toe Aé4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 28, 2005 TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 632-7283 - FAX: (250) 638-8432 sO - WEB: www.terracestandard.com ‘EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard. com The New Year BY ALL accounts. it’s going to-be a happier new year in the northwest: than has been the case, in the - recent: past. . The « opening of the Terrace Lumber Company “in August provided areal boost to the community not only for: the jobs provided ‘but for: the sense that a corner has been turned. , “Challenges remain, not the least of. which is an adequate and compatible wood ‘supply for the company as it finds and secures “markets for its product. | : The answer to those challenges now rests with - the Chinese government, the ultimate owner of . the old Skeena Cellulose pulp mill. equipment at. “Watson Island near Prince Rupert. It has an offer in to buy the mill site itself with.a view to re- opening the facility instead of shipping the: equip- ment to China.” '. Until. the Chinese reach a decision, the fate of | Tree Farm Licence No. 1 and other wood sources now owned by the Lax Kw’ Alaams, which were once tied to the pulp mill and the Terrace Lumber _ Company mill here, remains up in the air. That wood ,will be needed by the pulp mill - should it open again and also so by the Terrace Lum- _ ber Company. « It’s-a complicated : scenario o involving a lot of players but at the same time, it is reassuring to . know the’ local ownership of the mill here can and will work. » ‘ There’s another challenge t to the riorth of .us 4 ‘the provision of hydropower past Meziadin for. ~ the: people who. live there and also for potential _ mines. It’s a matter of convincing the provincial gov- ,.ernment.that while extending hydro power is ex- "pensive, ‘doing so gives that area nothing "more .than what exists already in every other part of the province. _A coalition of northwestern governments and resource companies is hard at work twisting gov- ernmental arms and 2006 should — and must — be the year for action on this. Just as is the case with the Terrace Lumber ‘Company, the campaign to extend hydro power ultimately rests with the ability and capability of local people to doggedly pursue a common goal. And that’s what living in the northwest is all | ~ looking to access foreshore ‘for their projects. It is not '. just foreshore for shipping about — defining and pursuing common goals. There have been times of disappointment and dis- : agreement. And there will be more times. of dis- agreement and disappointment but overall there is a general agreement that this is a worthy place in which to live, work-and prosper. _ Keeping a common goal of community bet- terment in which.all can take part is a darn good resolution for the new year. And the trick will be to keep that resolution i in- tact for the next 12 months. - PUBLISHER /EDITOR: a Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur ' NEWS: Sarah A. Zimmerman ~~ _ COMMUNITY: Dustin Quezada : NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs | - FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping, Carolyn Anderson CIRCULATION: SUPERVISOR: Alanna Bentham ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: ’ . Bert Husband, Susan Willemen - AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; ‘Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(+10.98 GST)=167.89 2005 WINNER CCNA B COMPETITION _ MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, . . CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION SONA... ( ; AND ComMuNtTY reer Noor B c. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bcpresscouncll.org) — Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Cotumbia, VBG 5R2. Bi ack Press Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy- right holders, including Black Press Ltd., its illustration repro services and advertising agencies. Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. Special thanks to ali our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents _ community NEWSPAPERS © WELL, STEPHEN, You'Re NOT GETTING © “TWt GAY VOTE AND You HAVEN’ T CAUGHT FIRE WITH WOMEN | NOTERS Past time. to make port a reality - THE HEADING on the District of, Kitimat’s web page reads | “Port of Kitimat, a Marvel of: Nature and Industry. Itis an especially well put together banner and brand- 7 _ ing for the community. In fact the new updated web page is something the, and . council should be proud of. It portrays a very positive . image of the community and reaches out to poten- tial investors in all the right - ways. The dilemma is that in some ways it.might be working a.bit too well. - _By any. definition a port is a place where manufac- turers, - -import/exporters, resource companies, major project proponents, just to name a few, can look to as a place to ship products out or bring them in. It is the place you go. as. an investor when you are looking’ for the shortest - route between your product ‘and. customer. Today there is an atmo- sphere of excitement-in the northwest over the many new opportunities ‘that are becoming available. The re- cent agreement between the Haisla and Kitimat LNG is a: major step in bringing that project closer to reality. . Terasen, : Enbridge, Cas- cadia are all companies out oil, gravel and other commodities, but a facility _ to ship in the construction materials that will be re- quired to build these proj- ects. : MY VIEW -ROGER HARRIS Sawmills and interior pel- let manufactures are look- ing to the northern ports as -a vehicle to ship their prod- ucts to the Asia. With the difficulty in ac- cessing .rail cars, the high cost of transportation «and... the congestion in the south-. . em ports, manufacturers are looking for options. The increase in mining activity on Highways 37, 16 and 97 is seeing a substantial increase in the amount. of bulk minerals looking for the shortest route to their market place. This doesn’t even consid- er the significant numbers © ‘of projects across western Canada, like the Mackenzie and Alaskan pipelines, all of which will bring in a sig- nificant volume of material for’ their construction. The materials for many of these ventures will come from Asia. and a significant vol- ~ ume of that will be in break bulk form. This brings us to our challenge; some would say” our problem. - "Today in Kitimat, there are three private firms that have foreshore infrastruc-. ture capable of landing ocean going vessels; Meth- ‘anex, Eurocan and Alcan. These are private facilities built to handle the specific . ~ products each. of these busi- _ nesses produce. Their prime purpose is to.support the in- dustries and companies that | have invested in them. Being «strategically © lo- ‘cated as a port and being a port are two very distinctly different things. When a potential new comer to the area‘ looks at ‘the District of Kitimat web _page, reads of all the oppor- tunity and benefit of deal- ing with a private port, they eagerly travel north to look over the facilities. : What they find is ‘that there is no infrastructure for.them to access to either ship product in or out. In a private port if the owners of the docks are not inter- ested in moving your prod- uct, you’re just plain out of luck. Any investment in a port infrastructure is tremen- dously expensive. Requir- ing every proponent who is looking to Kitimat as.a shipping point to make that .