Mayor Jim Parsons acknowledged Corner Brook faced its share of challenges in 2018, but he believes there were a lot of positives to build on moving forward.
A devastating rain storm in January and early snowfall in November made things pretty stressful for city crews and residents who had to go about their daily lives with Mother Nature delivering some of the craziest weather seen in decades.
The Star chatted with Parsons to get his thoughts on the top five most important developments in 2018:
• Mill tariffs. There were some anxious moments with the United States positioned to inflict a tariff on Canadian newsprint earlier this year. In the end, the United States opted to not implement a 22.16 per cent anti-dumping tariff on the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper mill and reduced a countervailing duty affecting the mill from 9.93 to 9.53 per cent.
Parsons was happy to see management at the mill made necessary changes to make the operation more viable, so things didn’t look so bleak.
• Main Street Bridge. Parsons welcomed the construction of the Main Street Bridge in 2018 saying it was long overdue. He acknowledged it was an inconvenience for people to endure three months of detours, but said the inconvenience was worth it in the long run.
“It sets us (up) better for improved traffic flow in the downtown,” the mayor said.
• Extreme weather. A devastating flood hit the city in early January that forced it to declare a state of emergency. Winter arrived in November this year leaving lots of white stuff around, so the city’s snowclearing budget took a hit. Parsons said it shows how the world is more and more adversely affected by climate change. He said storm systems were overwhelmed with the storm surge in January and the early snowfall made it tough on the city’s snowclearing budget.
• Tourism. The mayor was happy to see the city become fully engaged in fostering the tourism industry in 2018. The city obtained funding for a regional tourism plan that involves key stakeholders and it’s now advertising to fill a tourism co-ordinator position to get things moving. “This is really I think the watershed moment for tourism here in the city and we’re going to start seeing benefits from these moves within months,” he said.
• Hockey Day in Canada. Putting out the welcome mat for Hockey Day in Canada in January, with a devastating flood pushing organizers to the max to ensure a smooth event, was one of the highlights of 2018 for Parsons. He said it was a huge event to host and provided great exposure for the cty to the rest of the country.
