sayward school raises funds
Donation of elbow grease to a church in Alert Bay It was a dirty and difficult task that got done in a day thanks to Marine Harvest volunteers who installed insulation at the House of Prayer.
the winter. Staff from the farms and office helped install the insulation on Halloween, just in time for the arrival of winter temperatures.
“Many hands made for a quick and fun job,” Broughton Area Assistant Manager Mike Dobbs says. “Although we all got dirty, everyone worked their tails off to get the job done so quickly.”
Church members Troy Speck, Andrew Speck and Denise Nelson pitched in while the MHC volunteers were Gary Hall, Jeff Noel, Patrick Johnny, Cameron Trace, Mike Dobbs, Rodrigo Christi, Jody Hagel, Maria Martin, Alex Romano, Darrin Smith, Dean Nelson, Moe Isaac and Chris ‘Big Worm’ Mathews. Well done to all involved!
Marine Harvest bought the insulation following a request earlier this year for help to keep the congregation warm through
Show your support on the dance floor Marine Harvest is pleased to be the gourmet sponsor of the Campbell River Hospital Foundation’s annual dinner and dance Ten Souljers on Saturday 18 November at Campbell River Community Centre. Marine Harvest salmon will be served as
the main protein. If you can’t wait until the end of the month, why not Dance for Humanity on Saturday 4 November at Eagles Hall in Campbell River, with live music from Best Day Ever.
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Paul Kendrick with parents and students at Sayward school.
Transport manager for Freshwater Production Paul Kendrick was delighted to hand over Marine Harvest’s annual donation to the Sayward Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). Each year Marine Harvest contributes to the PAC’s giant Christmas stocking, which will be raffled to fundraise for new playground equipment. Paul’s daughter attended Sayward Elementary School from kindergarten to grade seven, so he is closely acquainted with the old playground. School secretary Debra Coates says Marine Harvest’s ongoing support is greatly appreciated. 5
MHC participates in Chamber awards across three communities
L-R Kathy Baker, Angela Menzies, Jaqueline Bostrom, Jessica McLaughlin, Robyn Altmiks, Chris Tomasi. Photo by Kathy O’Reilly/The North Island Eagle
Marine Harvest participated in recent business award galas and was honoured with the award for Business of the Year in Campbell River (for 50+ employees). Marine Harvest was nominated for Business of the Year and Workplace of the Year in Port Hardy.
In Port McNeill, MHC sponsored the not-for-profit award and our staff members attended to present the award.
Kids in Motion were also the recipient of the proceeds from the MHC salmon barbeque at Orcafest 2017.
Kathy Baker and Chris Tomasi from the Port Hardy Processing Plant were pleased to present the Non Profit of the Year to Port McNeill Kids in Motion.
Leona Perkins (left) and Kim Macdonald (right) present MHC’s award to Phil Petrousevitch and Stephen Hall
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