Mary Kask Oral History -Cannery

Oral History- Cannery Worker Mary Kask

According to grandmother’s oral interview (Mary Kask) she stated that she was home schooled and taught by her parents and that she met my grandfather while she worked on a floating cannery up past Powell River. She received no formal training as a Cannery worker.  All her training was hands on.  She was not part of a Union and had to do what the business owner said. My grandfather had his own fishing boat and he would ferry 5 woman or more from the cannery housing to a social on the weekend on the mainland.  My grandmother was a hard worker sending money back to her Doukabor family near Creston.  Eventually she fell in love with my grandfather and they became married and had two daughters my mother and her sister. They eventually settled down on the banks of the Fraser River in the Surrey-New Westminster area. They chose the location, so my grandfather could build his own fishing boats in his backyard and launch them across the street where they lived. His final fishing vessel built 40 years ago was the Dianne Gail and is still operational as of 2010. Another Skipper was operating it for fishing around Prince Rupert.