CPI Equipment Inc.

A big Thank You to Cermaq Group Cermaq Canada who suggested us donating their yearly thank you treats and Christmas gifts to those in need within our local community The Aquaculture Industry is truly an industry that has always supported their local communities and we at CPI Equipment are proud to be a part of it #CoastalJobsGone

December 29, 2020: Northern Vancouver Island Mayors and the BC Salmon Farmers Board of Directors have issued an Open Letter to Minister Bernadette Jordan. Plea...se read and share. #CoastalJobsGone "As Northern Vancouver Island Mayors and industry leaders in salmon farming, we are writing to express our deepest concern and disappointment. Your shocking decision to order Discovery Islands area salmon farms closed directly puts at risk 1,500 jobs supported by those farms in the short term, while in the long term striking at a sustainable COVID recovery industry and at the economic viability of the entire $1.6 billion salmon farming industry in BC." Link to the Open Letter: https://bit.ly/34UI5TM CC: Terry Beech, MP Rachel Blaney MP for North Island - Powell River John Horgan Lana Popham Josie Osborne Ravi Kahlon Michele Babchuk Richard Bragdon Mel Arnold, MP CTV News CTV Vancouver Island CHEK News Campbell River Mirror North Island Gazette Times Colonist Global BC Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia

Dear Bernadette Jordan I’ve struggled with whether or not it’s worth it to write you. But silence speaks louder than words and we cannot be silent. I work as a...n Environmental Specialist in the Environmental Monitoring Department at Grieg Seafood BC. My job is to monitor water quality, ensure environmental conditions are stable, and to respond and react to anything related to the above. We are constantly working around the clock to ensure the water and environment in our coastal areas is pristine, not just for growing the fish but because my colleagues and I are passionate about the environment. I began my career in fisheries with DFO in 2017. I’ve been with them until this fall. I’ve spent five years working at a fishing lodge, three years working with DFO and the last (almost) two years working in aquaculture. It’s safe to say that I have seen fisheries and stocks from every angle (government, recreation, and commercial aquaculture). I can confidently say that I fully support aquaculture in BC. The technological advances and innovations that have happened this far are nothing short of remarkable. Innovations and changes that your own DFO scientists have researched and written peer-reviewed studies on. I was once asked by a friend of mine how could someone like you actually work in aquaculture? You love the ocean and you’re educated so why would you start working somewhere that is harming it. It’s still baffles me that people think I (or anyone in the industry) go to work every day with the malicious intent to harm the ocean and it’s creatures. I cannot reiterate enough that the people who work in this industry love their jobs, their environment, and their community more than anything on this planet. I have never, ever loved any job I’ve held as much as I love being an environmental specialist. I get to travel to some of the most remote places on our coast sampling water, checking for heavy metals/nutrients/plankton/etc. Then, when I am not ensuring that our waters and environments are pristine, I am working on research and development. New ways to innovate our industry. I just spent a week on site sampling a new piece of technology that had the potential to revolutionize semi-closed containment systems. During this week on-site I came inside one day only to be bombarded with a full inbox of messages from friends and family. All linking to articles regarding your decision to shut down the Discovery Islands. What does this mean?, are you losing your job?, what are you going to do now?. I don’t have answers for these people as we didn’t see this coming, no one did. I am so proud of everything that our industry does, the people I work with and what we have accomplished... especially during the last year. When this pandemic hit, we went to work even harder to provide the working with a sustainable form of protein. Our companies rallied together to donated 120,000 cans of salmon to food banks. During a time when companies are struggling to make money, I am proud to work for one who sees a need and decides that helping other who are struggling is worth more than a few dollars. That oil spill that’s coming out of the ship wreck in Nootka? That is right beside the site I started at. Yet again, I am proud to work for a company who stepped up and helped donate gear to contain that oil slick. We don’t even have fish in those farms right now so you know that assisting in the cleanup was not a selfish move, but it was done because they care. We are all stewards of the sea. I have so much love, passion and respect for my industry. I am shocked and I feel betrayed by your decision to shut down the Discovery Island farms, despite your top scientists in the country telling you that there is no threat by aquaculture to this environment, or the wild stocks that pass through it. I hope you understand the shockwave that has ripped through our families and our community right before Christmas. The families who have had their lives turned upside down by you deserve answers. I respect that everyone has their own opinions so I ask that my friends respect mine. If you have any comments we can talk privately but please refrain from using this post to do so. Sincerely, Kirstyn Nygren BSc in Marine Biology and Oceanography Environmental Specialist Grieg Seafood BC #CoastalJobsGone Grieg Seafood BC Ltd Terry Beech, MP Rachel Blaney MP for North Island - Powell River Justin Trudeau Fisheries and Oceans Canada Michele Babchuk North Island MLA Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance BC Salmon Farmers Association

Dear Bernadette Jordan, My name is Michelle Franze and I am the Manager of Communications, Partnership and Community with the BC Salmon Farmers Association. I ...am also the Co-Founder and Director of the BCSFA Youth Council. I am writing you today in regard to the decision you made last Thursday on the removal of farms in the Discovery Islands. A decision that was rushed, a decision in which industry was not consulted. A decision that puts the nearly 6,500 families at risk who rely on this industry to pay their mortgages, their cars, their children’s expenses and to feed their families. We are in a pandemic and are experiencing significant economic ramifications as a result. The unemployment rate has never been higher, and your government thought it was a good idea to make it worse. I understand your commitment to reconciliation, but this was not done in reconciliation it was just reckless. This decision was a political one to appease those who will not be affected by this decision, those who do not live in rural coastal communities, those who will have to move and break up their families when this industry is destroyed from a decision you made. I’m 26 years old, a millennial youth. I come from a generation that is depressed and riddled with anxiety. We have been set up to fail since we were born. We are the only generation who has had to deal with two economic crises, a global pandemic, highest costs of living with the lowest wages, full of student debt, record high unemployment rates and no savings account to fall back on. My generation was hit hardest from the economic impacts of COVID-19, as my generation makes up most of the service and tourism jobs. On top of all that, we are also experiencing the effects of climate change, and are expected to fix it. All of these challenges MY generation faces are because of the damage YOUR generation has done, and the generations before you. I am not angry; I am not sad. I am tired, and I am disappointed. Salmon farming is the youngest industry in Canada with two thirds of the industry made up of youth (under 35). This is an industry that not only provides excellent career opportunities and well-paying jobs for educated young people, but also is a SOLUTION to combat the damage YOUR generation has done to our planet. Until the decision you made last week, salmon farming in BC was the only sector dominated by youth that was not completely devastated due to the pandemic. We were actually considered essential by your government and were able to keep supporting local businesses and our communities during these hard times. We even were able to do more by partnering with Food Banks BC and Food Banks Canada and donating over 500,000 meals of healthy canned salmon this year, on top of other community efforts we support. Now our livelihoods and communities are in jeopardy, again. We are constantly used as a pawn in your political gain. I’m tired of hearing people who live in Vancouver and Victoria and other urbanized cities (where the industry isn’t even present) spread lies about this industry saying it’s killing wild salmon. I’m tired of them telling us, who live in rural coastal communities and depend on this industry, how we need to get out of the ocean and onto land. I’m tired of those spreading lies about the industry getting all the media’s attention and your attention, while our industry and science is repeatedly ignored. Let me make it very clear to those who repeatedly chant move onto land. It will not happen in BC. It is not economically viable, and it’s worse on the environment. You’re moving an already low carbon, sustainable and healthy fish to land where the damage to the environment is much greater, and the health of fish decline. Those who push for land and the destruction of salmon farming in the ocean aren’t concerned about wild salmon or the environment, they do it for their own selfish reasons. The earth over 70% water, why aren’t we utilizing it. Why do people consistently want to destroy our terrestrial land? Where will the 7.5 billion people (and growing) in the world go when we have destroyed all viable land? We don't raise chickens in the ocean, so why raise fish on land? Marine life has been declining long before salmon farming was around. It’s the result of the damage YOUR generation and the generations before you have done. My generation is trying to fix it, by providing people with an alternative to wild salmon, that is environmentally responsible and healthy. My generation dominates this industry and is providing a solution, and once again your generation is causing more damage. I’ve listened to you speak over and over again on the importance of building the Blue Economy in Canada and providing opportunities for youth and women. I listened to you commend the salmon farming industry for their environmental efforts and speaking on the importance of its growth. As a young woman, this industry has provided me the opportunity to build a career for myself and be a leader. Earlier this year I even developed and built, along with other youth in the sector, a BCSFA Youth Council to further give youth a voice. This sector empowers youth and empowers women and is a leader in Canada’s Blue Economy. Your decision just put all of it at risk and is the exact opposite to what you’ve been preaching. So, let me ask you Minister Jordan why did you lie? Why are you further damaging opportunities for youth and women? Why are you destroying an industry that is a solution for helping wild salmon stocks and climate change? If you believe wild salmon are at risk, why eat it? Why wouldn’t you want to support a healthy, environmentally responsible farmed salmon alternative? You’ve remained silent as hundreds of us reach out asking you these questions. We want answers. No, we deserve them. Sincerely, a disappointed, depressed, anxious, tired youth with no job security once again.. Michelle Franze BSc in Marine Biology Manager of Communications, Partnerships and Community Co-Founder and Director of BCSFA Youth Council BC Salmon Farmers Association Please share. #CoastalJobsGone Mowi Canada West Terry Beech, MP Rachel Blaney MP for North Island - Powell River Justin Trudeau Fisheries and Oceans Canada Michele Babchuk North Island MLA Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance BC Salmon Farmers Association

https://fb.watch/v/8Fa3xd01f/

"...CPI Equipment on behalf of everyone here would like to show support for the local communities, local shops, and for everybody out there to please stay and shop local." - Kris McNichol, President, CPI Equipment #SupportLocal #RaisingOpportunity CPI Equipment Inc.

Thank you CPI Equipment Inc. for donating 500 surgical masks and 80 KN95 masks so our employees can continue to practice safe measures during this ongoing pandemic. CPI's Kris McNichol passed on the box of "goods" to our Quality Control Manager Damon Woodland this morning.

https://seawestnews.com/aquaculture-firms-to-the-fore-in-/

Training with LANDIA in Denmark and getting to watch a live worlds hockey game (Denmark vs USA) enjoy Kris and Craig !! Too bad it's not Canada