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PRINCE GEORGE
Citizen
 Serving the Central Interior since 19T6
FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2002
$1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 54 CENTS A DAY)
Canfor profits top $70 million
Record three months for forest giant
                                                                                             by KAREN KWAN Citizen staff
  Slowdowns aren’t expected for Canfor’s operations in the coming months, as the company comes off a record three-month period for its sawmills, the company said Thursday.
  Canfor Corp., the largest forestry employer in the Prince George region — reported a record quarter for production and sales of wood products, and earnings of $70.2 million, up from $10.1 million during the same period last year.
  The company said it will continue to run its operations to capacity in order to meet growing customer demand, while trying to keep costs down.
  “With record production obviously we’re having record production at individual facilities,” said Jim Engleson, vice-president of the wood products division. “If I had to highlight one, though, it would probably be Houston,” he said. That sawmill averaged just under 1.9 million board feet per day for the entire quarter, he said.
  Canfor’s sales, which rose to $577.1 million from $511.2 million, also posted record numbers. The increase was driven by higher demand from key customers such as Home Depot, which purchased 17% more than the same time last year, Engleson said.
  Quarterly profits were inflated by a one-time reversal of previously expensed U.S. preliminary duties that the company began to pay in mid-
2001. Canadian companies were not required to pay the money after the U.S. International Tirade Commission ruled the payments were not retroactive. But the companies are now paying final duties, effective May 22, which has cost Canfor $17.2 million from then until the end of June. The sale of a former sawmill site also boosted earnings by $10 million after taxes.
  “Clearly, we are pleased to see the reversal of accrued duties from 2001 and the first quarter of
2002,” president and CEO David Emerson said. But “finding a durable solution to this dispute must remain the top priority of both provincial and federal governments if we are to address the uncertainty and concern of our employees, our customers and the communities where we operate,” he said.
  Even though the market is expected to remain strong, Emerson said Canfor plans to continue to reduce costs to counter U.S. duties of 24.75%. “Our challenge remains to drive hard on the cost side of our business and remain profitable in spite of the punishing duties imposed by the U.S.,” he said.
Gov’t open to extra powers under treaties, minister says
                                                                                                      by KAREN KWAN Citizen staff
   The provincial government is open to negotiating treaties that would give First Nations more governing powers than municipalities currently have, Attorney General Geoff Plant said Thursday.
   But a local First Nations group is questioning the statement, saying many issues are beyond the province’s authority.
   “We think aboriginal self-government powers, though, may well encompass a broader range of subjects than simply the issues that local government has control over,” Plant told The Citizen.
   “For us, aboriginal self-government may well include management of, participation in, or control over issues like health, education, child welfare, cultural matters. Those are all subjects that can be included within self-government negotiations, as First Nations want to discuss those subjects,” he said.
   Plant was in Prince George in an attempt to jump-start treaty negotiations following the release of the provincial treaty referendum results this month, and met with Mayor Colin Kinsley, city council members and Lheidli Temieh chief Barry Seymour.
   Carrier Sekani Tribal Council chief Mavis Erickson said she’s doubtful about what Plant really means, because the province has always said it was only interested in negotiating municipal-style governments. “I don’t understand it, what is it? I just see them waffling on the whole thing,” she said. The provincial government is also offering to nego-
PLANT
tiate powers over which they have no authority, she said. “How could they be making those offers when they don’t have jurisdiction over Indians and land reserves for Indians,” which are under the jurisdiction of the federal government, Erickson said.
  The tribal council is waiting to see how the government directs its treaty negotiators, based on the referendum results, before deciding whether to pull out of the treaty process or negotiate self-government directly with the federal government, she said. That decision will probably be made after a First Nations Summit meeting in Port Albemi in mid September.
  “I think there’s a potential for us to collectively walk away, all the First Nations in British Columbia. And there’s also an option to collectively litigate the constitutional issue,” Erickson said.
  Self-government proved one of the most contentious issues in the referendum process, and some First Nations predicted a yes vote could derail negotiations. Voters were asked whether aboriginal self-government should have the “characteristics of local government, with powers delegated from Canada and British Columbia.” Many First Nations are pushing for powers greater than a municipal-style model, arguing it’s a constitutionally-protected right that’s been upheld by the courts. Of B.C.’s 2.1 million eligible voters, 36% returned ballots, and the vast majority agreed with all eight negotiating principles posed by the provincial government.
                                                                                                Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Mary Lynn Wortman holds her American Eskimo dog, Sergei, who was attacked near their home in the Hart. Along with rib Injuries, Sergei's eye was wounded.
Vicious dog attack worries pet owner
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
Sergei, a small American Eskimo dog in Prince George, is recuperating after a rib-detaching, battering experience with a vicious attacker.
Mary Lynn Wortman, Sergei’s owner, said she was walking her 20-pound white dog on a pathway between Tim Hortons and Dagg Road in the Hart Highway area when it was suddenly attacked by a dog she describes as either a pit bull or a cross between a bulldog and a pit bull.
“It was about 8:30 p.m. Ttiesday when we were walking, and just as I reached the ditch, this dog jumped onto Sergei. The dog attacked viciously and was hanging on to Sergei in the throat area,” said Wortman.
The owner of the attacking dog “had to wrestle his own dog to the ground, jump on it, and punch it in the head to stop the attack,” she said.
“The owner ended up on the ground vomiting and gasping for air — like an asthma attack,” said Wortman, who then became concerned for the owner she described as a stocky man in his 40s
 with shoulder-length black hair thinning on top.
   Since Sergei was badly hurt, Wortman asked the man, who said he’d pay for Sergei’s veterinarian fees, for his name and address, but was given a “bogus” name and number by the owner.
   Wortman, who worries about dogs and kids encountering the pair, warns people in the area to be aware of the situation, and is asking anyone who witnessed the incident or knows the man and his dog to call the Animal Control Centre at 561-7622. Staff there are aware of the incident and are investigating.
   Sergei ended up battered and bruised with a rib detached from his spine and a damaged eye.
   “The vet told us we were lucky Sergei has such a thick coat or he would have a lot more body damage,” said Wortman, who noticed a number of people on balconies in a nearby apartment were watching the incident.
   So far it has cost Wortman $241 in vet fees, but it’s not over yet. One of the dog’s eyes is still swollen shut, but it’s too early to tell how bad the condition is, Wortman said.
                                                  INDEX
  Ann Landers.................34
  Bridge......................21
  Business ................38-40
  City, B.C.............3,5,7,13
  Classified ..............18-23
  Comics .....................28
  Coming Events................2
  Crossword ..................28
  Entertainment 25-27
  Horoscope ..................21
  Movies......................26
  Nation.......................6
  Sports ...................8-12
  Television..................27
  World....................14,15
Working nights tougher for guys than gals
          by JANICE TIBBETTS Southam Newspapers
    OTTAWA — Working the night shift takes its toll on men more than women, hurting personal relationships, causing chronic health problems, and making it harder for single guys to meet mates, says Statistics Canada.
    In an extensive survey released Thursday, the agency reported that the three out of 10 working Canadians who keep irregular job hours are sleep deprived, less healthy, drink and smoke heavily, experience marital woes and are stressed out compared with nine-to-fivers.
    But Statistics Canada found that women don’t suffer as much as men, partly because women are more likely
  to choose shift work to accommodate raising their children, while men say they have no choice.
    “The evening shift is especially problematic for men,” concluded Statistics Canada.
    According to Carolyn Schur, a Saskatoon shift-work consultant, men are dragged down more because of a tough-guy mentality in labour-intensive, blue-collar jobs that usually operate on shift work.
    “We still have a macho attitude about being able to work shift work and in the workplace there exists that John Wayne kind of philosophy, that you’ve just got to be tough,’’said Schur, author of the 1998 survival guide Working Round the Clock.
    “So for men, it’s much more difficult to say ' This is not working for me very well. I am having trouble sleeping and I’m having digestive problems’ because nobody wants to listen to it if you’re in an environment that’s primarily men.” Women, on the other hand, cope better because they have stronger support networks and they tend to talk about their problems more than men do, Schur speculated.
    Another explanation could be that women sleep more soundly and cope with sleep deprivation better than men, she said, citing a recent scientific study.
    A full 55 per cent of male night shift workers told Statistics Canada that they were single and had trouble finding love, compared with 33 per cent of men
  who work during the day.
    It was one of the biggest complain of men who work while others pla Women night workers did not repo more trouble finding partners than d their daytime counterparts.
    “Where do women tend to work night? Hospitals. They get to meet fir men and doctors and all kinds of pe pie coming through in their wor where men tend to manufacturin mining and transportation,” explain* Schur.
    Married men who did shift work al were more than twice as likely to ha' relationship problems, saying the partners didn’t understand ther weren’t committed to the relationsh or didn’t show enough affection.
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