A few months ago I quoted former premier Jim Prentice, saying ‘Math is Hard’ in a column called, Postmedia’s Class of 2016 - the mass layoff of 90 journalists on Jan. 19.
Now once again, I find myself saying math is hard, but this time because of something that has hit closer to home.
On Monday, April 18, the workers at Champion Feed Services found out that the place many had called their second home for many years was closing its doors permanently.
Over the last few months thousands of Albertans have fallen victim to a combination of poor economic conditions, in large part due to low commodity prices and the low price of oil. For everyone who has lost their job, had their hours reduced, pay frozen or reduced, there are thousands more living on pins and needles waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.
I don’t think there is a single Albertan who hasn’t been affected in one fashion or another due to the economic downturn, whether they themselves have been impacted or a close friend or family member has been and then there’s the fact that people are having a tougher time making ends meet due to a lower Canadian dollar and increasing grocery prices.
But for some reason this closure hits us particularly hard. Champion Feed Services is an integral part of our community and its workers are our family.
Math truly is hard and so is life.
As Sylvester Stallone said in the movie Rocky Balboa, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.”
Yes, the workers of Champion Feed Services and the entire community has taken quite a punch, but it’s not a knockout punch.
After taking some time to mourn the loss, we will pick ourselves off the canvas and get back in the fight. Because as Rocky says, ‘It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
And if Barrhead has proven anything over the years it is that the community’s resilient. As time goes on, the workers and the community will recover and new opportunities will arise.
All we can do is to be ready to take advantage of them when they do. Until then we can do our best to support the people impacted by the closure the best we can.
