COPs...sort of Concerned Terrace citizens are watching our backs and businesses. Free flow | Southside businesses "unite in worries about Twice golden Bantam lacrosse team wins provincial gold for \COMMUNITY B1 _ container port traffic \NEWS A12 | second time in two years \SPORTS B4 $1.00 PLUS 6¢ GST -” | ($1.10 plus 7¢ GST. outside of the Terrace area) By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN THE | PROVINCIAL . government is reluctant to -help the northwest woods look like a subsidy to the United: States, says forests - © minister Rich Coleman. . ~ And even‘a hint of a sub- sidy could damage the latest attempts to reach a softwood sales: agreement’ with the United States, Coleman add- ed while ona visit to Terrace last-week. — : Coleman is being lobbied by people in the forest sector to look at establishing a spe- ~ cial zone here that recogniz- es the high cost of extracting ‘trees and the low pulp qual- ‘ity’wood that makes up the timber profile here. They want the: province | to bear some of the burden. that makes logging here. sO ni S - expensive. - industry for fears it might — The idea of creating a spe- cial economic zone gained momentum: in 2000 after the NDP government ‘charged ‘Wes Cheston, a- former as- sistant” deputy minister for forestry to find- solutions ‘to . the lagging forest industry i in » the northwest, ° But Coleman says ° the concept is dangerously close ~ to appearing as‘a subsidy and that could threaten softwood talks with the Americans. .' The”: federal Conserva- ..- - we do our business has to be Coleman says. tive government does have a deal with the United States - but. legislation to bring “it ‘ eo! : ‘trarisparént,” eae www terracestandard.com Gov't wants to keep Yan Fear of softwood retaliation "if there’s, help for northwest into place has yet to be in- troduced... . As it is, a number of Ca- nadian companies oppose ‘the’ deal because of. its quota limitations. The federal government has said the deal, which also returns 80 per, cent of the tariff collected by the Amer- icans over the years, is. as. good as it is going to get, “Market pricing and how “We can’t get into an anti- countervailling fight.” -The market pricing sys- tem came into effect in the ‘northwest earlier this year and Coleman says it still needs time to reach an even: keel. “A special economic zone is not a panacea for anyone,” ' Coleman says, adding the market pricing system, » in time, will. get prices to the | point where they are viable. - If the-price is. too high, the market ‘will reflect that, ° he said. Aug. (Right) QUEEN Nellie and Captain Ed McFadden rode in style at the front of the pack in this year’s Riverboat Days parade Aug. 5. They were intro- duced at the opening ceremonies the night be- fore. The couple have lived in Terrace for 53 years and this year, will have been married for 65 years. © _ SARAH ARTIS PHOTO . DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO ws r Clowning around | (Above) MARGIE Koepke (left) and Kali Clark were — all smiles when while representing the’ Terrace. ~ Child Development Centre ‘Building Healthy Ba- bies’ Program in the 2006 Riverboat Days parade “Tf you don’t have: the bidders the ‘price comes down,” says Coleman. But given the current cli- _mate of a sky- high Canadian dollar and a soft: interna- ‘tional lumber market which has seen prices drop to well ‘below $300 per cubic metre, even if stumpage rates were “zero, Coleman‘says compa- _hies around the province are having trouble. - He points to major licens- . ‘ees such as Canfor tempo- ting shifts. at other places as “proof that the-whole indus- try isin trouble, not just in the northwest... — -Canfor cut one shift: at its - mill in Houston last ‘month and laid off more than 25 employees. “One CEO. of: a. _ major forest company said ‘you can give me free. wood and T still can’t make a dollar, " Coleman says. But locals are. arguing . those factors only. add to a: problem that has existed’in ~ this region. for more, than 30." years. .. The high logging costs and the low value for pulp quality wood have hampered | efforts by a long, line of for- Rich Coleman but failed to make a go of i it Cont'd Page A2- rarily closing mills and cut-’ - man of the board.’ “Maybe _ investors behind the com- . .» pany, many of -whom are § provincial Liberal support- ~’ tion to the issues facing the " northwest forest industry. ‘ raising a © . ZIMMERMAN | By SARAH A LAID-OFF sawmill worker is wondering if Terrace Lumber Company officials have been keeping quiet on the dismal state of forestry. operations in. the northwest for political reasons. Alan Chesterman, a plant chairman with the Steelworkers Union, says he’s raised the question with the executive on numerous oc- casions but hasn’t received an answer. ‘ ‘Why isn’t John Ryan est companies that have tried ill owners need to raisea ruckus, says union exec _ duty at the border and small companies such - as TLC can’t compete. “T would have thought it would be natural for the investors to be vocal about straight- ening out some of these problems and it just _ hasn’ t happened,” Chesterman says. - “You have the Mo Takhars and the John Ryans and they are staunch Liberals and maybe they don’t want to embarrass the gov- - ernment about the way. things are looking. .. “Why haven’ t the executive gone to gov- - ", emment and -asked them to. * . giving Premier “Campbell” - hell for the way he’s al- | lowed: the industry to be’ treated up here?” Chester- © man says of the TLC chair- he doesn’ t want to rock the boat”. See Chesterman believes the ers, are. shirking their: re-. sponsibility to. draw: atten- “It seems strange to me why these people aren’t ruckus about what’s going on here,” he oy says, adding ‘the © provincial government is helping the interior with incentives to har- ~ vest the beetle damaged trees, but. is: hot helping the northwest. . * He, and many others in the sector, believe it’s time the province did something to rec-. ’ .ognize the high extraction costs of pulp qual- ity timber in the region and the low value of ~ the wood on the market. - Those factors have been made worse over - the last six months when the Canadian dol- : Jar shot up and the US lumber market tanked - with prices falling below $300 per cubic me- - E tre. Couple that with a more than 20 per cent City appoints i ts own n tourism board Alan Cheatermian By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN THE CITY of Terrace has moved forward with its plan to form a new tourism body . by appointing the new group’s board of directors and holding its first meeting. Called Kermodei Tourism, the group is working on an interim budget which it will present to council at the next council meeting Aug. 14 followed by a budget for the 2007 year. That'll be submitted to council this fall. George Clarke, who owns Elan Travel, is the new group’s president. Local entre- preneur and Terrace Lumber Company principal John Ryan is vice president and business management consultant Rod Cox is treasurer. Sandy Glendenning ‘works for Stan- dard Radio and is one of three directors at large including local hotel manager. Doug Barrett and eco- tourism operator Fred Seiler. A director from the Regional District ~ of Kitimat-Stikine is expected to be ap- pointed at its Aug. 11 meeting in Hazel- — ton. Kermodei Tourism has already hired an interim employee to help with admin- istrative and managerial duties. That per- . son is Carol Fielding, the former presi- dent of the Terrace Tourism Society, who resigned after efforts made by the city to include that group in the reorganization of tourism delivery were not successful. Fielding is working part time out of the society’s temporary ‘home j in the of- fices of the Terrace Economic Develop-. ment Authority on Lakelse Ave. ~ The Terrace Tourism Society contin- ues to exist and is not participating in the - city’s decision to move forward and form ° a new body. : That group maintains it will continue marketing Terrace to the outside world, . and that business is going on as usual. Kermodei Tourism had originally planned to have. two seats filled by rep- | " resentatives of the accommodation sector in Terrace but the Terrace Hotel and Mo- tel Association which represents hotels and motels which collect the additional two per cent hotel tax, declined making an appointment. But. the society’s’ new president, George Clark, says when or if representa-- . tives from that sector wish to have a seat’ on the board they would be welcome. . . “Yd be absolutely delighted and: I think my colleagues on the new board . ~would be equally delighted,” says Clark. « “We all want the same thing — we want to increase the tourism industry, we don’t want to do anything to take busi-— ness away from Terrace hotels.” The city’s original plan had called for. a subcommittee consisting of three hote- liers and two board members to be struck to address the needs of the accommoda- tion sector as it relates to how the two per cent hotel tax money is spent. Clark says that money is nice to have © AY ' ; “look at this?” - spoke about. . priate to talk about a meeting to talk about: the suggestion behalf of the investors could ‘be politically motivated...” & emor - Tona Campagnolo, in _ April. He was 4s honouredfor his role in buying oo the. mothballed New Skeena Forest Products. sawmill here and. opening it Up. as TLC...’ Several of the. company’s investors re | cently attended a $50 per plate dinner held © .- at private Lakelse Lake property attended by, Premier Gordon Campbell. Guests included local supporters, several. Liberal. MLAs and senior business officials ‘from. several major multinational companies... The latter were in town to hear Campbell:. announce the province would help finance; _ a study to determine if a port at Kitimat to! handle irregular size goods i is feasible. oan because it brings, money to the commu-* 7 nity from visitors, without: taxing local: people. os The existing agreement sees that mon-: | ey, which added up to more than $92, 000: last year, collected by hotels and redi-: - rected to the Terrace Tourism Society for: ; _ marketing and development. . ole » The city- has requested that the region- ‘ for Kermodei Tourism instead of the Ter- race Tourism Society. coming regional district meeting Aug: 11, however, even if the regional district: approves the transfer it must be agreed to by the majority of the hoteliers who col- lect the ¢ tax. , -:° John Ryan; . the ‘chairman of TLC’s board met-with for-. est. minister: Rich - Coleman‘ ca -~ last week when the'latter was a visiting: Terrace,. but Ryan ‘de. y clined 'to discuss what, the two! Le eee renee oo uated een eg cea ene ne meee np nme es “7 don’t think it’s: -appro- ae . Thad with the minister,” "Ryan |. said, adding he did not. want.” that any action or inaction on.» Ryan was.given an-award” * for his community, achieve- “ments , by Lieutenant-Gov- al district redirect that money to the city: . That decision is to be made at its up-.