Foresti issues dominate
— town hall meeting

B.C. Cabinet tour ae

by Tod Strachan

Premier Bill Vander Zalm and

_ several of his cabinet ministers

attracted a crowd of around 450
people to a Town Hall meeting in
Terrace last week. As indication of
the interest of local residents, the
100 or so who made up the stand-
ing-room-only part of the crowd
stayed through the entire meeting.
This issues were many, but the
future of the forest industry topped
the list by far. Other issues on
voter’s minds included land claims,
health,. education, the Shames
Mountain road, pollution caused by
fish farming, and a few items of
apparently less global concern.
Kelly. Williams, formerly of
Wedeene River Timber, set the
tone of the meeting with the first
real question of the evening:
"Where were you when we needed
you?" Williams told Vander Zalm
and his ministers about the demise
of Wedeene River Timber, the role
a new appraisal system and cuts in
log exports played in their demise,
and suggested their forest licence
would probably be sold at bargain-
basement prices to a vertically-

‘integrated multinational, a com-

pany that could:afford the cost of

‘the changes Wedeene needed to
survive, Williams said that sort of
capital is "something the typical

family business can only dream

‘about."

Vander Zalm responded by say-
ing his government “would prefer
many small business over several

big business" but noted that “only
' large companies can put in facil-

ities like pulp mills and sawmills".
Also, "People, when they go into
small business, take horrendous
risks," said Vander Zalm. "They
put everything on the line, and if
they’re lucky, they’re successful.
But if they’re unlucky, they lose it
ail."

Williams may have wanted to
take exception to that latter state-
ment. He had already stated in his
preamble, "It’s not our manage-

’ ment... It’s your management," but

time didn’t afford the opportunity.

Forests Minister Claude Rich-
mond said the government had
tried. They had met with Williams
on several occasions "to try to

‘explore avenues where we could

save it", But, he said, all efforts
had failed. Even West Fraser had
backed away from a deal where
they could have bought into

Wedeene; Richmond said he didn’t -

know why.

But Richmond promised to take
the matter back to cabinet one
more time and that’s a promise he

kept. Skeena MLA Dave Parker :

told the Terrace Review Sunday
that Cabinet has agreed to appoint
an "investigative team" to look
into the Wedeenc River situation.
It isn’t known yet who will be on
this team, but Parker says ‘it will
be group impartial to all parties
involved. .. .

_ ‘That action, in pat, may have

been due to the fact that there was
a lot of support for Wedeene’s

position at the Town Hall meeting .

in Terrace, a fact that wasn’t lost
on Vander Zalm. One ex-Wedeene.

“employee stood up and said, "John
Williams was innovative..

. ahead
of his time." But that made. little
difference, he said. "We got lost in
government policy and now some-
body. else will follow and fulfil
this dream."

And with this, a new question:
"What protection will they have?"

Vander Zalm responded: "Gener-
ally, policy changes all come as a
result of taxpayer demands, There
have been many demands to stop
exports and we can’t protect
against that..," and, “Companies

will be affected by policy change."

But ‘there was more. One stood
and told Vander Zalm, "Why not
give us a little more timber. We
can do it! We’re not going out of
this meeting without a yes or no
answer!" There would be no "yes"
or "no" answer that night, said
Vander Zalm. And Richmond said,
"The problem is there are too
many mills chasing too little
timber. There’s not enough timber

LA ot tee

_ from the employees."

ee, Tier he Tbe eee
© Sida been wie te a? Tinta poe ig oor le es ing lS

to go around."

Each new volley, though, brought
another round of cheers and
applause from a dozen or so one- |

ume Wedeene employees in atten- &
dance. Eventually this led Vander
Zalm to note, "The greatest test in
my mind... is when there is support

As for cuts in log exports, Van- §
der Zalm told, Williams, "We —
would prefer to see all logs kept at
home and see value added," but, (iam
"It’s a political problem we have Se

difficulty dealing with." Richmond

agreed, "There is intense pressure CLAUDE RICHMOND: Too BILL VANDER ZALM: ...if
not to export any more logs... many mills chasing too tittle they’re unlucky, they lose it
people look at those logs and see timber. all.

jobs," he said. And then added,
"We have reduced exports 60 to 65
percent because we think it’s the
right thing to do."

Richmond put this thought into a WH
slightly different perspective
towards the end of the evening. He
suggested it was pressure from the EH,
public, and NDP forest critic Dan
Miller, that was to blame for cuts
in log exports. A shot fired... and
no election.

Kaeleene Bruce of Frame Log-
ging had the last word on
Wedeene. "I’m moved by the

Welcome Wagon |
would like to thank the following
Bridal Party Sponser:

, Balloo;

635-6312

. ‘.

experience of Wedeene River,” she Specializes in Weddings, Birthdays, Showers

said. And then talked about the and other special occasions |
— Continued on page A14 — —

The Options Paper -

We Want Your Input

The Forest Resources Commission has just released its Options Paper for public review
and comment. The Options Paper presents five major themes resulting from the
Community Meetings last spring: land use planning, forest resource management, public
involvement, economics, and education. The Options Paper is currently being mailed to
those who submitted a brief to the Commission or participated in those meetings.

If you did not participate earlier, you now have the opportunity to do so. If you are
interested in reviewing and responding to the Options Paper, please write, phone or fax
the Commission to request a copy.

Timing of Your Response

The Commission needs your written response by November 14, 1990. A stamped,
addressed response card is enclosed with the Options Paper.

Regional Workshops” -

options, and develop local and regional implementation strategies.

The Next Steps |

The Commissioners are also inviting many of those who submitted briefs or made presentations to attend regional workshops in
October and November, 1990. These workshops will be held in Parksville, Vernon, Creston, 108 Mile House, Prince George, Terrace
and the Lower Mainland. The purpose of these workshops is to allow detailed discussion from a wide range of interest groups in a
two-day workshop setting. The workshop process, along with the public response to the Options Paper, will make sure the
Commissioners have heard and interpreted the public accurately, and will help identify preferred options, identify implications of these

All public responses to the Options Paper and the results of the Regional Workshops will be reviewed by the Commissioners. A
newsletter will be prepared outlining the results of both the workshops and public response to the Options Paper. In January, 1991,
the newsletter will be sent to all those who participated. The final Forest Resource Commission report, including all
recommendations, will be presented to government early in the new year, and will be available to the public 30 days later.

i