ast

récently as the result of a fong. standing ae with the. .
Ministry of Environment. It seems that aresidential atea |
had. grown up around the once-isolated operation, and
the owner failed to find an acceptable method for deal-
ing with large volumes of chicken manure and other
detritus. The hammer came down in February.
Interestingly, Sam Kinkead was put: on’ probation
* rather than being hit with a crippling’ fine or. a jail term.

. The week prior to that court case, the Ministry of En- .

vironment announced the addition of four new positions
in the Skeena region’ for the. purpose of bringing
violators into compliance. At that ‘time the ‘ministry
issued a list of priority polluters, all of whom had been
exceeding their emission standards for a long time. ©
During that same week an accidéntal spill occurred: at
the Eurocan Pulp: and Paper operation in Kitimat, with
an indeterminate amount of toxic mill effluent spilled in-
to the Douglas Channel. Results of the Ministry of En-
_vironment investigation are not yet available; a penalty

i ° ail probably take the form of a fine.

In all these cases, if past precedents are any indica-

tion, the violators involved, whether a pulp mill or a —

chicken farm, will. be: given every last opportunity to
comply with environment regulations and remain in
business. That’s good for the region, in the sense that it
doesn’t damage the economy.

- But there’s also the question of what’s’ actually going

to work in terms of a deterrent to fouling the air and-

water. The probation order against Kinkead may just be
a run-up to a jail sentence or a total shutdown of his
business if he doesn’t set things in order. It’s hard to im-
agine anything that absolute happening to ‘Eurocan,
Skeena Cellulose, Westar or, for that matter, the City of
Prince Rupert, all of whom. have been fingered by the
ministry as chronic environmental nuisances.

Fines certainly have an effect on large companies, but

up to this point balance sheets would dictate that viola-
tion is cheaper than compliance when compared to the
cost of pollution control modifications. The danger may
be that multinationals have the option of relocating if

ia the cost becomes too prohibitive; Sam Kinkead
8 ufealistically has no such option.
#« A scenario that occurs to us isthe prospect of having.

the board of. directors for'a multinational corporate

polluter appearing in court to be put under probation
orders, but that development seems as unlikely (effective as
it might be).

ylerirace

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Piease inc r ciocnone
Seer. td wat it

it WE. .

The view from Victoria .

- by John Pifer

VICTORIA — So just what. is
the “permanent forest
resources commission’? all
about, you ask? And will it —

- solve some of the problems

within the province’s largest
revenue-producing industry?

In answer to my second
question, it might. But already
the critics are dumping on the
commission of inquiry before it
has been given a chance to ©
operate — even if they have
some salient points to make,
such instant attacks are all too
common in politics today, I’m
afraid. . ;

Anyway, to question one _—
the commission has been. set up
to review all aspects of the in-
dustry and:to advise the forests
minister, Terrace’s own Dave
Parker, Skeena MLA, himself
a registered professional

forester.

“Its initial tasks will be to
review the effectiveness of tree
farm licenses as a form of
tenure, to recommend ways to
improve public participation in
forest planning and manage-
ment, and to review logging

. practices, especially clear- .

cutting, and their impact on the
environment.

‘Tts overall mandate will be to
provide policy advice, to under--

take special investigations on
various areas of forest opera-
tions and’ management, and to
set up independent task forces
to look at specific concerns,
says Parker. _

Now, that all sounds very
good and noble, and may at
least be a partial answer to the

growing cry for a royal com-

mission into the troubled in-

dustry. But what’s riled the op-
ponents the most is the fact
that the commission appears

not to be truly independent,
‘despite government claims to

the contrary. |

It answers to Parker only. -

and it-will be he who directs -
the 11-member group as to. - -
what areas need its attention,

rather than the commission set

ting its own agenda. ;
' NDP forests critic Dan’ « -

_TRSOINNS OF ONDE.
\ie can. [

... if they find they are hamstrung ‘poeta fs
of dant control from the top, some. of: them’

4

might not like it, and-might say so “publicly.”

Miller of Prince Rupert says

- the permanent watchdog falls

far short of a royal commission
overhaul that is needed; and it
is merely ‘‘on a Socred leash’.
Sierra Club president Peter -
McAllister, known as “‘the
chief tree-hugger’’ by many
loggers and industry officials,

says the whole set-up “‘is a very ©
_ weak response to the public’s -

angry call for a royal commis-

‘sion... (and) it reeks. of com-

promise.’’.

He's also miffed. that: none
of the major environmental
groups are represented,

although there are a couple of
- commissioners with links to the

B.C, Wildlife Federation and -
the Federation of Mountain
Clubs of BC. 2 :.

There are some notable peo-
ple on the commission, but if
they find they are hamstrung

’ because of tight contro! from

the top (i.e. Parker), ‘some of -
them might not like it, and .
might say so publicly. (There's
a list of who’s involved at the
end of this.column).

“What's thé difference be-

- tween this advisory group and

a fuli-fledged royal commis-

sion? Well, one notable fact is -

that government may, and.
often has, ignored recommen-

- dations from a royal probe,
- ‘thus wasting millions more of .

our taxpaying dollars.

But that might be worth the
tisk to have the public'believe.
the teview of an industry is
completely independent. and

-aboveboard. It is not for me to.

suggest that this latest move-is

-. purely political, or that it will

be ineffective — I’ll hold back
on any such suggestion until
it’s tackled a few major issues.
(For the record, the commis-
sioners include: as chairman,

"+ arbitrator Don Munroe, 42,

chairman of the B.C, Labour |

'. Relations Bord from 1976 to
1981; former’ B.C. lieutenant- -
governor | Robert Rogers, A Loe

* former industry senior éx-

ecutive, and past chairman of
the Canadian Forestry Ad-
visory Council; feisty IWA |
Canada president Jack Munro,

"an outspoken critic of forest .
management issues in the prov- oe

ince; Robert. Kennedy, dean of
forestry at the University of
British Columbia since 1983;.
and Peter Burns, dean of the
law faculty at UBC, ©
(There.are also Roger
Freeman, professor of

_psychiatry at UBC and chair-_ —
man. of the recreation and con: |
‘servation committee of the

Federation of Mountain. os

of B.C,, who has: written —

several books on hiking trails:
in B.C. and Arizona; Joyce

‘Harder, major of Lillooet, a ~ |

businesswoman and pilot who’

spearheaded the drive to have —

Lillooet declared the forestry .
capital of B.C.; Carmen Purdy,
industrial relations manager for .
Crestbrook Forest Industries
near Cranbrook, and former -

- president of the B.C. Wildlife

Federation; former B.C.

agriculture minister Cyril Shel-

ford, who recently conducted.

.. inquiries into the management. eee
” of peregrine falcons in B.C.
_and into the B.C. Milk Board; -
professional forester John —

Szauer of Williams Lake,

- recently retired as-regional :’
manager of the Cariboo Forest os

Region, who now acts as a

_ forestry consultant; and Matt
. Vickers, executive director of .
the Gitskan Wet’suwet’en gov-
‘ernment commission in. oS
Hazelton, a civil engineering
- technologist).

-‘P'it refrain from making any a

quip about it not being surpris-
ing to find a psychiatrist in-
volved with this lot; but it

- would seem to be evident that
having some healthy skepticism
about the effectiveness of this
latest move in our most crucial -
industry is displaying | common

- - semise, not. a phobia..

"Stay tuned.

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