No gambling please

Stacked three high

by RD\NEWS A6-

Three strikes and he’s out -
casino builder given thumbs down

Tumbling youth team combines
gymnastics and
acrobatics\SPORTS BS

Step forward

Woman thanks mystery first aid
giver who helped during car
accident\COMMUNITY Bi

WEDNESDAY
December 10, 1997

ANDARD :

- Creditors demand sweeter offer

CREDITORS of Skeena Cellulose may get an
improved offer to repay their unpaid bills.

Court-appointed monitor David Bowra came away
from meetings with creditors here Monday con-
vinced of their resolve to reject the current offer on
the table.

The creditors vote Dec, 17 on whether lo accept an
offer of $10,000 plus five cents ‘on the dollar for
amounts over that figure.

Bowra indicated he will recommend the company
consider sweetening the offer'to the creditors, but
added the ability to do that is very limited.

Such an arrangement might invalve promises of
more money —nol immediately, but aver three or
four years, he suggested.

Creditors group spokesman Justin Rigsby is col-
lecting proxy forms from individual creditors so they
can vole as a large block and carry more bargaining
power. “Most people are opposed to the offer and
will vote no,” Rigsby said. “I haven't found anyone
yet who says they’re going to vote yes.”

580 creditors holding 75 per cent of the unsecured
debt.

Rigsby’s aim is to gather proxies for more than 25
per cent of the debt— or $21 million — and vote
down the plan.

He says the group believes creditors who intend to
reject the restructuring plan hold more than $25 mil-
lion of the unpaid bills.

If the plan is rejected and the company goes bank-

‘rupt, the creditors would get nothing. But they’re

gambling that the company and its shareholders will
improve the offer rather than tet that happen.

Bowra said the company is already forced to bor-
row the $9.5 million aceded to cover the payments to
the unsecured creditors. And it’s also faced with pay-
ing for its captital expenditure loan of up to $140 mil-
lion, paying down its operating line of credit, and
paying the term debt of $75 million to shareholders.

“If the vote fails, there’s very little alternative but
to go into bankruptcy,” Bowra said.

If creditors do vote yes, they’II get the $10,000
payments on or around Dec. 22. The balance of five

cents on the dollar on amounts over that would be
paid out early in the new year.

The $10,000 up-front offer is structured io get
enough support from smaller creditors for the vote to
pass,

Of the 590 creditors owed money, 294 of them are
owed amounts less than $25,000 and the average of
their claims is $10,000. Thirty-five creditors are
owed $50 million.

“If this company does go into bankruptcy, it’s
unlikely the pulp mill will operate in the short term,”
Bowra said, “And the sawmills could be sold
piecemeal.”

‘The province of B.C. agreed last month to buy out
the Royal Bank's share of the company and become
the majority owner of Skeena Cellulose at 52.5 per
cent.

The province had originally contemplated extend-
ing some of its shares to the unsecured creditors in
lieu of cash, but that idea was abandoned because the
province would lose majority control of the
company.

936 PLUS 7¢ GST
VOL. 40-NO, 35

Lights contest
offers prizes

WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS appearing earlier and
earlier each year, sponsors of the 9th annual Christmas
Decorating Contest expect a good choice of entries this
Season.

Judges will be out the evening of Dec. 19 looking ot
entries in five categories — best home, best apart-
ment/mobile, best street, best commercial display and
best effort overall.

“Judges will be made up of local realtors, the Ter-
race Beautification Society and one city councillor,’’
said Derick Kennedy who is organizing the contest on
behalf of sponsor the Northwest Real Estate Board.
Also sponsoring the event is The Terrace Standard.

Winners in the categories will receive plaques and a
variety of prizes donated by local merchants.

The entry deadline is 5 p.m. Dec. 18 and entries can
be submilted to any real estate agency or to the North-
west Real Estate Board office. That fax number is 638-

Next week’s vote must pass by a majorily of the

WITH A shake of the hand, Crash Helmut co-chair
Lorne Sexton, right, acknowledges Terrace city coun-
cilor Tim Down as the first person to the sign the peti-

tion to recall Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht.

1837,

Recallers

won't

release numbers

By JEFF NAGEL

RECALL ORGANIZERS are refusing to
release the number of signatures they've
gathered since. kicking off their campaign to
oust Skeena MLA Helmut Giesbrecht.

“That's classified,” said organizer Lorne
Sexton of the number of signatures. “We're
going to keep that quiet, We're going to keep
the other side guessing.”

But Sexton says the campaign has had a very
good response since beginning the drive to
recall Giesbrecht last Friday.

Another measure of the strength of the cam-
paign is the number of canvassers.

Sexton says around 70 canvassers have regis-
tered, He had predicted 125 would be in action
and had hoped for around 200.

But he said he plans to have more in place

“A successful recall would benefit all British

Columbians,” he said. “They've got a lot to
gain from helping us.”

The first person to sign the recall petition at a

kick-off ceremony Friday morning at the B.C.
Access Centre was Terrace city councillor Tim
Down.

Down, who is moving to Chilliwack and

expecis to resign from council this month, said
Giesbrecht publicly ridiculed him after he criti-
cized the MLA for Skeena Cellulose crisis.

He said he wanted to work with Giesbrecht

when he got on council but found the MLA
unresponsive.

Down said Giesbrecht’s record includes fai-

lure to deliver improved health care service or °
money for new schools here.

“I believe he’s an ineffective MLA and 1

before the campaign moves to a door-to-door believe we deserve to have better representa-

canvassing phase after Christmas.
The campaign needs signatures of 7,558 peo-

tion,” Down said.

“Pm here to sign this to show my

ple eligible to vote here in the 1996 election in conviction.”

order to remove Giesbrecht and force a
byelection.

Sexton said the group’s strategy will be to
sign up the 2,100 people the recallers had carli-

While the recall forces ate out gathering sig-

natures, the group supporting Giesbrecht is
developing its own strategy.

Elaine Pigeau, co-chair of the Skeena

et identified as peaple willing to sign the Taxpayers Association, says recall.is a tough |

petition.
Other plans include conducting mass signups
at central locations, such as the mall. i

opponent to battle.

Urging people to not sign the recall petition
s different than an election campaign where

Sexton says recallers are going as far as the efforts are concentrated toward one general
Vancouver Island and the Okanagan ta track voting day, she said.

down former voters here who have moved
away lo other parts of the province.

“This is something that happens every day.

We'll be oul every day asking people not to

He said the recall campaign is also advertis- sign,” Pigeau added.

ing province-wide in B.C. Report magazine in

“People are calling us every day and asking

hopes of gaining support and contributions what they can do and we’re saying talk to

from outside the constituency.

people.”

Private petition urged

RECALL organizers want ta keep secret
the names of people who sign the recall peti-
tion here.

Organizer Mike Rosenau said some union
memberst fear reprisals from their union exec-
utives if anybody— particularly NDP offi-
cials — can see their signatures,

Government employees and entrepreneurs
and contractors who work with government
might also worry about signing a public
document.

“There are a lot of people who are a little
bit worried about the government being vin-

But Elections B.C. officials say the rules
require that the names on the pelilion be avail-
able for public inspection after it’s verified as
being successful.

People who sign a form promising to use
the information only for authorized purposes
can then inspect the petition in Victoria or
request that a copy of it be sent to them, said
Elections B.C,’s Jennifer Miller.

Authorized purposes are the same as those
for the voters’ list — meaning that it can be
used by organizers in future election cam-
paigns for electoral purposes,

Organizers have until Feb, 5 to collect the required
number of signatures to oust Giesbrecht from office.

dictive,” added organizer Lome Sexton.

Continued on A2

Coho stocks plummet to record lows

By DAVE TAYLOR
DISASTROUSLY LOW returns of coho
salmon and 4 predicted weak sockeye
run on the Skeena River will likely drive
the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
decp into conscrvation-mode next year. |

Coho stocks have reached an all-time
jow, and DFO biologists say the 1998
fishing plan has to place that salmon’s

conservation as the top. priority to pre-

vent the extinction of some runs.
The fishing plan, Which’ won't be made

public until early next: year, will likely ©

call for far fewer commercial openings
and restrictions on tidal recreational
fisherics.

“The situation on the Skeena is ex-"
tremely serious’? says head of north
coast stock assessment Blair Holiby.
“As near as we can tell, there’s been a

stock colHapse in the entire system,’’

In fact, in some rivers like the Kitsum-
kalum, Kispiox and Lakelse, Holtby says

fisheries officers have had trouble find-'

ing any coho.

. “Some major tributaries have no
detectable spawning or fish at all,’’ he
says, ‘It’s very dire, very serious.” .

Holtby says the situation is so bad that.

he has advised ‘‘further and severe’’
fishing restrictions on the north coast for
1998, And he says that advice will likely

continue until at least 2001 to prevent
the extinction of many runs.

Those restrictions will affect both the

directed commercial coho fishery as well
as the sockeye and pink salmon fisheries
because the fish all swim together In the
ocean.

Exploitation rates of coho (the total
proportion of fish caught in the ocean)
by the Canadian commercial fishery has
beer running at about 60-75 per cent for
the past decade.

Then last year, concerns over depleting
coho stocks caused the DFO to place
area and time restrictions on the Cana-
dian toll, gilliuet and seine fisheries.

That brought the exploitation rate down
to 40-50 per cent.

But it wasn’t enough, and now Holtby .

says his recommendation is that the ex-
ploitation rate has to be reduced to al-
most Zero. ,

“The gravity of the situation is such
that people in the area should expect fur-
ther constraints on fishing,’’ Holtby
says, ‘What those are is up to manage-
ment, but I fully expect the department
to follow through on these recommenda
tions,”’

Chief of north coast fish management
David Einarson says the DFO is just in

their initial stages of planning for next
year’s fishing season. But he agrees that
the situation is serious.

‘Right now it doesn’t look good,” he
says. ‘‘Conscrvation will be one of our
biggest priorities. We will have to struc-
ture commercial and recreational
fisheries to reflect that.’’

That could translate to fewer fishing
days for commercial fishermen, And
even on the days that the fleet is allowed
to work, there may not be many fish to
catch,

Cont'd Page A15