Immigration protests rock U.S. cities /14
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2006

Arrests made Soccer coach in mass planning to murder /6 return /12

Paltrow gives birth to son /16

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Citizen photo by Dave Milne

BIRDS OF A FEATHER -- Two common goldeneye ducks beat the water as they take flight from Cluculz Creek. The warm weather has opened up area creeks, providing a haven for swans, geese and ducks returning for the summer.

Union favours less hours for log truckers
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The United Steelworkers union is adding its voice to a push to reduce the hours that log truckers work, saying long hours are endangering lives. The union says truckers must not be expected to work more than 12 hours a day, five days a week, a recommendation already made by t he Pr ince George Truckers Association. Forest sector representatives are taking positions on the number of hours log truckers should be allowed to work in reaction to federal regulations that come into force on Jan. 1, 2007. "The research is clear: Performance begins to degrade after eight hours on duty, so that when employers force inhumanely long hours, it's simply morally wrong," said United Steelworkers senior official Ron Corbeil. The union cited a study by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board that indicates fatigue contributes to truck crashes. The Steelworkers have put together a list of seven recommendations, including that truckers should have at least 12 hours off between shifts, and night shifts should be reduced to 10 hours. Corbeil and PGTA president Stan Wheeldon are in Victoria today to meet with transportation ministry officials on the hours of service. The Steelworkers and the trucking association joined forces last year to press for increased wages and improved working conditions. The province has been seeking input from forest sector groups on new National Safety Code provisions, which establish new hours-of-work restrictions for truckers. The federal regulations only automatically cover inter-provincial truckers, so the province has jurisdiction over log truckers who stay within B.C., and can decide what new rules, if any, to enact. The ministry said it expects to firm up a decision in late May. Log truckers in B.C. work in an environment that has some of the least restrictions on hours of service in Canada. Under exemptions OK'd at the provincial level in 1990 after lobbying by industry, log truckers are allowed to drive 15 hours a day, with no restrictions on the amount of hours per week as long as log truckers travel within a 400-kilometre radius of their home base, and return to it to sleep. It means truckers are currently allowed to work seven days a week, up to 105 hours a week. The new National Safety Code regulations call for restricting truckers to 13 hours of driving a day, plus one in-service hour per day, which is meant to cover areas like repairs and wait times. The maximum hours per week is set at 70 hours, and there must also be 36 hours consecutive rest time in each seven-day week. The B.C. Forest Safety Council is recommending that log truckers be allowed to drive up to 13 hours a day, plus two more hours for in-service, six days a week, up to 80 hours. Although the Steelworkers have a representative on the forest safety council -- which also includes forest companies and loggers -- the union said it's shocked the council has proposed hours for truckers that exceed the new federal regulations. Corbeil said he believes the council is not putting safety first. The Central Interior Logging Association supports the forest safety council's position, which it helped put together. CILA manager Roy Nagel, who is also a director on the forest safety council, said he doesn't believe there's enough hauling days to work 12 hours a day, which would mean more trucks would have to be brought into the region. Hauling days are impacted by wet roads -- during spring break-up and the fall -- and the province's forest practices regulations. Increasing the federal regulations by an extra in-service hour, and up to 80 hours a week, is an effort to increase safety, ensure truckers can make a living and allow mills to move logs efficiently, said Nagel. There are differing opinions, that vary by region, he noted. -- See NEW on page 3

Rankings disturb educators
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff The way Pr ince George high schools ranked in the Fraser Institute's annual comparison of B.C. secondaries does not concern local education authorities as much as the report itself. School District 57 board chair Bill Christie said it's no secret most of the private schools are ranked higher. "They are well subsidized, they also screen their applicants so they can limit their student body to high academic achievers, they focus on provincially examinable courses, so that can skew results greatly," he said. "Personally, I have to ask myself: is the Fraser Institute here to help public education or to knock it?" Bonnie Chappell, the district's director of school services, said the categories the Vancouver-based thinktank used to gauge school success depend too much on provincial exam results and other data specific to academics. She said schools in the North have many education paths a student can follow, so if some decide to take trades training instead of physics and algebra, that produces a lower Fraser Institute mark. "In West Vancouver, the percentage of students who take provincial exams is much higher than schools l i ke P G S S , s o yo u s e e h ow i t i s skewed towards t he universitybound student," said Chappell. "Schools are actually penalized in the rankings for having a successful trades program." Chappell also wonders why the institute uses gender difference as a statistical indicator, and then only in certain courses, when provincial statistics show that many subjects naturally attract males and females in varying numbers so success rates will be skewed. "Our schools look at attendance rates, discipline rates, satisfaction surveys from the ministry, and a lot of their own individual assessments, like parent consultations and aboriginal focus groups that are producing evidence to drive where we are going," Chappell said. -- See DISTRICT on page 3

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Tories plan softwood aid package
Bush -- who discussed the dispute recently during OTTAWA (CP) -- The federal Conservative govmeetings in Mexico -- are continuing efforts to ernment is preparing an aid package including find a resolution. loan guarantees for beleaguered softwood lumber The leaders are planning to meet later this producers, Trade Minister David Emerson said spring in Washington. Monday. But if the political discussions fall apart, Ottawa The assistance, which could include loan insurwants to have an aid package ready to put into ance or guarantees to help cash-starved lumber place, said Emerson. companies, should be ready soon for use if political Financial support for the domestic industry is a efforts aimed at solving the softwood trade dispute fall apart, Emerson said outside the House of Comdelicate subject, however. mons. The powerful U.S. lumber industry has based "There's been lots of work done in government much of its attack on softwood exports on its alleEMERSON gations that the Canadian industry is subsidized. on loan guarantees, loan insurance and that kind Those are charges promptly denied by Canadian producof thing," said Emerson, a former senior lumber executive with Canfor Corp. of Vancouver (TSX:CFP), Canada's ers, who -- besides the billions charged in U.S. duties -- have also been struggling with the high cost of energy and largest lumber producer. "I think it's fair to say that (Industry Minister Maxime) raw materials in recent years. Emerson acknowledged the delicate situation. Bernier is working with great dispatch to ensure that as and when we need that liquidity support, it will be ready." "The next short while is going to be critical and it's a time Emerson's comments follow campaign promises last win- where we're going to be cautious not to destabilize the relater by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives to of- tionship that is being cultivated with the United States but fer support to lumber producers sideswiped by the softwood at the same time, we are going to stand behind our industry both legally and financially," said Emerson. lumber dispute with the United States. The trade tiff has gone on for roughly four years and "It's a tight time frame." Harper also told the Commons during Question Period threatens exports of about $10 billion a year of Canadian softwood to the U.S. that the Conservatives were prepared to offer support to the Canadian companies have paid more than $5 billion in an- industry if negotiations with the U.S. are fruitless. Neither Canada nor the U.S. want to "destabilize" the curti-dumping and countervailing (anti-subsidies) duties as a result of the dispute, which previous governments have rent political atmosphere, where both sides seem willing to try to negotiate a softwood treaty to end the dispute, said tried and failed to solve. Emerson said that Harper and U.S. President George W. Emerson.

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

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8

April 5th to April 23rd

Professional Theatre
Living with a grandma like no other leads two boys to a year they will never forget.

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