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Veniez inks lumber deal with ‘foe’

Canfor and Skeena

are now partners

By JEFF NAGEL
SKEENA Cellulose’s Dan Veniez
and Canfor’s David Emerson have
buried the hatchet.

The two CEOs who scrapped in the
summer are now partners in a deal to
market Skeena Cellujose’s lumber
worldwide.

The surprise announcement came
last week in Tokyo, where both forest
company executives were meeting
customers.

The three-year deal puts Canfor in
charge of selling Skeena’s lumber

through its worldwide network.

“This makes sense for them and it
makes sense for us to work together,”
Veniez said, “It was pretty clear to me
after an exhaustive process of assess-
ment and evaluation there was no one
belter suited than Canfor to assume
this role.”

Veniez in the summer accused
Emerson of conflict of interest in his
tole as chair of the B.C. Progress
Board. Veniez called Emerson an
“ardent foe” of SCI who he didn’t trust
to recommend new rules to aid the
northwest forest industry:

For his part, Emerson has said his
“bload boils” every time he thinks
about the subsidies Skeena got.

Asked why he has entrusted lumber
Sales to a firm that a few months ago
appeared to be the enemy, Veniez
said it makes good business sense.

“T have to do what’s right for the
business,” he said. “This takes us an
important step closer to starting up our
operations.”

He said his past friction with Emer-
son has faded and turned into a pro-
ductive relationship.

“That’s water under the bridge,”
Veniez said. “Clearly you don’t go
into business with people you don’t
trust.”

Veniez also noted that Skeena Cel-
lulose’s former lumber marketing vice-
president now heads Canfor’s overseas

@ Tiny town, big pride

JIM ALLEN’s lovingly recreated ish hometown — in waist high
scale in his Agar Ave. front yard — attracted 1,000 visitors this

year. He's just added the lighthouse. See story Bi.
JENNIFER LANG PHOTO

sales.

“There are some players we know
well,” he said. “Emerson has an extre-
mely good team.”

The deal saves money for Skeena
Cellulose’s new owners as they conti-
nue to try to finance the company’ 5
startup.

Veniez said it means he won't have
to raise $15 million for a fund to cover
the gap between oulgoing lumber ship-
ments and incoming payments from
customers.

He’ll also save costs by not having
to employ a large lumber sales staff.

“I don’t have to rebuild the tumber
marketing team from scratch,” he
said, adding almost all of those people

have been laid off or moved on.

Farming out lumber sales mirrors
the earlier deal he struck with Cell-
Mark to sell SCI’s pulp. The Cellmark
deal likewise avoids the need to raise
$46 million for working capital.

In each case, Canfor and Cellmark
will get what Veniez said” are
“competilive commissions” to sell
Skeena’s products.

SCI’s lumber will be sald under
Canfor’s same in Notth America and
will be co-branded as Skeena-Canfar
wood in Japan and Asia, Veniez said.

Besides commissions, Canfor gets
400 million board feet more lumber to
sell — making it a bigger player better

Continued Page A2

chool
ideas hit

as

absurd

By JENNIFER LANG

S@ME ideas the school district is considering to bridge a
$4 to 5 million budget shortfall are absurd, the president
of the Terrace and District Teachers’ Union says.

More than 50 different cost-cutting and money gener-
ating ideas are being considered to balance the budget.

“Some of this stuff is crazy,” said Richard Eckert,
who represents the TDOTU on a commitee looking al the
ideas. The commitlee’s suggestions include closing more
schools, moving to a four-day-school week and getting
Tid of the REM. Lee Theatre to save costs.

It’s also come up with ideas to bring in new revenue
sources, including using tourism. classes to operate bed
and breakfasts in teacherages and selling value-added
products made in classes.

“There’s no secret that the gov-
emment wants school boards to be
in business and make money,”

Eckert said.

But he fears efforts to meet that
goal will come at a terrible cost.

“Theyre thinking about having
Students make products for sale?
How absurd is that? We’re talking

close to child labour.”

The 50-plus suggestions are
now under review by various ad
hoc and standing committees.
Those groups are to submit indi-
vidual reports to the reconfigura-
tion committee in January, with a final report presented
to trustees to consider at the Feb. 5 board meeting.

Budget cuts will be discussed in greater detail at a

Richard
Eckert

Special instruction suffering, union says

By JENNIFER LANG
CHILDREN WITH learning dis-
abilities -and special needs are
being stuffed into local class-
rooms, warns the teachers’ union
president.

More than 40 classes in Ter-
race, Thornhill and Stewart would
violate the former collective
agreement’s provisions on main-
streaming, Richard Eckert said.

Under the old rules, the number
of students with special needs, se-
vere learning disabilities or beha-
viour problems placed in a class-
room were subject to limits set

out in the contract.

The former agreement also en-
sured these students — referred to
as “identified” because they meet
certain criteria - could get extra
support like learning assistants or
even books on audiotape.

That support is now left up to
the discretion of school districts,
which also have more power to
set class sizes as a result of Vic-
toria’s decision to legislate a new
contract earlier this year,

“These numbers tell me that
we have too many idenlified stu-
dents crammed into these

classrooms,” Eckert said. “That
definitely means less time for the
teacher to spread themselves
around.”

Five out of 22 students — nearly
a quarter — in one local kindergar-
ten class count as special needs:
they have mental or physical
handicaps, or severe learning or
behaviour problems. Another Ter-

face class has six special needs

students out of 31. Another Grade
4 class has five out of 32.

“This has got to be at the top
of the list for stress-inducers for
teachers and stress inducers for

kids,” Eckert said, “It’s a lethal
combination.”

So far 42 classes in Terrace
have more identified students than
old limits allowed or break old
size limits for classes with identi-
fied students.

Half of them — 21 classes — are

at Skeena Jr. Secondary.

One Grade 8 class at Skeena of
23 has nine students identified
with special needs like severe
leaming disability, mild mental
handicap or have severe beha-
viour problems. Numbers aren’t in
yet for Thornhill Jr. or Caledonia.

special board meeting later that month.

Eckert stressed teachers aren’t participating on any
committees reviewing the budget cutting suggestions.

“The TDTFU and the (B.C. Teachers’ Federation} have
gteat reservations about putting representatives on com-
mittees that have essentially been formed to undercut
education,” Eckert said.

“Make no doubt about it, the reconfiguration commit-
tee is all about cutting where you can.”

He urges the public to voice its opposition — and soon.

“If endugh people do that, we can save our system
and it can be a truly public education system where
everybody has the same right to an education,” he said.

“Can you imagine if schools are.asked to raise money
for education? What if we had to compete with a school
in West Van?” Eckert added, referring Canada’s wealth-
iest suburb, “Who’s going to make more money?”

Alcan says it already pays lots of tax

By JEFF NAGEL
ALCAN officials aren’t impressed with
Roger Harris’ idea that the aluminum
giant start paying property taxes for its
power generating facilities,

Skeena’s MLA raised it as one op-
tion to funnel money into 2 develop-
ment fund to aid the northwest.

The company has never paid prop-
erty taxes on its hydroelectric gener-
ating equipment — the Kemano power
house, the Kenney dam and Skins
Lake spillway,

“We are surptised by his idea that
to stimulate economic development.
you would tax probably the. biggest re-
venue gencratort In the area,” company

spokesman Richard Prokopanko said,
“We think that is somewhat similar
to the philosophies
of some previous
governments and not
this one.”
Prokopanko said
Alcai. agrees there
is a need to create
more economic ac-
livity in the region.
“We didn’t be-
lieve this was a very
constructive way of
advancing that dis-

. cussion,” he. said. “It really just fuels

the fires of debate in the media.”

Prokopanko —

Prokopanko says Alcan does pay
$8.2 million a year in property tax for
its Kitimat aluminum smelter.

Most of that money — just over $6
million - goes to the District of Kiti-
mat, making up 46 per cent of ali
property tax collected by the town.
Another $1.8 million goes to the pro-
vince for school and other taxes.

Alcan’s. 1,600 employees at Kitimat
Works also pay property taxes to. Kiti-
mat and to Terrace depending on
where they live, he noted.

Prokopanko says Alcan has already

made a major contribution to regional.
economic development through: the |

$7.5: million it put into the Nechako-

Kitamaat Developmen! Fund.

He said Alcan considers the origi-
nal agreement providing Ihe tax ex-
emptions to be permanent.

“In 1950 our company agreed to a
set of conditions which gave us the
confidence to invest close to $5 billion

w Tax Alcan idea gains
steam. A2

in 2002 “dollars,” Prokopanko ‘Said.
“Fifty years is a-very long time, but

$5-billion investments are long-term:

investments.” .-
Kitimat’ council argues 5 Alcan broke

the 1950 apreement by selling power
for export to B.C. Hydro.

Prokopanko said government legal
reviews back up Alcan’s contention
that recent sales of power due to water
levels in its reservoir were legal and
not in violation of the 1950 agreement.

“We think we're operating. well
within the constraints of the
agreement,” he said.

Prokopanko said Alcan contacted
enterprise minister Rick Thorpe’s of-

‘fice immediately on hearing of the

-, Harris ‘idea to eliminate the. tax ex-

-emptions.
“We're infotmed that: they. were not
aware ‘of this idea,” he sald, °