Vote reform confusing, poll finds /5 Doctors make hepatitis discovery /7
Saskatchewan leads youth movement at Scott /11

CITIZEN
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
trucking rates, said many of those present. Some of the truckers spoke coldly of their trust in the contractors to negotiate a better deal for them. Many were openly hostile about the lack of improvement over the years, and lay the blame as much on the contractors as on the mills. "Look at the rates over the last four years and you will see they have not been stagnant. They have gone up a little each year," said Troy Young of LTN Contracting. "Why do you think that is? It's not much, but is that out of the generosity of Canfor's heart? No. We had to fight for that for you, and for the fuel rates and whatever you tell us is important for your business." Some of the truckers at the meeting were of the opinion that a union approach was better to take. Cut the contractor out of the equation and negotiate one rate for all with Canfor, knowing that would essentially force other mills to pay similar rates. The United Steelworkers/IWA has been lending some help to the truckers' job action, but the union was not invited to the meeting. Privately, some of the Canfor contractors confided that Canfor refuses to deal with the Prince George Truckers Association because of its ties to established unions and would likely close off all negotiations if the union took an aggressive role in talks. Young explained that he and the other contractors prefer dealing with the truckers within their own contracts and hope the truckers don't circumvent the process by going directly to Canfor. "Some of the experiences we've seen in other

PRINCE GEORGE

Royal controversy surrounds princess /15

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2005

80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 57 CENTS A DAY)

Log drivers air grievances
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff Contractors who supply logs to Canfor called a meeting Monday afternoon to hear from the logging truck drivers who deliver the wood to the forest company. They packed the Bon Voyage Motor Inn banquet room and spilled out into the parking lot, and they were not happy. "Just the same old (expletive) they tried to feed us last night," grumbled one trucker. The contractors were there to tell the truckers about an offer of a raise negotiated with Canfor. There were a lot of numbers and conditions, but the main point was a 10.89-per-cent increase on the base rate paid to log haulers from Canfor. That and a promise from the contractors to waive all future administration fees and open the books on the trucking aspect of their contracts so the truckers could see the flow-through from Canfor. "It will be transparent. You will see the same contract we see, and you will also see our commitment to waive the administration fees," said Terry O'Neill, one of the key contractors at the meeting. "That is our commitment to you. I am not backing them (Canfor) up. I see through it, too. They say their rates are market driven and there is no movement from them. They will not let us see the formula they use to arrive at the rates they pay truckers." The truckers have formulas, too, and their numbers show an increasing debt with no hope of profit, ever, if the Canfor figures are used to determine

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

Logging contractors met with truckers Monday at the Bon Voyage Inn to explain Canfor's offered raise.
parts of B.C., where they do that sort of thing, shows us it is harder to do our business under those conditions," he said. "It is harder to direct cash flow, it is harder to have control over what is happening out there on the worksite. We know the truckers have a problem with the rates, a lot of us have trucks of our own, and we feel that, too. We think we can get things done, we just need to stick together and make a plan with the input of the truckers." A survey was handed out to the truckers, asking for direction the contractors can take with Canfor. One of the options on the table is mediation or arbitration in which an independent, binding decision is made on whose numbers are most fair. "You can have all the input you need in that case, and I expect that kind of examination of the numbers would terrify Canfor," said O'Neill. "But what we need to know soon is whether we should roll the lowbeds out and shut everything down, or should we continue working at this?" The answer from the truckers is still pending, but picket lines are still up all over the area.

Contractors blame Canfor for setting hauling rates
Citizen staff Logging contractors say they are caught in the middle of a financial battle between area mills and log haulers. Right now, a mill hires a contractor to cut down trees, knock the limbs off and haul the logs to the mill. The mill draws up a formula for how much money it will pay for each part of the process, including the trucking. The contractor then has to make that work with the people and equipment he or she hires. "This is not our fault. It's not us. This is Canfor with their propaganda trying to slough off the blame onto us," said Ian Beetlestone, a local contractor who hires seven trucks for his logging enterprise on the Finlay Forest Mainline Road. His contract is with Abitibi Consolidated in Mackenzie. "Canfor is saying in the public that the contractors set the rates for the trucks. It's not true. That rate is determined by the mills themselves whether we like it or not, and as a contractor I have to say `get off our backs,'" Beetlestone said. He admits that in the past there were cases of contractors giving their drivers less money than the rate supplied by the mill, but that was an old practice. The rates are now so out of line with costs these days, that there would be no way to skim off the top and have anything left for the truckers. "It would be an easy lie to catch," Beetlestone said. "Those drivers all know each other, they know the contractors, they talk all the time, they are up and down the roads all the time and they know very well who gets paid what. You'd never get away with it if you tried to cheat them." -- See related story on page 3

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

ROUGH CRASH -- A wrecker operator hooks up a vehicle to tow it away after the vehicle was involved in a single-vehicle rollover accident Monday on Eton Street.

High : 3 Low : -12 page 2

Art group wants city to forgive debt
by MARK NIELSEN and national corporations, don't want to Citizen staff put any new money into an old camThe Prince George Regional Art Gallery paign. Association is asking city council to forgive "They don't perceive that they are getthe $243,000 it still owes on construction ting bang for their buck," he said. of the Two Rivers Art Gallery. Coun. Sherry Sethen suggested increasIn a presentation to city council on Moning the gallery's rent to the city as a way day night, delegates from the association to transfer the debt to the operating side said that after raising most of the $1.3 milof the books and get it paid back that lion it had pledged to contribute to the way over several years. $5.1-million project, which was completed However, Thompson said money for in 2000, it has hit a wall. operations, which comes largely from the SETHEN After anticipating contributions would federal and provincial governments, exceed the goal by about $120,000, the association tends to be project-oriented. instead found itself in a shortfall. "When you write up the project, they want to "Most of the uncollected pledges come from com- fund actual services delivered to the community. panies and, for various reasons, these pledges are They are not going to be as enthusiastic about now considered not collectible," said Anne Martin, funding lease costs," he said. a past chair of the association. Council members responded with a mixture of Outst anding pledges range from $500 to reluctance and resignation. They voted to ask staff $100,000, and three of the businesses have since to work with the association to come back with gone bankrupt, she later added. some alternate options, but also conceded those Art gallery business manager Peter Thompson possibilities may be few. said the debt is hindering Two Rivers' ability to get "This is an extreme challenge and in advance I capital funding because the sources, mostly local don't know what options are there for us," said Coun. Dan Rogers. "I suspect we will be back in the same realm we are in today, that we have to make a difficult decision." Mayor Colin Kinsley also said it will be a tough item to tackle "because, it's been said a thousand times, but you can't squeeze blood out of a stone." Rogers raised turning to the Fraser-Fort George Regional ROGERS District as a possible route, but Coun. Don Zurowski noted that the regional district has already set aside an extra $220,000 in contingency funds for cultural activities, most of which are in Prince George. In November, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra asked for a one-time grant of $100,000 to cover off most of its $117,000 debt owed in accounts payable and to double the annual operating grant from the city to $60,000. A staff report on the issue is expected to come to council sometime in February during budget discussions.

INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . .17 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . .3,5,7, 13 Classified . . . . . . . . . . .18-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Coming Events . . . . . . . . . . .2 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . .17 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14,15

0

58307

00100

8

Your new way to go
Edmonton $
FREE FLIGHTS! DETAILS ON
Departures are from Prince George. One way web fares. Taxes and surcharge extra. Subject to availability. Visit jetsgo.net for details.

104

Saskatoon $149 Toronto $207

Winnipeg $179

Pay a little. Fly a lot.
44429654

SWITCHBOARD: 562-2441

CLASSIFIED: 562-6666

READER SALES: 562-3301