A12- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 6, 2000

Northern bonus doesn’t
cut it, social workers say

By SARAH GLEN
A $1.5 million government
initiative to give child pro-
tection social workers in
the north more money is
under fire from the chair of
social worker union.

“This is just a band aid
solution directed at a few
people — it doesn’t solve
anything,” said Don Phil-
pett, BC Government Em-
ployees Union (BCGEU)
social work committee
chair.

The initiative, an-
nounced August 30 gives
$12,000 to each child pro-
tection social worker after
they commit to working for
at least two years in the
north.

It is supposed to help
fill the shortage of workers
in the north.

But Philpott argues that
the initiative doesn’t help
the shortage at all because
it is only offered to a small

Small-scale lo

section of social workers.

“Only child protection
intake workers are eligible.
Where does that leave
those who work with the
disabled, the mentally ill
or as guardianship social
workers?” Philpott deman-
ded.

He stresses that there
are critical shortages in all
sectors of social workers
and all over the province.

“Have they forgotten
about the shortage in the
Kootenays or South Sur-
trey? It is critical
everywhere.”

But Minister of Child-
ren and Families Gretchen
Brewin says she realizes
that other places in the
province are suffering too
and that this is only for a
short time.

“The bonus is a tempor-
ary measure for the north
where the staff shortage is
most critical,” Brewin said

for community

A GROUP representing
small scale loggers wants
the forests minister to
block planned logging in
Terrace’s watershed.

The Skeena Timber
Trust thinks the wood
should instead be made
part of a community forest
licence, that could be
paired with a log market-
ing yard operation to cre-
ate more opportunity for
small-scale loggers and
manufacturers,

The forests ministry is
about to sell about 40,000
cubic metres of blown
down timber in the Deep
Creek watershed by a bid-
ding process.

“Members of our orga-
nization are upset with the
direction the ministry, of
forests is taking,” Skeena
Timber Trust president Ri-
chard Lindstrom told city
councillors at a meeting
Aug. 25.

The city is also asking
that the area be considered
as a community forest.

Lindstrom said a log-
marketing yard connected
to it would put wood in the
hands of small millers who
now don’t have the re-
sources to bid for major
blocks of timber or aren’t
interested in logging them-
selves.

A sale of 20,000 cubic
metres of timber, he said,
could require a bidder to
come up with an up front
deposit on the wood of as
much as $40,000.

“It’s just unattainable,”
he said, referring to smal-
ler operators.

“We have to change
that to make the forests
more accessible to the
people of B.C.,” he said.

The smallest size tim-
ber sale he’s seen is
around 5,000 cubic metres,
but adds smaller scale log-
gers would like to see
amounts fram around a
couple thousand cubic
metres down to as little as
500.

Larger sizes are pener-
ally based on the use of
high-volume equipment
like grappleyarders.

Smaller scale operators
don’t use that kind of
equipment and it takes
them longer to process
timber, but Lindstrom said

that adds up to more em- °

ployment
cubic metre,

Lindstrom noted value
added operations could
help diversify the local in-
dustry, which currently is
concentrated in two major
sawmills and affiliated

- logging operations.

“The mills here may be
gone in a heartbeat”, he
noted.

City council agreed to
write a letter of support ur-
ging the forests minister to
listen to the trust’s ideas.

But some city council-
lors said they felt Lind-
strom’s idea of the ideal
size of a community forest
~ around 20,000 hectares —
would be a little small.

created _ per

That would not amount
to much of an annual al-
lowable cut, said Val
George, adding the city, if
it went the community for-
est route, would like to
end up with contrel over
where and how about five
to 10 per cent of the tim-
ber in this area is proces-
sed.

Forest district manager
Brian Downie, in a letter

Don Philpott

in a press release. “A re-
cruitment strategy will es-
tablish longer-term

solutions,..throughout the
province.”

One of the long-term
solutions is to increase
spaces for students pursu-

ing social work as a car-

eer.
Workers are eligible for
the bonuses if they are

currently working. in the’
north or who want to trans:

fer to the north,

Philpott says the union

is also angry with the in-
itialive because it was not
agreed with through. the
union.

“This was not contract-
ual at all and I’m sure our
lawyers are taking a closer
look at it right now,” he
said.

A Vancouver rally to
call the government to act
on the social worker short-
age in the pravince is set
for September 13 and a si-
milar rally may be held in
Terrace, said Philpott.

gers pushing
forest licence

to Lindstrom, indicated the
ministry is trying to ar-
range some smaller vo-
lume timber sales.

But he said there are no
plans to freeze the water-
shed logging, which is to
be underway this fall and

finished by snowfall.
Downie added the
Skeena Timber Trust

shouldn’t count on any
special deal on timber to

Coming Soon ...

atmosphere.

begins with dinner.

4923 Agar Ave.

The Alpha Course

A J0-week Practical Introduction to the Christian Faith

Anyone can come. Anyone interested in finding out
more about the Christian faith is welcome.

Learning and laughter. Join others in a relaxed
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Helping one another. Dinner is followed by large-
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Ask anything, Here’s your chance to ask your ques-
tions and express your opinions.

When: Sept, 13, Introductory Dinner
Course begins one week later (Sept. 20, 2000)
Where: Terrace Alliance Church, Fireside Room

For More Information Call:
Terrace Alliance Church 635-7727 or
Rob or Cheryl 635-4119

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run its planned log sort
yard.

“You should be aware
that we consider that ven-
ture to be a commercial
development, and that vo-
lume destined for that log
yard would have to be pur-
chased or acquired by
Skeena Timber Trust
through competitive bid
timber sales,” Downie’s
letter said.

pionso jend carol

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