PRINCE GEORGE
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Citizen
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2002
80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 54 CENTS A DAY)
SOFTWOOD LUMBER DISPUTE
Layoffs loom as U.S. duty set to kick in
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
The preliminaries — which featured a year of threats, posturing, legal action and infrequent negotiation — are over.
Starting on Thursday, northern B.C. lumber producers are expected to have to start paying cash duties on exports to the U.S. totalling an average of 27%.
Forest industry consultant Charles Widman says the impact will be hard-felt as the duties come into effect at the same time as there’s a glut of lumber in the North American market.
He predicts as many as 20,000 workers in British Columbia will be off the job by the end of June as companies are forced to curtail production because prices won’t be high enough to ab-
sorb the duty.
“It’s a disastrous situation,” said Widman, publisher of Widman’s Market Barometer, a twice-monthly lumber market forecast newsletter. “Right now, you couldn’t pass a nickel of it (the duty) on (to buyers in the U.S.). The price is going down. It’s unbelievable.”
Canadian companies pumped lumber across the border during a five-week duty free window — and combined with increased production in the U.S. south and west — it will take time to eat up that inventory, explained Widman.
Lumber prices have hovered around $280 US for several weeks, but dropped to $270 US just before the long weekend.
When the duty kicks in — a cost of $80 — that puts most Interior B.C. mills below their break-
even point, noted Widman.
It’s even worse on the Coast of B.C. — particularly for cedar producers — which have even higher costs than in the Interior, he said.
Layoffs in B.C. are estimated to be about 12,000, mostly on the Coast. The last time layoffs were up to 20,000 was in December when the threat of the duties and weak markets forced production curtailments, including in the Northern Interior of B.C.
If there’s no change in the duties, Widman predicts layoffs will hit 30,000 by the Labour Day weekend in September.
Fred Carroll, president of local 1-424 of the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers union, said workers are hoping to survive the duties but are also realistic.
“Of course, if the prices go down, we won’t,” said Carroll, of the union’s 4,000 workers in the Northern Interior.
Loggers and haulers in central and northern B.C. are also bracing for the duties.
But the mountain pine beetle infested timber in the region could provide a silver lining as it may keep loggers busy, said Central Interior Logging Association manager Roy Nagel.
However, loggers are also waiting to see whether the fees charged to harvest Crown timber go up in July. That will have a big bearing on whether mills put loggers and truckers to work, said Nagel.
“We really have no idea what’s going to happen,” he said.
“It’s a pretty wild card at the moment.”
Weekend crashes claim two
A Prince George man and a Quesnel man died in separate motorcycle accidents during the long weekend, reported the RCMP.
Glen Eric Ostergard, 46, lost control of his motorcycle on a curve 10 kilometres east of Highway 97 on Buckhorn Lake Road on Saturday evening.
Ostergard, who was ejected from his motorcycle, was pronounced dead at the scene, said police. The motorcycle was unlicenced and Ostergard was
not wearing an approved helmet, added RCMP.
A 46-year-old Quesnel man also died at the scene of his motorcycle accident Saturday evening on Highway 26 near Blueridge Road.
The driver was not wearing a helmet, and alcohol is suspected to be a factor in the accident, said RCMP. The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Police continue to investigate both fatal accidents.
Mining conference to discuss development
Industry pumps millions into local economy
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
Bullmoose, Kemess, Endako and Huckleberry.
A largely-silent economic engine, these mines pour millions of dollars into northern B.C. each year. Kemess, located about 500 kilometres northwest of Prince George, does $20 million to $25 million a year in business in B.C.’s northern capital. Millions more are spent in Smithers and Mackenzie.
The mine employs about 440 people, who use Prince George and Smithers as jumping off points to the mine. It’s estimated more than 100 people who are employed at the mine live in Prince George, which means their paycheques are spent here.
Direct employment in the half a dozen active mines in northern B.C. is more than 1,300. That doesn’t include exploration work, prospecting and placer mining, which adds hundreds more jobs.
“Economically, it’s a big thing,” says Ed Beswick, chairman of the Canadian Institute of Mining, north-central B.C. chapter, and an organizer of a mining conference starting Wednesday in Prince George. “We want to discuss how to get that engine going because we know it could be revved up some more.”
The conference at the Ramada Hotel — entitled Mining, Critical to Our Communities — is expected to attract more than 100 miners, suppliers, mineral explorers and prospectors.
The first day of the three-day event starts with tours of the Endako and Kemess mines.
In the second and third days of the conference, speakers will address issues like First Nations land claims, highlights of mineral exploration in northern B.C. and its untapped potential, and the development of mines and their reclamation. The sessions also include a keynote luncheon presentation on Thursday by Tony Andrews, the executive director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
Friday features a panel made up of northern
FACTBOX
Mining’s value to B.C.
■ B.C.’s second largest natural resource industry behind forestry, accounting for $3.7 billion in revenues in 2001.
■ Active mines in northern B.C. include Bullmoose in TUmbler Ridge (coal), Endako in Fraser Lake (molybdenum), Eskay Creek north of Stewart (gold, silver), Huckleberry south of Smithers (copper, silver) and Kemess northwest of Mackenzie (gold, copper).
■ Base and precious metal prices continued to decline in 2001. Coal prices improved over prices in 2000.
■ Coal is the largest sector of the mining sector, accounting for 37% of revenues in 2001.
■ Mining continues to be a major employer in B.C. In 2001, there were 7,630 direct employees earning an average $81,100 in salary and benefits. That’s down from 7,990 in 2000 and from close to 10,000 in 1997.
■ Exploration by survey participants totalled just $10 million in 2001, down from $17 million in 2000, and the lowest level in the province the survey has recorded.
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of The Mining Industry in B.C. — 2001
B.C. mayors who will give their thoughts on the impacts of mining on their communities.
Prince George North MLA Pat Bell will give the address at the conference’s banquet Thursday night. The B.C. Liberal government, which took power a year ago, is a proponent of revitalizing the mining sector. In the past decade, mining exploration fell to record lows.
For more information, check the website at: www.pgchamber.bcca/convention
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INDEX
Ann Landers____ ........19
Bridge......... ........16
City, B.C........ ..3,5,17,18
Classified ...... .....22-24
Comics ........ ........20
Coming Events . .......2,18
Crossword .....
Entertainment .. ........21
Horoscope ..... ........16
Lifestyles...... ...19,25,26
Movies......... ........21
Nation ........ ........6,7
Sports ........ .......8-12
Television...... ........21
World.......... 14-16
canada.com
Northern municipalities land funding for community improvement projects
Vanderhoof gets $1.47 million for wastewater treatment plant
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
Northern B.C. municipalities have benefited from more than $5.7 million in cash to improve water and sewer systems approved under a federal-provincial government cost sharing program.
At the top of the list was Vanderhoof, which will receive $1.47 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility. The municipality is kicking in another $700,000.
The project will improve the quality of effluent discharged into the Nechako River, and could eventually lead to disposing of effluent for irrigation of local farms.
Vanderhoof mayor Len Fox said Monday the community has been looking for the federal-provincial money for two years because the municipality could not afford to go ahead with the upgrade without help. A
community of 4,400, Vanderhoof is about 100 kilometres west of Prince George.
Several times in the early 90s, the municipality had been on the province’s polluter list for the effluent being pumped into the river, an important salmon bearing waterway.
Fox said the water treatment upgrade will also allow the city to improve capacity, increasing sewer service to other parts of the community that are making due with shallow wells and septic fields.
“This (funding) is excellent because without it we’d never be able to do the
project,” he said. “But I think in fairness to small communities, it’s senior governments that lay our the environmental standards, and so in my view, they have an oblig-
ation to help us to achieve those standards.”
Other municipal-ities which received funding include:
■ $150,000 to Fort St. James to upgrade its water system to meet peak demand and improve fire pro-
— Vanderhoof mayor Len Fox tection.
■ $410,000 to the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District to build six septic waste/wood compost sites.
■ $413,000 to Valemount to build a
“It’s senior governments that lay out the environmental standards, and so in my view, they have an obligation to help us achieve those standards.”
new water reservoir, which will double the community’s water storage capacity.
■ $830,000 to Fort St. John for an upgrade to its sanitary sewer collection system, which will prevent backups during high rainfall.
The federal cash will help keep the environment clean and health, said Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, in announcing the money last week.
“That’s a top priority for Canada, and we are committed to working in partnership to ensure we meet these pressing needs in our cities and our towns.”
Added Rick Thorpe, B.C.’s minister responsible for northern development: “We are committed to protecting the quality of drinking water and enhancing our environment by putting water and sewer infrastructure in place. This is essential for a strong and healthy future for our province.”
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Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
TAKING AIM — Jon McCormick throws a lawn bowl during the Prince George Lawn Bowling Club’s open house Sunday at the club’s greens at Watrous Park. The club is always looking for new members and has games every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 1:30p.m. and 6:30 p.m. This coming Sunday, the club will be holding a fun tournament.
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