VOL.18 NO. 4

One year wonder
Infant’s first birthday is —
centre of attention fora

class of Grade 3 students |

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“$1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST.
($1.10 plus 8¢ GST
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By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

LESS THAN three months ‘after ‘local -
investors said they wanted to buy the’

bankrupt New. Skeena Forest Products
closed down sawmill and start it up again,
they made it official April 29 by paying

more than $3 million for the assets and 7

$550,000 for the land it sits on.
City taxpayers have helped finance the
buy thanks to a $950,000 loan made.to

the investors who have founded the Ter-

race Lumber Company.

* The company bought the. assets of _

the mill from Maynard’s auction:house
for $3.2 million plus a buyer’s premium

groups -
2 J00K for.
workers -

., oil and, Bas Andpstry in.the . ,

_ ics and civil engineers.

- that city’s

‘these opportunities and learn’ FR

- the Bowser and Nechako ba-

_urday, May 7 from 10 a.m.
‘ to 4 p.m. at the Coast Inn of

of $290,000. The: $550,000 for the land
was paid to the receiver for New Skeena,

Ernst and Young, which is charged with

pverseeing the selling. off of the compa-

By *S assets, to cover its costs.

Outside ©

=~

THE City of Fort St. John.”
is holding “a job fair in-
Terrace this week looking
for skilled trades people and -
professionals to work in the

province’s northeast.
__.In what that city is calling
an opportunity fair, it is hop-
ing to lure skilled workers:
from Terrace to fill positions
such as- heavy. duty.mechan-
The fair involves poli-
ticians from Fort St. John
speaking about the impact
the oil and gas indutry has
had there and industry rep-
resentatives offering advice
on raining’ requirements to
for various positions.
* “The opportunity — fair
is an excellent venue for.
skilled’ professionals and
trades people to talk to those
companies who have helped ”
to give the City of Fort St.
John such a booming and |
sustainable economy,” says
Mayor Steve ©
Thorlakson. “We want to
pass on advice so the rest of ©
the region can benefit from

from our experience.”
Terrace’s proximity to

sins means there is potential
for this city to profit from oil
and gas production.
- The fair in .Terrace. is
modeled on: similar ones
hosted by Fort St. John in
places such as Vancouver
and Calgary last year.

The fair takes place Sat-

the West. |

This deal also.means the’ city did not
receive any of the $3 million outstand-
ing property taxes it was owed by New
Skeena.

But the city can expect to recoup some
of that outstanding amount through the

interest’ charged on the $950,000. loan
made to the Terrace Lumber Company. .

The loan length is for"10 years and

» neither city officials nor ones from the.
Terrace Lumber Company are releasing |

the rate of interest.

City officials say there are contractual f

nondisclosure clauses preventing the city
from releasing those details. if there is
potential that the information could jeop-

ardize the financial well being of the Ter-

race Lumber Company.
The reluctance on the part of the city to

release information stems from fears the :

‘ ib

. Pearly Robinson, 10, of Greenville rides the carousel at the carnival in Terrace last weekend. Hundreds of
fair-goers packed the lot behind the co-op building.

wwiw.terracestandard.com

interest rate could be interpreted as a way
“ to’collect the taxes. But Terrace Mayor
Jack Talstra says the city has washed its

hands of the lost taxes.

“The back tax ‘business’ is. over and
done: with,” Talstra says. “Now. we've -
‘made our own arrangement with the loan

and that’s entirely separate.”

The city has not yet given ‘the money
to the company and city. administrator .
-Ron Poole says that won’t happen until .

the mill is operational. |

_ When the mill starts up, Poole says,
the city will write a cheque for a lump

sum figure of $950,000.

he says. -

. , Terrace Lumber ‘Company’ officials
met with city officials and incumbent
‘Liberal candidate Roger Harris last week
to announcement the mill’s purchase.

“I can’t help but feel really, really’
proud of this community because it really
is the community that has done it,”
‘John Ryan, the company’ s chairman of |

_ the board. .

icially sold into local hand

have now secured future taxes, which
wouldn’t have been there in’ liquidation,”

He credited the assistance of the city
. and of Harris in helping.

'7

500

|

7819

it

The recent introduction of a pricing |
system that accurately reflects the quality :
of wood unique to the northwest. means =
the“forestry industry ‘here has a ‘better :
‘chance than it -did . before to compete,
Harris adds..

~The lower prices mean more logs.can 7
be cut at a more affordable price and with
market based pricing coming, the interna-
tional market should respond favourably.
"The company’s immediate challenge :
will be establishing a reliable log supply
before it can start up operations.

“We have to be assured that once we

says

. Talstra says the sale means the city can
move ahead and begin collecting much
‘needed taxes from the Terrace Lumber
_ Company. :

“From a taxpayers point of view we |

~

“NON

PENSE

I do believe, and ali of us at this table

believe, that. community ownership of
the resources around us and how we ap- .
ply them to the manufacturing facilities
around ug is really where the future-is for
all of us, ’ Harris says.

4

from education.”
tin said.

dissatisfied. °.:

' 60s and 70s.

SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

SKEENA riding candidates Roger Harris, | Robin Austin and Patrick Hayes listen to
questions from the floor at the April 26 all candidates forum at the R.E.M. Lee The-
DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO

atre.

n

OB a ue

‘get. going we don’t suddenly run out of

wood,” Ryan says. °
‘The company is about to hire a fi-

_bre supply manager and needs some |
oneoskilled in dealing with a a variety of.
groups, he says.

| NDPer fears |
‘for profit &
| schools — oe

By DUSTIN QUEZADA ‘
THE PROVINCIAL Liberal government isn’t giving public
schools the money they need in hopes parents will then turn ~
- to private institutions, NDP Skeena candidate Robin Austin
“told an election forum on education here Aprik27..

He said there’s been chaos in the schools sinte the Liber:
als were elected and that it has been “almost deliberate.”

“1 think that it’s theirintention,” Austin said in reference
to his claim the Liberals-would like to see more schools
4 privatized. “They’d much rather that we all had private edu-

cation, they’d much rather that companies were able to profit

“I don’t want to go into any conspiracy theories, but cer-
tainly this happened in Britain when I was living there, ” Aus-

He said Britain had a very well-financed public education 7
system but as money to it was cut, the middle classes became

Interviewed the next day, Austin backtracked from his. .
use of the word conspiracy, saying instead the Liberals 1 were.
“privatizing by stealth.” .
-“Underfunding the delivery of public systems creates dis-
Satisfaction among people,” he said. “People” look . for Op-
tions when they’re dissatisfied.”
Liberal candidate Roger. Harris wasn’t at the forum, Teav-
ing Austin and Green party candidate Patrick. Hayes agree-
_ing with each other more often than not. ~
Both Austin and Hayes did not advocate strongly for an
aboriginal school of choice in Terrace, where the curriculum
would use native culture and values as teaching tools. ©.”
The candidates instead said they preferred a more com-
munity-based approach to education that takes in aborigi-
- nal interests. But Austin did say that historically oppressed ;
groups have a hard time competing.

“If you-form a place | for a temporary period of time that
enables that group in society to heal-and to grow, it can make
things better for the rest of society,” he said, saying this was. _
done successfully in the U.S. with African Americans in the -

i?)

The forum, organized by local teachers, school district’
unions, post secondary institutions and local. native village
governments, drew ‘just under 70 people.

Provincial election coverage continues.with a profile of
the three candidates on Pages AS and A6. Turn to Page
All for our story-on Premier Gordon Campbell’s promise °
of a $2.5 million road study. There’s an election notebook
on Page Al4 and on Page Ba, a whiff of scandal.

MLA hopefuls grilled on issues

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN -
EDUCATION, the economy and. raw
log exports were at the forefront of re-
gional issues raised at last week’s all
candidates forum. ;

It was the first such forum in the

f . Skeena riding to feature all three candi-
‘dates facing questions from the public.

Liberal candidate Roger Harris,
NDP candidate Robin Austin and the

‘Green representative, Patrick Hayes all

faced. questions on a broad range of is-

' Sues,

One of the most divisive issues
stemmed from the polarized views of
the candidates relating to whether or
not education should be-an essential
service.

Austin, a social worker; vehemently
opposes essential service legislation.

“I think what’s important here is
that we recognize that the education

‘system be funded in such a Way that

school districts can make their own
choicesand come to agreements with
their teachers so we don’t end up hav-
ing strikes,” he said.

That won’t put students first, Harris
shot back, adding he supports essential
service legislation. —

“The aspect and application of the

essential service legislation doesn’t
remove the right to strike, it just en- :

sures that the right to a child’s educa-
tion isn’t disrupted by labour disputes,”
Harris said:
Austin didn’t buy it and attacked the
Liberals cuts to education since 2001.
“I happened to have spent the last
three and a half years working in the

school system and let me assure you

- that children have not been put first in
the school system,” Austin said.
“We have had teachers cut, we have

had class sizes increase, we have had

support staff out of the school system _
~ to such an extent that the environment’

in those classrooms is not conducive to
learning.”
Green candidate Hayes, who gradu-

ated from the University of Victoria in- |
‘December 2004, also opposes essential -

service legislation.
“In my experience teachers and pro-
fessors have far greater interest in safe-

guarding education than usually the .

government in Victoria has,” he said,

adding the Green party would reinstate

local bargaining and put class sizes on

’ the bargaining table as well:

Harris was also taken to task for his

government's cuts to education which

resulted in the four-day school. week
here and some larger classroom sizes,

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