Prince George - "People don't look at the emotional side," says a Prince George woman whose husband has been a locomotive engineer for BC Rail since 1995.
 
"Look at the mayor going rah-rah-rah."
 
The couple worries it will face catastrophic consequences if the engineer is laid off.
 
"If he leaves with nothing, we look at losing this house," said Mary Jackson.
 
"He can stand for early retirement, but he doesn't have the years in."
 
Her partner has been an engineer for 30 years.
 
The family, including two kids, moved to Prince George from Ontario.
 
Since then, Jackson said, the engineer, who asked not to be named, has taken 40 percent in cuts to his income.
 
"We're already hanging on by our teeth," Jackson said.
 
Her partner could be one of the 47 engineers CN says it plans to let go, either through early retirement or involuntary discharge, after it signs the rail deal, probably later this month, Jackson said.
 
"We know CN has said a lot of people are losing their jobs, including the engineers," Jackson said.
 
"If it is 47, his job is gone."
 
The province and CN say 25 Prince George jobs will go, and 180 from BC Rail over the next three years.
 
The provincial government plans to lease the company to CN.
 
The deal was approved by the federal Competition Bureau last week.
 
Kinsley praised the announcement, pointing to millions in benefits to Prince George and the north, including a $1 million wheel shop in the city, $4 million towards the Prince George airport's improvements, and the $135 million Northern Development Initiative.
 
"It's the good news we've been waiting for almost with baited breath," Kinsley told the Free Press.
 
The deal has been blasted by government critics, the rail union, and First Nations along the rail line.
 
Mary Jackson and her partner don't think it is a good idea either.
 
"This isn't a business thing," she said.
 
"This is about bringing the Liberals' budget out of the hole. It's not good business."
 
She said announced benefits to the port of Prince Rupert don't necessarily benefit the province's entire north, and administration employees in North Vancouver are already "scared stiff" of losing their jobs.
 
In Prince George, her partner said, headhunters are already roaming the BC Rail site to decide who goes and who stays, and the stress is making everyone miserable.
 
In fact, CN officials are already controlling things, Jackson said.
 
"It's not a good scene."
 
And even if her partner is lucky enough to stay on as a CN employee, there is a cloud, she said.
 
"CN doesn't pay benefits, so our pay cheque will go down again."
 
CN spokesman Mark Hallman said the claims of CN taking over the rail site and not paying benefits are not true.
 
"We can't do that until the deal closes, and that is not expected until the middle of July," he said from Toronto.
 
And it is incorrect to say CN does not pay benefits, he added.
 
As for job impacts in Prince George, he said the 25 planned job losses in Prince George have not changed since they were announced last December.
 
As for who goes, Hallman said it was far too early to say.
 
"Once we have closed the deal, we will take a look specifically at the job requirements in Prince George," he said.
 
"We are a fair employer, and we will do the best we can to make the transition one that treats people fairly and with dignity."
 
Some employees may be offered early retirement or moved somewhere else along the rail line, he said.
 
Author unknown.