Campbell made important commitments as opposition leader q

“We have had this position for
some time,” said the speaker. “We
don’t believe we should be exporting
fibre when have people that are
looking for work — when we are not
getting the kind of investment...”

“There’s no question that many
people have been forced to try and
get special permission from the
government to increase log exports
because of where government
policies were headed in British
Columbia. We want a competitive,
vital, forest industry in the province
and I don’t think log exports isa
vital component of that...,” he added.

Later, during a question and
answer period he was asked: “What
is your reaction to the TLA’s (Truck
Loggers Association’s) call for log
exports from both private and public
lands? Does your party have a
position that log exports from both
public and private lands are
essential to achieve freer trade in
forest products? That refers to the
Americans and finding an end (to
the softwood lumber dispute),” asked
the speaker.

“J know the Truck Loggers have
called for that. Our party’s position
has been that we are not in favour
of log exports. What we are in favour
of is an economic environment that
says to our mill operators and our
business owners is that they can be
successful in the province of British
Columbia.

“T can’t tell you how many people
have said we have to move to log
exports because we can’t do anything
in B.C. We want to change that. We
want people to be saying to us ‘Yes,
we are going to use our product the
best way we can.’ Until we’ve reached
that stage, I’m not in favour of log
exports,” said the feature speaker.

‘That was Liberal opposition leader
Gordon Campbell, at the annual

Truck Loggers Association
convention in Vancouver January
2000.

Not long before, the TLA had
made a submission to the Forest
Policy Review commission headed

e In January of 2000 Mr. Campbell
said he wanted I.W.A. members to
have growing pay cheques, spoke
against log exports, and said no to
privatizing Crown lands.

by Jobs and Timber Advocate Garry
Wouters, calling for free log exports
from the province.

On another big issue of tenure
reform and the privatization of
Crown land in the province Mr.
Campbell was clear.

The question: “What is your feeling
towards the government offering
more Crown lands for privatization?”

Said Campbell: “I think the tenure

Photo courtesy HEU

issue that we've all identified, you've
identified across the province is one
that I’m looking forward to getting
Mr. Wouters’ report on.

“I am not some one who says we
should go out and disperse our public
assets. I do think that what we have
to do is provide for long-term security
so that we can encourage the kind
of private sector investment that’s
necessary to maximize the
productivity of the land-base.

“J know that in other areas we
have identified where there's four
times more put into the land-base
and intensive silviculture and land
that (in) the province of British
Columbia. That’s the kind of private
sector investment that we want to
find and I think we can do that.

“Pm not someone who says ‘let’s
go and sell off the Crown lands,”
said Campbell. Be

When Campbell was in opposition
he said those words. More than one
I.W.A. member at the TLA
convention probably looked on those
comments favourably.

However it didn’t take long,
following the Liberals’ overwhelming
election win on May 16, 2001, for
Campbell and his government to
appoint Peter Pearse, the author of
a Royal Commission on the forest
industry, to do an analysis of what
he thinks is wrong with government
polices on the B.C. coast.

Appointed by government in mid-
September, Pearse said he will be
“looking very closely at those
regulations that make it difficult to
create an efficient industry here.”

At least two of those regulations
that Pearse views as flawed are log
export restrictions (on both federal
and public lands) and the tenure
system.

Pearse believes, according to the
Vancouver Sun, that “regulations

that tie timber to local
manufacturing facilities with the
purpose of creating community

stability” are flawed.
The article pointed out that aay
layers in the coastal industry woul

ike to have a “market-based”
stumpage system where about half
of the coastal harvest would be sold
on the open market.

Pearse also remarked in the article
that the result would be a smaller
industry, less restricted by
government regulations. That could
very well mean fewer jobs.

But at the 2000 TLA convention,
Campbell said a Liberal government
would establish a working forest
land-base that would secure more
jobs, not less. On that working forest
ec base he said a Liberal
government would establish “timber
targets.”

“With those timber targets we
can increase productivity and when
we can increase productivity of the
land, we increase the number of
jobs and we increase security for
communities,” he said.

So union members can think about
what might come and what was said.

At the TLA, Campbell said he was
on the side of working people.

“Since 1995, as I mentioned, we
watched as 20,000 people have lost.
their jobs in the forest industry,” he
said, a statistic far-fetched by any
measure.

“There’s a whole bunch of these
people that beloue to a union. I
understand it’s called the I.W.A.
We're on their side,” he added.

“The (NDP) government said they
were on their side and they lost
their jobs. We want those people
back at work. We want union
workers to have growing pay
checuees We want them to have a
bright future,” said Campbell. a

LW.AA. locals

continued from page seven

In the joint press release Fisher
joined Brothers Carroll and Davies
to denounce the policy changes being
brought on by the Liberals.

“We’re now feeling the pain
because of the actions of the U.S.
Commerce Department and the
American softwood lobby. However,
the changes the British Columbia
government could be making would
be equally destructive to small
communities and workers,” stated
Fisher.

“We hope the government will
consult more directly on these
pending changes and not just give
lip-service. We’re not interested in
turning the clock back and having
these changes adversely affect us
over the long haul,” he concluded.

ON THE PRAIRIES

In Alberta the effects of anti-
dumping are yet to be measured.
Canfor’s Hines Creek and Tolko
High Level are going on all cylinders
as are Weyerhaeuser sawmills in
Drayton Valley and Grande Cache.

Weldwood Hinton bush crews are
also on the job.

“When you see duties of these
levels it’s probably just a matter of
time before they affect our
operations,” said Local 1-207
president Mike Pisak. “We’re deeply
concerned about this.”

Saskatchewan Local 1-184 Paul
Hallen said that “we are already
concerned about the countervail
duty and to add the anti-dumping
to that makes it overwhelming.”

The local membership at
Meyarhaeuscr sawmills in Big River
and Carrot River, are already taking
down time in late 2001 (see article

_——————————

.UMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 2001

page 16).

A meeting with Norsask on
November 2, revealed that the
company plans to maintain
production levels until Christmas,
and is uncertain about what will
follow.

In Manitoba, Local 324 reports
that the Tolko mill in The Pas
indefinitely laid-off 300 I.W.A.
members on November 7.

“We’ve asked the company for a
return date and they won’t give us
one. They also won’t say what shift
configuration will be coming back,”
said financial secretary Doug
Northcott.

“We get concerned for some of the
younger members especially people
in higher personal debt-load
situations. Older members are
generally more financially stable to
withstand layoffs,” he added.

The company gave countervailing
and anti-dumping levies and market
conditions and the price of lumber
as the reasons for the shutdown.

Woodlands crews are working
where provincial forestry regulations
have been relaxed to let loggers
leave a 4” top in the bush. Areas
where they may leave a 3” top, many
of which are closer to The Pas, have
been down since October 26.

Brother Northcott hopes that
there will be a move to put crews
back to work that are operating in
the 3” top areas with the utilization
of the tops in the Tolko pulp mill for
chipping.

Elsewhere in the local, Roblin
Forest Products in Roblin, is in a
devant situation. Perimeter Lumber
of Winnipeg, which exports
hardwood and high-value softwood,
also has laid off part of the crew
because the of the softwood CVD
and anti-dumping tariffs.

“This is ridiculous because the
softwood they sell is priced in excess

of $2,000 per 1000 board feet and is
not used in housing construction,”
said Brother Northcott.

IN NORTHERN ONTARIO

Thunder Bay Local 2693 president
Joe Hanlon, said the union hasn’t
heard anything from employers yet,
but that he expects to soon.

The local is in contract
negotiations with Buchanan Forest
Products at the company’s mills in
McKenzie and Atikokan.

“The Buchanan management is
telling us they have no time to
negotiate right now as they are fully
focused on the softwood lumber
issue, trying to resolve market
problems and deal with the
countervail and anti-dumping
duties,” said Brother Hanlon.

“These duties are extremely
serious for us if they stay on for any
length of time — we’re going to be
faced with some very tough
situations,” he said, noting that the
local expects a hard set of
negotiations with Domtar at the
company’s mill in White River.

In other news, Longlac Wood
Industries’ plywood and waferboard
plants have announced indefinite
down time starting November 9 as
a result of what the company claims
are lack of markets and competition.
Approximately 450 union members
are affected.

The Weyerhaeuser plywood plant
in Nipigon closed in mid-November
until the rest of the year, throwing
175 members on the unemployment
roles.

In Local 2995, president Damien
Roy said 88 I.W.A. members at
Tembec’s Kirkland Lake sawmill
were advised on November 5 that
there will be a shutdown until mid-
January. The company was hit with
a 10.76 percent anti-dumping duty

and claims that the Kirkland Lake
operation is not economically viable.
The company also informed the
I.W.A. that, during the next couple
of years, it intends to reduce the
total number of production lines at
it Ontario mills from 11 to 6.

At the other operations in Hearst,
Timmins and Cochrane there are no
special requests of the company.

The local will start sawmill
negotiations with the Domtar
Timmins and Lecours Lumber in
Calstock after Christmas.

In north central Ontario Local
1000 president Joe da Costa reported
that things are moving along as per
usual.

The Tembec Mattawa sawmill,
which cuts both softwood and
hardwood, is ticking along.

“It could change but it hasn’t yet,”
commented Brother da Costa.

IN NEW BRUNSWICK

Even though the Maritime
provinces were exempt from the
CVD in mid-August, they have also
been hit by the anti-dumping levies.

“The U.S. seems to want
everything their own way and don’t
want to cooperate,” said Local 306
president Pat Hogan.

The local started negotiations for
a first collective agreement wit!
Lakeburn Lumber at Dieppe, near
the Moncton airport. Contract talks
started in May. In September both
sides met with a mediator to no
avail and the local is preparing for a
strike vote.

Hogan said the Canadian
government should slap duties on
exports of raw resources to the U.S.

“We support the rest of Canada
on this matter even tough we were
exempt from the countervail duty,”
added the local union president. m

|

2@