It’s not slamapalooza_ Local wrestler Pam Haugland won silver at nationals and takes a. At the pumps: Youth raises money for trip: The price of gas went up last week, much to the dismay of local A Caledonia student is going to Africa on a Canada World Youth drivers\NEWS, A12 look at her career\SPORTS B5 program\COMMUNITY B1 WEDNESDAY April 21, 1999 TAN DARD = §1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST ($2.10 plus 6¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) - VOL, 12 NO, 2 Raw log export deal approved Union breaks policy to save logging jobs By JEFF NAGEL LOGGERS are on their way back to the bush in the wake of a deal allowing West Fraser to export raw logs to Japan. The province. approved the log exports last Wednesday after IWA officials broke with their official policy and reversed a previous vote of local union members against the request. ' The deal means some 380 workers connected to a number of logging con- tractors will work this year who other- wise would have been sidelined. _ Poor markets have forced West Fraser to nun a reduced one-shift-only operation ing virtually no new logging would have been needed to feed it had exports not been approved. IWA Canada local 2171 president Dar- rell Wong said it was one of the most difficult decisions he’s made. *‘As much as we detest raw log exports we had no other choice but to sign this document in order to provide employ- ment for our membership and income for their families,’ Wong said last Thurs- day, Many workers connected to West Fraser haven’t had work in months and have seen all benefils run out, he added. ‘‘At the end of the day your back’s against the wall and you’ve got hundreds of people relying on whether you sign the document,”’ Wong said, “T have to be able to sleep at night. I can’t say it’s our policy and to hell with 300 people,”’ Terrace Timber loggers headed back to the bush last weck and the other four coastal contractors will restart operations over the next three weeks, West Fraser officials said, Wong said ihe agreement provides [or better control and monitoring of the log exports than would have becn the case under the original request for blanket ap- proval to export 200,000 cubic metres this yearand next year, Now, says Job Protection Com- missioner Eric van Soeren, the company will get export permits in small chunks — 15,000 cubic metres at a time. Wong said the union will be able to pull the plug on the deal if the company More on log export deal: mg Details, page A2 mg Union reversal, page AZ doesn’t live up to its promise to maintain at least one shift at Skeena Sawmills in Terrace and 40 per cent of a shift in Prince Rupert at North Coast Timber. “We have the ability at the end of every 60-day period to say look folks you haven’t lived up lo your side of the agreement, we're out,’? Wong said. The sawmill workers still face the prospect of layoffs in mid-June when a federal work sharing program runs out. That program has avoided about 70 layoffs since September, when the com- pany reduced operations from two to one | shift at Skeena Sawmills, But Wong and van Soeren are hoping negotiations now underway will lead to a deal that will sce West Fraser perform custom chipping for Skeena Cellulose. Such a deal would create extra jobs at Skeena Sawmills, van Socren said, reducing the number of people who will face layoffs in June. And he said the amount of jobs under a chipping agreement could go up to as many a8 45 if Skeena Cellulose gets ap- provail from the province to go ahead with its capital expenditure program to restart the second line at its Prince Rupert pulp mill. at its sawmill here through 1999, mean- eer: Two events coming to city THE LOCAL economy is in for a shot in the arm thanks fo two major events taking place here within the next 10 days. And both are taking place at the Terrace arena. The first is the Terrace and District Chamber of Com- merce’s annual trade show, beginning this Friday, April 23 and lasting until Sunday, April 25. This event is rapidly establishing a reputation asa draw altracting people from all over the northwest. Following close behind is the 42nd annual convention of the Nisga’a Tribal Council. Close to 1,000 Nisga’a, guests and observers are expected for the convention which begins Tuesday, April 27 and wraps up Friday, April 30. See Pages B7, B83, B9 and B10 for more information on the trade show and Pages A5, AZO and All for more in- formation on the Nisga’a gathering. Nass, Terrace on diplomatic tour schedule THE NASS Valley is on the touring schedule next week for a group of Canadian diplomats, The party of 10 is on a cross country exploration of Can- ada as part of the education process to gather information which they can then put to use while serving in embassies, consulates and high commission offices. And by coincidence, they'll be here in time to take in part of the Nisga’a Tribal Council annual convention next week at the Terrace arena. Terrace Highway Patrol wilt be looking for speeders and tailgaters on Highways 16 and 37 this summer. DON'T GET STOPPED THIS SUMMER: Cnst. Warren McBeath, Cpl. Larry Burke, Cnst. Darryl Rainkie and Cnst. John Daley of the Police go airborne to nab bad drivers et drivers, IF YOU'RE a tailgater, you’re in trouble. That's ihe message Cnst. Warren McBeath and other members of Terrace’s highway patrol are trying to spread this summer. RCMP across B.C, are adding extra staff to patrol the highways as part of a campaign to stop aggressive driving. The campaign runs May 3 to Oct. 30. And, said McBeath, it’s a mistake to think ageressive driving happens only in urban centres. “Aggressive driving can happen anywhere, it does happen everywhere,’’ he said. Some local examples include laying on the horn, passing on double solid lines or taking untiecessary risks, he said, All of which he’s seen happen here, To larget aggressive drivers RCMP officers will use radar and laser equipment to check the speed and distance between cais on the highway. Which, said McBeath, is still the mainstay of the aggressive driving campaign. But officers will also be renting planes to track the speed of vehicles from the air. By measuring the amount of time it takes an automobile to travel between two painted lines on the highway, RCMP officers in the air can determine a vehicle’s speed before in- forming officers on the ground who then tick- Last year, an RCMP plane out of Prince Rupert was scheduled for use between Terrace and Kitimat but the project never flew because it was grounded by RCMP budget cuts. This year, ICBC plans to pay for hourly plane rentals. And, McBeath said, by the end of the summer two more fly zones will be set up east and west of Terrace, “This year we'll be concentrating exclusive- ly on Hwy16,”’ said McBeath. He said members of the highway patrol will also be out every other week to check com- mercial trucks for safety and proper registra- tion. Officials say the tour of the Nass Valley falls in line with growing international interest in the settlement of land claims within Canada. Federal and provincial officials say it’s not unusual to ficld requests each day from foreign reporters, universities and businesses, They’re particularly interested in the Nisga’a as their treaty is the first-modern day land claims settlement. “The Nisga’a are very high profile right now,” Nisga’a Tribal Council communications co-ordinator Eric Graadison said last week. “Til be taking them on a tour of the Nass — the lava beds, totem poies and Gitwinksihtkw, for cxample.”’ They'll be in Terrace for cultural night al the tribal coun- cil convention. Massive lobby effort afoot to back SCI used to restart the B line ai the pulp mill — is widely seen as the key to improving the efficiency and reducing the cost of produc- ing each tonne of pulp. That’s likely to ensure profitability while at the same time adding more than 400 jobs in woodlands and at the pulp maill. It would also pay for construction of log- ging roads needed this year. How the NDP government reacts is seen as highly dependent on the degree to which ihe opposition Liberals attack the govern- maent’s purchase of Skeena Cellulose as a scandal, Justin Rigsby, who was the spokesman for Skeena Cellulose creditors and a past organizer for the B.C. Liberals, sald the party’s denunciation of the buyout as ‘‘Skcenagate”’ isn’t going over well among _ locals. By JEFT NAGEL NORTHWEST MAYORS are lobbying | hard behind the scenes to persuade the ‘government and opposition to keep Skeema ‘Cellulose alive, * Hazelton mayor Alice Maitland said the ‘company Is going before treasury board in ‘May and is requesting not just money for ‘capital improvements to the pulp mill, but ‘also an expansion of their operating line of credit, : Maitland said the mayors have been told - In stark terms she likened to ‘“‘blackmail”’ ‘by deputy premicr Dan Miller that if politi. ‘cal support for the idea isn’t marshalled, (he company ’s opponents within government and the opposition could prevail and the - doors could be closed. . “They’re right at the end of their operat- ing funds and they just can’t run any longer ‘Hike that apparently,’’ Maitland said, "If they don’t do it the whole thing gocs down, as early as May.’’ She said she’s told the sawmills are profitable and even the single line operating at the pulp mill is getting close to breakeven. Maitland said she and other northwest mayors are writing letters to members of. treasury board and other key politicians to press the point that it would be insane to buy the company, invest millions of dotlars to date and stop just short of what’s needed to assure profitability and sustainability, ‘It would be the biggest mistake they’ve ever made if they don’t put that money In,’ Maitland said, adding the request is simply part of the capital money already com-. mitted under the 15-month old restructuring plan by the province and TD Bank. ~*] can’t understand why they are being ‘slow about releasing that money,’’ she said. “Ta's part of the original money, part of the , original business plan.’ The company is expected to seek nearly $95 million for capital improvements, bringing the total capital money relcased to the complete level of $110 million, said employment and investment ministry - spokesman Don Zadravec. “it would be the biggest mis- take they've ever made if they don’t put that money in.” He sald further requests to increase the operating line of credit are considered ona case-by-case basis, The capital money — to “be primarily. Alice Maltland - Continued Page A2