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Forest groups ponder cut to hours for truckers
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The Central Interior Logging Association is preparing a position on new federal regulations that reduce the number of hours truckers can work. The position will try to balance the need for safety while retaining truckers' ability to make a living, says Roy Nagel, the association's general manager. The revised National Safety Code -- which reduces the number of hours truckers can operate to 13 hours from 14 -- goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2007. The revisions also increase the the rest time truckers must take to 10 hours each day from eight. Each day must also end with eight consecutive hours off. Cycle times have been simplified as well. The maximum amount of time that can be worked in a given week is 70 hours, or 120 hours in two weeks. Currently, log truckers in B.C. are exempted from the existing National Safety Code provisions. The exemptions allow log truckers to drive 15 hours a day. The exemptions also place no restriction on the number of hours per week log truckers can accumulate as long as they travel within a 400-kilometre radius from their home base, and return to it to sleep. It means truckers can work seven days a week, up to 105 hours a week. In fact, there's nothing preventing a log trucker from working 30 days in a row or more. There is some question, particularly given a heightened focus on safety in the forestry sector in B.C., whether the exemptions will remain in place or the province will adopt another position. Last year, the death toll in the forest sector reached 43, including three truckers who died in crashes in the Northern Interior. Nagel said the CILA has been asked for input. "There's a natural tendency by a lot of truckers to say, `We don't want to lose any hours,' but there's also the safety consideration that fatigue is cumulative, and sleep deprivation really does cut into your efficiency and potentially jeopardizes your safety," explained Nagel. He said the association -- which includes logging contractors and truckers -- has been working on the hours of service issue for several months. They expect to have their input ready later this month, which will be provided both to the federal and provincial governments. Nagel said, perhaps, consideration should be given to limiting log truckers to five days a week. That, however, would also entail finding a way to lengthen the log trucking season, he said. The log trucking window has shrunk in the past decade under economic, environmental and regulatory pressures. It has created a situation where truckers, already in short supply, must bring in huge amount of timber in the Northern Interior in short periods of time. It also leads companies to hire truckers from outside the region, particularly during the busy winter season. The long hours, the long-working week and compressed season makes it hard to attract new drivers, said Nagel. Carving out new hours of service may be the opportunity to make the industry more attractive to new entrants as well as making it safer, he said. "But we have to find a way to make sure we can still get these guys enough hours, enough days to earn a living, even though the number of hours in the day and the number of days in the week could be changing," said Nagel. -- See INPUT on page 3

Rona eyes store spot
Citizen staff Rona, the Canadian home improvement retail giant, has submitted an application for a development permit to build a big-box outlet at Recreation Place, Dan Milburn, the city's current planning manager, confirmed Tuesday, According to the application, the footprint for the store's main building would be about 82,000 square feet and a garden centre would cover an additional 19,000 square feet. It would be located in the centre of the 18.5-acre Recreation Place site, at the northwest corner of Ferry Avenue and Highway 16 (across from Superstore). The city's advisory design panel will review the submission today, Milburn said, and depending on the complexity of the application, a permit may be issued in three to five weeks. Rona president Robert Dutton said in a Citizen story Feb. 4 that Prince George would be one of six B.C. communities where the company would build a store this year. Coquitlam, Burnaby, Squamish and Kamloops were named as the other destinations for the Quebec-based company, which has 39 stores in the province and posted $341.5 million in sales last year. Rona and U.S.-based Home Depot, which has a 95,000square-foot retail store and an 18,000-square-foot garden centre at Westgate, both claim about 15 per cent of the Canadian market.

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

LOG SPILL -- A logging truck spilled its load on the Old Cariboo Highway on Tuesday morning. The logs rolled far enough into the ditch that they took out a wire fence alongside Prince George Airport lands. There was no report of injuries.

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Mining sector draws Asian interest
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff Asia's interest in B.C. mining, particularly from China, stood out at a major investment trade show in Toronto that attracted more than 13,000 people, B.C. Mining Minister Bill Bennett said Tuesday. Bennett met with Chinese mining delegates at a breakfast at the Prospectors Development Association Conference, and also met with Japanese bankers, as well as representatives of a Chinese copper company. The Chinese are interested in importing B.C.'s mining know-how, but also in investing in the province's mining projects, Bennett told reporters on a conference call from Toronto. "That's a great opportunity for us," he said. While the province's mining sector languished in the '90s, recently it has experienced a resurgence, particularly in northern B.C. Spending in mineral exploration in the province reached $220 million in 2005, most of that in northern and central B.C., marking the best year in exploration in more than a decade. Investment was up 70 per cent from 2004 and is nearly 10 times higher than the $29 million spent in 2001. Industry representatives said there's renewed interest in B.C. Association for Mineral Exploration B.C. executive director Dan Jepsen pointed out that B.C.'s share of mineral exploration f inancing in Canada jumped to 14 per cent in 2005, compared to seven per cent four or five years ago. He credited the upswing in part to favourable government policy. The gover nment has enBENNETT hanced the flow-through share program, eliminated the provincial sales tax on mining machinery and equipment and reduced red tape. Mining Association of B.C. president Michael McPhee said in the early 1980s there were 30 operating mines in B.C. employing 15,000 people. That's down to 17 operating mines employing 7,000 people. But there are now 25 major projects under consideration, said McPhee. Even if half of them get into production, that would restore mining to the 1980 levels, he said. Leading projects in northern B.C. include Nova Gold's Galore Creek gold and cooper project and Northgate Mineral's expansion of its Kemess gold and copper mine. Northgate's proposed $200-million project includes a second open pit and expanded production facilities at the Kemess Creek site, 425 kilometres northwest of Prince George. The project is in the midst of a high-level environmental review by the federal and provincial governments. Galore Creek CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse said they plan to enter the environmental process soon, likely this month. The $1.2-billion proposed mine in northwest B.C. has the backing of the Tahltan First Nation, said chief Jerry Asp. The First Nation has signed a benefits agreement for the project, which included a $250,000 signing bonus, and $1 million a year in revenue when the mine is operating. That money will be put into a heritage trust fund, said Asp. The agreement also promises jobs and employment training, he said. That kind of relationship is critical to successful development of mines, said Jepsen, the head of the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C. It's not possible to build a mine today without the support of the local communities and First Nations, he said. ghoekstra@princegeorgecitizen.com

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INDEX
Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .28-30 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . .3,5,6,13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 19-22 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 18 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7,14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-11 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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