Ruth Rendel still thrilling suspense readers /27
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2005

Aniston sues Surgery can over invasive help epileptic photos /16 seizures /25

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80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 59 CENTS A DAY)

U.S. to slash lumber tariffs
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The U.S. is set to cut the tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports in half before the end of December, the biggest drop in the duties since their inception more than three years ago. The new combined countervailing and anti-dumping tariff will be 10.81 per cent, down from 20.15 per cent "This is a very positive step forward as Canada fights to have the illegal duties reduced to zero," B.C. Lumber Trade Council president John Allan said Tuesday. Allan said the new combined duty rate will save B.C. softwood lumber producers about $250 million US per year. The U.S. Commerce Department is reducing the tariffs after an administrative review from the spring of 2003 to the spring of 2004. The first administrative review reduced the tariffs to 20.15 per cent from 27.22 per cent. Canada's International Trade Ministry said the decision may bring some relief to Canadian softwood lumber exporters. However, the federal minister said it is important to remember that the U.S. is legally obligated to return tariffs and stop all administrative reviews after Canada's win of an extraordinary challenge under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. has ignored that ruling -- over whether Canadian lumber posed a threat to the American lumber industry -- instead saying a World Trade Organization decision held more weight. The long-running trade dispute is a major issue for B.C.'s Northern Interior, the largest softwood lumber-producing region in Canada. In Prince George there are more than 10 lumber plants supporting thousands of jobs. Some companies in B.C., like West Fraser, have said Canada should continue its legal fight, while other companies, like Canfor, have said the focus should be on a negotiated solution. Both companies have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in tariffs. Canada has steadily improved its position in the fight with victories before trade panels. At the November, the Department of Commerce issued a new original subsidy rate following a series of decisions from a NAFTA panel on appeals from Canada. It dropped the subsidy rate below one per cent, which should end the countervailing portion of the tariff case, Canadian and industry officials maintain. The U.S. has a history of challenging the decisions. In the latest move, the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports launched a constitutional challenge of NAFTA's dispute settlement system to contest the threat of injury decision.

Forecast calls for average December
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff While most regions of Canada will likely experience a bitterly cold December, Prince George should be spared the worst weather and experience normal temperatures and snowfall, a forecaster says. Environment Canada meteorologist Jim Steele said the predicted colder-than-average weather will affect southeastern B.C.; the southern portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; Ontario; and western Quebec. However, chances are better than 60 per cent that temperatures will be near normal in Prince George, he said. Southwestern B.C., the North Coast, the Peace region and the far northern parts of the province such as Fort Nelson and Muncho Lake will actually have warmer temperatures than normal, Steele said Tuesday. Normally the average low in Prince George during December is -11.7 Celsius, and the typical daily high temperature is -4.6. The normal mean temperature for December in Prince George -- the average of all highs and lows -- is -7.8. Normal precipitation for the month in the city includes 54 centimetres of snow and 7.5 millimetres of rain, Steele said. December started out colder than normal in Prince George, but it is expected to warm up considerably during the next few days, he said. Monday morning's low was -21, and Tuesday's was -18. However, daytime highs are predicted to increase to -9 today, -2 Thursday and between zero and two above Friday and Saturday, Steele said.

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

Horses stand in the fresh snow on a farm along the Upper Mud River Road.

High : -10 Low : -11 page 2

Two CN trains derail in a day
RICHMOND (CP) -- CN Rail is facing more questions after two derailments in a single day, including one on the trouble-prone former B.C. Rail line north of Vancouver and another that sent a car loaded with new automobiles into the Fraser River. The accidents happened within hours of each other on Monday, and while CN said there is no evident connection, critics want federal regulators to take a closer look at the railway's record and rail safety overall. The first accident took place Monday afternoon when seven empty cars of a 125-car train jumped the tracks in the Cheakamus Canyon north of Squamish. It's the same stretch of former B.C. Rail line where a tank car loaded with a caustic soda broke open after plunging into the Cheakamus River last summer, causing a serious fish-kill. CN, which acquired the B.C. Rail operation from the provincial government in 2003, has experienced 11 derailments on the line so far this year. On Monday evening, four cars of a 39-car northbound train carrying new autos derailed while crossing a swinging trestle over the Fraser River into the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby from an industrial area in neighbouring Richmond. "The train was almost across the bridge," said Graham Dallas, CN's regional communications manager. "Three of them derailed upright on the bridge. The last car in the train, however, fell off the bridge into the water." The surviving derailed cars sat stranded at the north end of the bridge while CN workers and employees from salvage and environmental-response contractors worked on the wreck site. A containment boom surrounded the submerged car near the riverbank while a massive crane on a barge prepared to lift it. Dallas said there's no real environmental concern. -- See CAUSE on page 3

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INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 26 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . .3,5,13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 18-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 16 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,15

Group tackling AIDS, drugs among aboriginals
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff An Aboriginal Youth in Crisis task force has been created to address the HIV/AIDS and intravenous drug use epidemic among First Nations people in Northern B.C. Dan George, president of Four Directions Management Services Ltd., will lead the task force. George said abor iginal people throughout Northern B.C. are forging ahead with their own action plan to identify, marshall and focus on the crisis at hand. The news comes in the wake of a Citizen story last week that showed HIV rates among aboriginals in the North have more than doubled during the past two years. "We can't keep up with it," said Catherine Baylis, an HIV/AIDS worker with Positive Living North. "We're getting one new client per week, and these are just the people who are connected to Positive Living North. There are a lot who don't come for services and don't even know they are infected," Baylis said. George is charged with "leading the task force in developing a political strategy to get decision-makers to recognize what a major issue this is." The task force needs to find ways to get policy and legislation changed to make the climate more favourable to deal with the multifaceted issues faced by the aboriginal population, said George, adding it will mean mobilizing both aboriginal and non-aboriginal politicians. He said there's major need for a service delivery strategy compiled of prevention, intervention and after-care support. "There's few detox beds and no treatment facilities for young people in Northern B.C.," he said. "If someone does want to get off drugs, there's nothing here for them, and they can't afford the cost to go south" said George. -- See MULTIPLE on page 3

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