'Shameful' for women, bad for region say budget protesters in Twillingate

Protesters in Twillingate have been told the provincial budget is "shameful" for its treatment of women, and bad for the entire region.

The president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, Jerry Earle, spoke at a rally Thursday outside the employment centre in Twillingate.

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The centre is one of eight Department ofAdvanced Education and Skills offices closed across Newfoundland and Labrador because of budget cuts.

"I heard Minister Bennett say that they looked at this from a gender lens, too," said Earle. "Well let me tell Minster Bennett.It is primarily women that have been adversely affected by these closures."

Earle said it is mostly women working in the employment centres, "and that is absolutely shameful."

Twillingate 'nerve centre'

Twillingate Mayor Gordon Noseworthy said the closure of the employment centre will have a devastating impact on the region and comes at a bad time.

"There's a large number of people that use this service here and it's going to grow and get bigger," said Noseworthy.

Right now the fish plant in town processes shrimp. Noseworthyhas a close eye on shrimp quotas and believes cuts could impact the plant.

"We got a plant that's hanging. We don't know what's going to happen to it but if it happensto close this is going to be flooded,if itwas still left here."

Noseworthyalsosaid there's a number of people from the New World Island region who work in Fort McMurray, and are now displaced because of wildfires.

He thinks they'll be coming back to Newfoundland looking for work and will be lost without the employment centre.

"The government right now,to me,is picking on rural Newfoundland," said Noseworthy.

Loss of local service

People at the rally saycommunity members who use the employment centre will be forced to travel more than 90 kilometres to Lewisportefor face-to-faceservice.

"It's a tragic loss for the people of the area. It's totally devastating," said Thelma Stuckey who works as a support employment councilor with the Gambo and Area Employment Corporation.

Stuckey is from Twillingateand says losing the only government office in the region will have a big impact on the seniors who come in to the office with general questions.

"We know those seniors. So they can get here and be in a relaxed state and say 'Oh my, I don't know what I'm going to do,'" said Stuckey.

"But if they got to talk to a person now on the phone,I mean, that's very uncomfortable for them. It brings on anxiety."

Budget documents show that closing the eight advanced education and skills centreswillsaveabout $330,000 this fiscal year, and $450,000 every year after.