By NIGEL MORGAN

The report of the Pearse royal
Commission on forest policy,
released last week in two volumes,
Proposes many changes in B.C.’s
forest legislation, but it fails to
recommend any basic change in
the Management and control of
B.C.’s forest industry.

In the main, it is a housekeeping
Teport which sets out to tidy up the
internal situation in the industry,
toclear up many messy situations
and abuses which have grown up

Over the years. It brings up to date
figures concerning the high degree
_,of monopoly control and foreign
Ownership in the industry, but it
fails to offer any new direction for
B.C.’s major industry on which the
€conomy of the province depends.

When the NDP government
appointed Peter H. Pearse as a
one-man commission to conduct a
Probe of the forest indust! ~, there
was considerable consternation
among many progressive people
Who knew the commissioner as a
Liberal and supporter of what
Some choose to call “‘the free en-
terprise system.” It was one of
those NDP government ap-
Pointments aimed to satisfy the
barons of the forest industry, and
the report, while it: directs some
barbs at certain vested interests, is
8enerally being hailed by the forest
Companies.

The main critic of the report so
far has been the man responsible
for appointing Pearse, former

DP resources minister Bob
Williams, who has challenged

arse to a debate on the main
Conclusions of the report.

When the NDP government
4ppointed Pearse one of the main

Tms of reference called for a
Teview of the tree farm licence
legislation. This review was
Critical because the major TFLs
are due to expire in 1979, after 21
years, If any major change was to

_Mmade in the tree farm
legislation that time would be
Needed to draft new forest
Tegulations. However, Pearse
Tecommends no basic change in

€ licensing system under which
the major Crown forest lands have
fallen under the control of a few
Major forest monopolies.

While Pearse points to abuses of

€ licencing scheme, and directs
Some criticism at the previous

Socred government, he limits
himself to proposing ebanges
which would limit the duration of
such licences and the allowable
forest cut. The report basically

accepts the tree farm licence:

system which turns over- public
forests to the effective control of
private forest companies.

The importance of the TFLs to
the overall forest industry is shown
by the fact that they embrace some
10.5 million acres of the best Crown
forest lands in B.C. These forests
have been handed over to a few
companies under 34 existing
licences. Some 16 of the original
licences granted were in per-
petuity, and these licences still
claim legal right till the end of
time. TFLs range in size from
19,000 acres to 6.6 million acres, or
an area half the size of Nova
Scotia.

In its brief to the Pearse com-
mission hearings, the B.C. Com-
munist Party advocated that tree
farm licences be phased out and
that when 1979 licences expire that
they not be renewed. In place of
handing over public forest
resources for private exploitation,
the Communist Party proposed
that the government set up public
agencies to manage all public

forest lands, selling the mature

logs at auction to the highest
bidder. ;
The ‘Communist Party brief
argued that public ownership of
public lands was the only way to
end domination of the forest in-
dustry by a handful of giant forest
monopolies, and to ensure that the
people of B.C. gain the greatest
return from their resource. The
failure of the Pearse report to
depart from the existing giveaway
system is its major criticism.
Under the report, the people of
B.C. will continue to be saddled
with forestry policies which will
perpetuate the control of Crown
forest lands by the forest
‘monopolies.
Having said this, it must be
added that Pearse points to some
abuses of this system, and he aoe
oposals to mitigate these abuses.
ewaud have been better if he had
recommended an end to the
giveaway system itself.
The Pearse report appears to be
concerned with the growing trend
towards monopoly control in the

forest industry and the elimination
of smaller logging companies by
the giants. A chart included in the
report shows that 10 large com-
panies control 76.3 percent of the
coast timber cut, and in 1974 ac-
counted for 54.5 percent of the total
provincial harvest from our
forests. This is up from 37.2 per-
cent in 1954.

MacMillan Bloedel is at the top
of the 10 companies, handling 30.9
percent of the entire coast harvest
in 1974. Next is B.C. Forest
Products with 9.6 percent. Ranked
after these two are Rayonier,
Crown Zellerbach,
Forest Products, Tahsis, Weld-
wood, Eurocan, Bay Forest
Products and B.C. Cellulose.

Even with this high degree of
concentration in the industry,
Pearse warns that the report may
be underestimating the problem
because some companies treated
as separate entities, are in fact,
controlled by other companies
through share arrangements.

The Pearse report admitted that

‘present forest policies favor the

larger companies and that these
policies have effectively ac-
celerated the consolidation of the
industry into fewer large com-
panies. It expressed concern that
this trend is freezing out smaller

‘companies, and proposes a number

of measures to pry some of the
timber now held by the major
companies under TFLs loose for
use for these smaller companies.

The proposal he made, which is
a concession to the pressure of the
small forest companies in B.C., is
that there bea gradual reduction in
the volume of timber to which a
company can lay claim through its
repeated renewal of Crown-
granted licences.

Pearse proposed a new “Forest
Licence” that would confer rights
to defined tracts of timber, with
terms of 10 or 15 years, with
provision for advance renewal and
matching big privileges to holders
of expiring licences. Established
operators would thus have clearly
defined legal rights to at least 80
percent of the quota then presently
held. And subsequent renewals,
after the 10 or 15 year period (as
decided), would be extended to the
established operator to at least the
80 percent originally enjoyed.

Canadian:

PETER PEARSE

timber could be reduced with each
successive contract renewal
making more timber available to
others. Thus, while some slight
improvements could be made, the
process would be so slow as to be of
very little value. The holders of

TFLs whose terms of tenure, and
the public sustained yield units”

whose “informal understandings’”’
with the Forest Service as to the
“quota’’, were sharply criticized
by the Commissioner), would be
left substantially intact.

Pearse criticized the existing
tenure arrangements as_ being
“riddled with inappropriate terms,
inconsistencies, ambiguities and
discretionary elements.

_ In addition he drew attention to
the question of the soundness of
sustained yield regulations and
utilization standards, and the
adequacy of export restrictions to
promote the most efficient use of
our forest resources and to provide
maxium social benefits and em-
ployment in B.C. Questioning is
certainly: needed, but specific
recommendations and action is
particularly necessary in light of
years of experience and current
employment problems.

In his review of the industry’s
structure, Pearse pointed to the
fact that “while the companies
with all or majority foreign
ownership comprise only 11 per-
cent of of the total number of
companies, they control between
30 to 40 percent of the timber rights
and manufacturing capacity

MLL

Forest probe falls short of need

(except for paper where control is
less than 20 percent) . . . None are
among the five controlling com-
panies with the largest shares of
allowable annual cut, although
four have a minority foreign
ownership. However, 14 of the next
17 largest controlling companies in
this ranking have a _. majority
foreign interest. Thus they
dominate the top twenty in terms
of timber holdings . . . undoubtedly
the size and capitalization of
foreign-owned companies have
increased.”’ :

Pearse sharply criticized former
Socred lands and forests minister
Ray Williston for ‘preferential
treatments” he gave certain forest
monopolies and_ particularly
MacMillan Bloedel. While avoiding
mention of Mac Blo by name, the
report left no doubt as to whom the
criticism was aimed at.

MacMillan Bloedel, with 40
percent of the total of 1.7 million
acres of so-called ‘‘old temporary
tenures’ has the largest such
holdings. Pearse scored the
treatment given Mac Blo when the
Socred Minister in 1968 gave
renewal of licenses to the year
2013. Pearse said there was no for-
mal binding agreement as to Mac
Blo’s cutting schedule, while no
other companies were offered the
‘kind of extension given this
company.

The Pearse report declared: ‘‘At
the outset I feel it necessary to say
the government’s action in these
cases was highly irregular and in
my opinion improper.”

Despite the sharp criticism of the
Socred government’s handling of
tree farm licences — the most
important issue in the forest study
— and Pearse’s advocacy of
amending legislation to alter the
rights of 16 tree farm licences,
these falls far short of what is
required to provide the basic
changes in the management and
control of B.C.’s forest industry
which accounts for fifty cents of
every dollar of _ industrial
production in this province.

With a new Social Credit ad-
ministration in office, and forestry
minister Tom Waterland in
charge, strong public pressure will
have to be exerted if even the
limited recommendations of the
Pearse report are to be translated
into legislation.

Labor

Labor and progressive can-
dates won the support of many
Voters last Saturday as residents of
19 cities, towns and districts went
to thepolls in civic elections across
© province which produced no
Clearly defined voting trends.
€ strongest showing for labor
€ndorsed candidates came in
urnaby where the Vancouver
abor Council-backed Burnaby
tizens’ Association swept all

three school board seats and ~

elected one of the four aldermanic
Candidates. June Williams, Elsie
an, and Barry Jones topped the
Polls in the school board race for
the BCA, and incumbent alderman
Fred Randall was returned to the
Municipal council. Randall was the
Only BCA alderman to seek re-
flection, and the other BCA can-
idates, Lorne Bezubiak, Hazel
_ Simnett, and Paul Bjarnason, all
Polled more than 7,300 votes.
Despite Randall’s election win,
Control of the new council went to
the right-wing Burnaby Voters
Socia tion which now enjoys a 5-4
Majority on council. However, the
CA won-a three-to-two majority
On the five-member school board.

In North Vancouver, Dorothy -

ynas was returned to the school
ard for her 19th year as she

finished more than 1,000 votes »

Sueesedeetet

ee

Burnaby
(left), Elsie Dean an
victory last Saturday as they swe

Williams topped the poll.

ahead of the third place finisher in
the race for two school board seats.
Well known North Shore com-
munity leader Ernie Crist in-
creased his 1975 votes by more

than 65 per cent although, with .

3,354 votes, he was still 600 votes

shy of election.
The Association of Coquitlam

* lectors placed one candidate on
both the council and school board

Citizens Association school board candidates June Williams
d Barry Jones crowned their election campaign with
pt all three seats in the trustees’ race.

In this way an operators right to

—Sean Griffin photo

~in that district as Les Bewley

topped the polls. The other ACE
candidate, Duane Pritchett,
finished 113 votes behind the last
elected aldermanic candidate as
he received 2,242 votes in his first
bid for election. Earlier, ACE
school board candidate Bernice
Gilmour was acclaimed as school

trustee.
On Vancouver Island, a number

marks gains in municipa

of labor-backed candidates made
stron] showings with the most

‘significant vote going to the

secretary of the Victoria Labor

‘council Larry Ryan who was
‘elected to the Victoria city council

with 3,240 votes. Victoria tenants’
leader Anne Tarasoff ran seventh
in the race for four council seats as
she drew a total of 1,707 votes in
her second bid for election.

Further north on Vancouver
Island, labor candidates garnered
a substantial number of votes,
though they were not successful in
winning election. United Fisher-
men and Allied Workers’ Union
organizer Bert Ogden collected

“- nearly 1,200 votes in Nanaimo’s

ward three, only 800 votes behind
the third and final elected alder-
man. Labor candidates contested
seats in two other wards in the
Island city, one of only two B.C.
communities to elect -represen-
tatives on a ward basis. UFAWU
general executive board member
Walter Tickson received 77 votes in
Wellington, and Joe Lychak, a
member of the IWA drew 380 votes,
only eight votes behind the second
place finisher, in Harewood.

In Courtenay, Richard Von

votes

Fuchs and Penny Christensen
finished sixth and _ seventh
respectively as they ran for the
three available council seats. Von
Fuchs received 321 votes while
Christensen collected 184 votes in
that city. Nick Chernoff, secretary
of Campbell River, Courtenay and
District Labor council ran a strong
campaign for the one council seat
up for election in Campbell River
but failed to win election. No count
on Chernoff’s vote was available as

the Tribune went ‘to press.

Candidates for the Richmond
Electors Action League, tenants
leader Margaret De wees and

~ Dave Lomas, a vice president of

the Canadian’ area of the
Longshoreman’s union, both in-
creased their vote from last year,
but failed to win seats on the new
council. Former MLA Harold
Steves easily topped the Richmond

polls as he finished nearly 1,000

votes ahead of his closest
challenger.

Popular Alert Bay alderman
Gilbert Popovich, endorsed by the
UFAWU, easily won re-election as
he captured 50 per cent of all
ballots cast in the three-way race
in that village. :

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 26, 1976—Page 3