The wheels are in motion to re-open the Harrison Hot Springs Public Mineral Pool.
New Harrison Hot Springs Resort general manager Scott Mawhinney said the resort is putting a number of initiatives in place to solve the public pool’s top issue – finding sufficient, certified lifeguards.
The public pool has been closed since the early days of the pandemic, and during the summer, its closure has been a growing concern for residents and tourists alike. Back in mid-May, Tourism Harrison announced that the public pool would be open beginning May 21 on weekends with the possibility of expanding hours into the weekdays once again. It was announced on June 17 that the pool would remain closed due to challenges in hiring certified lifeguards.
RELATED: Putting the Hot Springs back in Harrison: residents fight for public pool access
Members of the public met with Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon MP Brad Vis in Harrison. While Vis made it clear that he could not necessarily answer to provincial or municipal issues, the issue of the mineral pool dominated much of the conversation. Chilliwack-Kent MLA Kelli Paddon has also been involved in a number of conversations about the public pool.
Residents believed that the sustained closure was in violation of the conditional water license, which belongs to the resort’s parent company, Saliance Global Holdings, until at least 2037. A portion of the license reads that the “flow of water shall be made available to the public at all times between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day, at a point to which the public is entitled to free access or to which the licensee grants free public access.”
Even if the licence was transferred to the village, the Sts’ailes First Nation or another company, this would not resolve the issue of insufficient lifeguards.
During the Aug. 8 Village Council meeting, Harrison Mayor Leo Facio pointed out a number of aquatic facilities across B.C. and even the country are having a difficult time finding and retaining lifeguards, specifically naming Boston Bar and facilities run by the Fraser Valley Regional District as examples.
RELATED: Lack of lifeguards shuts down Harrison public mineral pool again
“As we all know, it’s on the news every night – a shortage of lifeguards not just around here but Vancouver and other areas in the province…and Canada,” Facio said. “We cannot run a pool without the safety of lifeguards.”
Mawhinney told The Observer that the resort has had “tremendous difficulty” finding qualified people to fit the position. However, this might not be the case for much longer.
Mawhinney said Harrison Watersports closes on Labour Day and he’s been told by human resources that the resort is likely to hire on three lifeguards. Independently of this, they have hired one lifeguard from Chilliwack who has two sisters who are interested in training. He said the resort is looking for at least four lifeguards.
As a way to prevent shortages now and in the future, the resort is working with a Toronto-based agency that recruits room attendants and other hospitality workers from overseas. The resort has a number of houses throughout the village to accommodate lifeguards and other workers in the event they need local housing.
Mawhinney said he will open the resort’s pools to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., welcoming 25 locals into the pools.
“The only reason I reduced it to Tuesdays and Wednesdays is because the hotel is full,” Mawhinney said. “If you were to come this afternoon, you couldn’t swim in any of the pools, there’s so many people.”
Though the pool and the hotel are full now, the past two years have been devastating to tourism communities in particular. Mawhinney said COVID-19 and the subsequent lack of travel hit the hospitality industry especially hard.
“A lot of people were laid off, and when they’re laid off, they’re not coming back,” he said. “They’re going to retail stores, they’re going to real estate offices. Some of them, if they’re creative enough, have their own business from home. So we’re in tremendous competition.”
However, with the new initiatives in place, Mawhinney said he’s confident this won’t be an ongoing issue.
“I really don’t think we’ll have this problem next summer because I’m going to have solid lifeguards,” he told The Observer. “Once the first person is in, the second person will be easier, the third person will be easier, and we’ll do this as long as we’re allowed to hire lifeguards overseas.”
@adamEditor18
adam.louis@ ahobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.