Twenty years after Challenger / 39

Ice racing comes to CN Centre / 11
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2006

Barbados offers sun and surprises / 30

Opera honours Mozart /13

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Lack of drivers could stall trucking industry
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The trucking industry will soon face a shortage of qualified truckers, concludes a study released Friday by Statistics Canada. The declining popularity of trucking as an occupation, coupled with an aging workforce at a time when the sector is seeing steady growth, means the industry could be gearing up for an uphill battle with a heavy load. While the 10-page study -- On the Road Again, published in Perspectives on Labour and Income -- didn't offer any regional findings, the result comes as no surprise to Central Interior Logging Association manager Roy Nagel. He said for the log trucking sector the issues are more acute. "We've been seeing this anecdotally for three or four years," said Nagel. One of the answers to attracting more workers to the log-hauling sector would be to lengthen the number of hauling days in the year, he said. "Trying to jam up so much log hauling in 15hour days in brief periods of the year, is really not giving us the business environment that attracts
Citizen photo by Dave Milne

Logging trucks come and go along Blackwater Road. The trucking industry is about to face a skills shortage, says a study by Statistics Canada.

new entrants," said Nagel. Nearly 271,000 people, the vast majority of them men, worked as truckers in 2004, 35,300 of those in B.C. The study did not provide results for sub-groups like log haulers. The study found truck drivers constitute a rela-

tively older work force. In 2004, the average age for wage-earning truckers was 42, and for their self-employed counterparts was 45. Also, 18 per cent were aged 55 or older, compared with 13 per cent for workers in general. For the first time in 2004, truckers aged 55 and over

outnumbered those under 30, indicating the occupation may be hit by a large number of retirements in the coming years, said the study. Just as worrisome is the lack of young drivers, added the study, authored by Vincent Dube and Denis Pilon. Only five per cent were under 25 in 2004, compared with 15 per cent in the labour force as a whole. Similarly, just over one-quarter of truckers were between 15 and 34, as opposed to 37 per cent in the labour force as a whole. From a standpoint of supply, this indicates today's young workers are less inclined than the previous generation to enter the occupation, said the report. "Various reasons are cited -- the demanding lifestyle, the poor perception of the occupation, and the appeal of competing occupations (particularly in construction)," said the authors. "Only a study of young workers would provide definitive answers." One factor in recruiting is the minimum age for obtaining a commercial vehicle driver's licence, said the study. -- See AVERAGE page 3

NDP leader puts focus on better infrastructure
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff It's important that rural and resource-based communities get the funding needed to support their infrastructure, even if comes at a higher cost than in more-populated areas, NDP leader Carole James told a business luncheon Friday. The support is particularly important because it's rural and resource-based B.C. that drives the economy, said James, who was in Prince George with her full caucus this week. "The wealth that helps us -- whether it's in education or health care or those issues we need and all see in our communities -- comes from your communities," said James, speaking at a Prince George Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "If we're truly going to look at investment in British Columbia and bringing business here, many of the employers are looking at things like what kind of school system is in place for employees," added James, who lived in Prince George for two years. They're also asking what kind of environment is there, she said. "Those things are critical for a strong community, but also for a strong economy," said JAMES James. She said the 33-member NDP caucus heard during its three-day session in Prince George -- the first place the caucus has met outside the Lower Mainland -- that those resources are not always there. In an interview, James said the caucus was told the road infrastructure in the area isn't adequate to support an increase industrial traffic, partly linked to the mountain pine beetle epidemic, and there are issues with apprenticeship training, a critical area to address the labour skills shortage. She said the caucus also heard there have been increases in the use of food banks. But James stressed that she wants her party not only to take on the traditional role of opposing the Liberals, but also to propose solutions. For example, freezing tuition immediately for apprenticeship programs, and providing support to businesses who take on apprentices, would help. James said the caucus would be back in Prince George, and that individual MLAs who hold critic positions will also be visiting. "We want to build relationships," she said. -- See LIBERALS page 3

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

GIVING CHASE -- A coyote chases a magpie across a field south of Prince George on Friday, after the bird and its mate teased the coyote, staying just out of reach. The pursuit went on for some time as the sun set and the magpies looked for another target to mock.

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Hixon flood a rarity, meeting told
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff The causes of the Naver Creek flood last winter, and a list of projects to repair some of the damage, were presented to about 35 people who attended a public meeting Thursday night in Hixon. Consultants presented a draft report based on a $94,000 study of about 16 kilometres of the creek, most of it upriver from the community of about 150 people, 63 kilometres south of Prince George. "The report and the presentation, I thought, was well received by the community," said Art Kaehn, Fraser-Fort George Regional District director for the area. "People enjoyed and were amazed and informed by the things that they talked about." With the creek threatening to break its banks due to to a series of ice jams upriver, a day-long evacuation was ordered in late January. Three of the ice jams were within the first 12 kilometres south of the community and another three were within a further 18 kms. It was characterized as a one-in-1,000-year event caused by extreme cold up to the middle of January followed by 40 millimetres of rain over eight days "and then everything let loose," said Kaehn. "And interestingly, they said that the water levels were not extraordinarily high, but combined with the ice, it made it a very dangerous situation." Consultants also discovered the creek has

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INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . 29 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .16-18 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . 3, 5, 13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 19-22 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Entertainment . . . . . . . 25-28 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 24

Citizen file photo

An ice jam crammed with logs and debris caused problems in Hixon last winter.
shortened by two kilometres in the last 60 years and doesn't wind as much. Some of it is humancaused, but most is due to natural forces as the creek found ways to straighten itself out. "The fact that it's shortened by two kilometres, the water is now moving faster and when it's moving faster it erodes the banks more quickly," Kaehn said. In all, 55 sites were affected and of them 16 were identified as spots where remedial work would be worthwhile over the next few years. Three were tagged as urgently needing work, two more were given high priority and the rest of the 16 were designated medium priority. -- See PROJECT page 3

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