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Braun’s Island residents will face
hefty charges if they ever want city

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The Ksan House Society is looking
for furniture donations for new

play\SPORTS B4

Local fastball team just missed
making the final round of national

WEDNESDAY _—
September 8, 1999

AFTER 10 YEARS az the city’s top health care adminis-
trator, Michael Leisinger handed in his resignation Aug.
30, leaving the financially-troubled Terrace and Area
Health Council in search of a second administrative posi-
tion to flE.

Juanita Barrett, director of clinical services at Mills
Memorial Hospital, also resigned last month.

Health council chair Larisa Tarwick said having two
vacant administrative positions presents some challenges,
but Barrett will be flown up to Terrace from Vancouver
two days a week until Christmas to complete paperwork.

Leisinger leaves Sept. 24 to work on planning projects at
the Northern Interior Regional Health Board in Prince
George which looks after hospitals, treatment centres and
public health, mental health and continuing care programs
from Vanderhoof/Fert St. James to Valemount and from
Mackenzie south to Hixon, between Prince George Ques-
nel. The board has 2,000 employees and a $125 million
budget.

In the interim, Tom Novak, the consultant brought in by
the health council this spring on the recommendation of
the health ministry to solve the health council’s budget

problems, takes aver as chief executive officer until a re-
placement is found.

Leisinger was hired Aug. 1, 1989 to oversee the newly-
amalgamated Mills Memorial Hospital and Terraceview
Lodge operations under the umbrella of the Terrace
Regional Health Care Society.

His job included bringing health care operations closer
together and increasing efficiencies by putting as many
dollars as possible into patient and resident care. -

Leisinger has been increasingly under fire the last several
years from the public and from local doctors because of
cost saving measures at the hospital. ,

Mills Memorial began the 1990s with surpluses but those
soon disappvared when health care budgets were effective-
ly frozen, beginning a series of ever increasing annual
deficits.

Beds were closed and services curtailed in an effort to
cope with those frozen budgets.

Some years, Mills received cither no or minimal budget
increases from the provincial government.

Deficits climbed to the point they threatened to place the

TANDARD

Top health care boss moves on

health care council in insolvency.

The one piece of good news took place this year when
the health council received a budget increase of $886,000.

Leisinger was named chief executive officer of the Ter-
race and Area Health Care Council when it took over from
the health care society several years ago.

Prior to working here, Leisinger had been an administra-
tor at the Fort Nelson hospital for four years.

Northern Interior Regional Health Board chief executive
Dave Richardson says Leisinger's position is new and was
created earlier this year.

"“Michael’s an excellent candidate for this position, I was
looking for somebody from the north and with his creden-
tials,’’ said Richardson last week.

kk hk

Novak’s appointment as acting chicf executive officer of
the health council effectively gives him control of two of
the northwest’s hospiials.

He is aiso the acting chief executive officer of the hospi-
tal in Kitimat, filling a vacancy when that (acitity’s admin-
istrator lefl on medical leave.

$1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST
(51.10 plus 6¢ GST outside of the
Terrace area).

VOL. 12 NQ, 22

Michael Leisinger .

Local artisans on display

THE REBIRTH of the Red Raven Gallery fas given local
artisans a place once again to collectively market their work. The
location, in the Skeena Mall, is particularly banefecial because it

is a high traffic spot. Some of the artists who contribute work to
the gallery also volunteer there. More than 80 people now have
contributions on display.

SCI’s red ink is drying up

Consistent profitability

in sight, president says

By JEFF NAGEL
SKEENA CELLULOSE | still lost
money in the first six months of this
year despite individual months of profit
during that time, say officials of the
government-owned company.

But since those results came amid bottom-
ing pulp prices — which have since
rebounded -—— and production costs arc
being chopped further with modernization
work this fall, the days of calling SCT a
money-loser appear numbered.

Operating losses from January to June were
$8.2 million compared to $22 million in the
same six months of 1998, company president
Bill Steele told The Standard last Thursday.

The first six months of this year had seen pulp
sag to around $475 a tonne — well down from
the $500 to $550 the previous two ycars. Since
then pulp has shot to $560 per tonne in Europe
and Japan, and even higher in the U,S,, with

some analysts forecasting $600 by year's end.
The company also released consolidated

results for the 15 months ending Mar. 31 show-
ing losses after all interest anid depreciation of

$57.9 million, That was down a loss in the 1997,

calendar year of $130.5 millon.

In July the company recorded a $1.5 million |

profit after interest and depreciation, he said,

adding a modest profit is also expected in Au-
gust.

While results are expected to sag in October
because of a pulp mill shutdown while modern-
ization proceeds, he said consistent profilability
should be almost assured after thal,
~ "Once the capital work is complete ] am com-
pletely confident we
can maintain 7
profitable operation as-
suming reasonable
pulp and — lumber
prices,’’ be said fast
week, ;

Steele has staked his §
Tepulation as a tough
cost-cutier at West
Fraser on achieving a
dramatic turnaround at
Skeena Cellulose.

The promise of a 3 a
Cinderella story has Sees faee :
much appeal for em- _—_‘Bill Steele
ployees who want to sec opponents of the
government bailout cat their words.

Rather than tangle with SCI’s critics verbally,
Stcele has repeatedly urged his workers to join
with him to redouble efforts to cut cosis and
provide the ultimate answer on the bottom line.
~ Impressive cost reductions have already been
achieved, but much mare should come with the
modernization of the pulp mill this fall and the
reopening in November of its second pulp line.

- The provincial government approved ‘spend:

ing $110 million on thal work in the spring and
upped SCI’s line of credit to $200 million.

Reopening the B line of the Prince Rupert
pulp mill should boost daily pulp production to
1,250 tonnes, Steele said. He said the operations
should be profilable any time they can achieve
production of at least 800 tonnes per day.

Once all currently planned capital work is
completed by next summer, the pulp production
costs should be considerably lower.

“Where we want to be is another $60 dollars
per tonne below where we are now,” he said.
“Once the money is spent we should be in an
area whereby we would be quite competitive,’”’

That would likely place the company in the
tap third of low cost producers in B.C.

But, he said, the next goal will be becoming
the lowest cost producer in B.C.

That will mean more modernization work, be
said, noling he carved $60 million out of the
original capital expenditure plans.

If that next leg of capital work can be financed
out of fulure operating profits, he said, the com-
pany could conceivably achieve the poal,

“Once we have gone to that step ] think we
would be competitive with anybody in British
Columbia,” Steele said.

The province owns-58.25 per cent of SC] —
up since minority parlner Toronto Dominion
Bank agreed to hand hand over 5.75 per cent in
July in recognition of the province investing the
extra money alone, Another 20 per cent of the
company. is earned by pulp mill workers over

time in exchange for wage concessions.

Time to party
going north

FORGET ALL those horror stories about the dust,
potholes and other obstacles tied to Hwy37 North leading
fo the Yukon border.

It’s in better shape than ever before, says one highways
nilnistry official, and will be getting better.

In fact, adds Bill Maitland, stationed in Dease Lake,
plans call for just 40km of the more than 700km between
Kitwanga and the Yukon border to remain either unpaved
or not have sealcoat by 2001.

This year, more than 200km was covered with sealcoat
—— an oil-based mixture — and the streets of Dease Lake
were also sealcoated.

Maitland and other highway officials were responding to

(en district director complaints that contractors simply

disappeared from Hwy37 North this summer, ;

They left, said Maitland and others, because their work
‘was completed.

Some of this year’s work was a continuation of 1998
Projects halted when weather tuned bad.

“"T’ve been here since 1974 and back then it was a two-
day trip from Hazelton to Dease Lake. Now, I'd be dis-
appointed if ] couldn’t make that trip in seven hours at any
time,”’ said Maitland.

**There is no problem in going up and down the road.”

Maitland said most of the problem seems to be long-
standing historical perceptions that the road is no good.

““We hear tourists say they were told in Prince George
the road is bad,’’ he said.

Baltling stories of bad roads has been a consistent prob-
lem for residents of Hwy37 North, cspecially those con-
nected to the tourist industry.

Approximately $7 million was spent on Hwy37 North
this year in either scalcoating or other construction to
widen and place down a gravel base,

Maitland did concede that sealcoat may not be perfect,

_ particularly if the gravel used is not of high quality.

“The quality of the gravels available south of Dease
Lake to Meziadin Junction isn’t good, but you work with
what you got,”’ he said.

Dease Lake Chamber of Commerce president Bunty
Althaus said the highway is ‘‘100 per cent better than it’s
ever been.”

‘*The only time it’s bad is when it's raining, but that’s
the weather,” she said last week.

Althaus said tourists who do return to the arca tell ber
they're pleased with improvements being made to the road.

‘*But they make up about 10 per cent of our tourists.
Some of the other 90 per cent still complain,” she said.

Europeans seem satisfied with the road and most of the
complaints come from Americans, Althaus added,

Seal of a deal

A $344,450 CONTRACT to sealcoat roads on the west
side of Lakelse Lake will mean continued winter ac-
cess for seven year-rouud homes in the area,

The contracl, awarded to O.K. Industries Limited, of
Saanichton will see up to 16km of road near Beam Sta-
tion Road seal coated by Sept. 15.

The sealcoaling allows betler access to a popular
tecreation area on Mailbox Road, Beam Station Drive,
Beam Station Road and Catt Road,

Earlier this summer, highways managers had decided
not to continue maintenance on 400 metres of Calt
Road, a move that would have effectively cut off seven
year-round homes during winter months.

Since then, district manager Don Ramsey said addi-
tional money from other areas of the project has been
found. ‘We didn’t have to do quite as much ditching in,
other arcas as we thoughi,”’ said Ramscy,

The road, he said, needed work because il was un-
stable with litle or no support ditches for water run off
and winter plowing — making the road relatively un-
safe for plow operators,