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A12 - The Terrace Standard, ‘Wednesdey, March 22, 2006
TERRACE STANDARD

forest safety

* By SARAH A. -
_ ZIMMERMAN se

FORMER SKEENA "MLA
Roger Harris" has .been

appointed B.C.’s first forest
“safety ombudsman...

_... Harris, who, nearly sev-
“ered. his. right hand when .

he. was falling a tree in the

Queen Charlotte Islands in»
.'1986, will act as an impartial ©

sounding t board for people in
the logging industry.’

- Forest’ Safety Council,”

_ Tecommendations,
they’ won't be binding.

ombudsman is backed by a
. $150,000 budget: paid for

While its office
will operate out of Vancou-

«ver, Harris will continue liv-
+ .ing'in Terrace and expects to.

‘travel to. meet in person with
._ goncemed parties.

“The push. for~the.“cre-
z ation, of the post has been.
“instigated by a widespread
- ‘reluctance in the industry to

. Teport safety infractions, un-
« safe work environments and
practices for fear of reprisals

. .or losing work. .
But Critics say. the new. .

~ position will be. ineffective.
"when it comes to preventing
deaths in the woods.
Steve Hunt, the western
director for the steelwork-
ers union, says legislative

__ changes need to be made to -

stop the “culture of despera-
tion” stemming from con-

tracting out and the low-bid .

CN rail -
work |
to begin

CN RAIL. will soon begin

"extensive work on its rail line - -
in the region in anticipation.

of increased traffic stemming

from the development of the -
container port facility in |

Prince Rupert.

‘The company will re-~

* place rail ties along its tracks

-- between Prince. Rupert and
Tete Jaune this spring as part _.

of its regular maintenance
schedule and it will include a
beefed-up replacement pro-
gram for the area between
here and Prince Rupert.

“Part of that program in- |

~ volves replacement of more

than: 10,000 ties on our -

Skeena subdivision, between
Terrace and the coast,” says
CN. spokesperson Graham
Dallas. ;

' Preliminary * work on
making area tunnels large
enough, to accommodate
double. stacked container

cars won’t begin until next”

year
_“We'll have ~ engineer-
_ ing--work ‘crews in the area

to investigate what struc- °
» tural modifications need to.

be made to the rail tunnels

before they can accommo- .

date: double ‘stack. container
trains,” he says. “That will

give us plenty of time before ©
the container port is up and ©

running later in the year.”
CN is expected to spend
$5 million to upgrade lines

 between’Prince Rupert and |

Prince George to accom-
modate, the taller cars on
the trains. CN committed
~ $30 million to the Fairview
Container Terminal project

— $25 million of which is to

be spent on track infrastruc-

’ ture at the terminal itself.

The first phase of the ter-
minal expansion is set to roll
out in 2007 and when it does,
rail traffic through Terrace is
expected to also rise.

Appointed by ‘the’ B. Cc. -

body. which :has - ‘members .
‘<.\from: virtually every.-sector
rs. Of the forest, industry, Har-
‘ris will operate as-a media»
‘tor, facilitator and may make.’
though

“The new office’ of ‘the.

_ by the: B.C. Forest Safety
‘ Council. .

powers to back up the. posi-

_ tion, it renders the ombuds- .
man powerless, he charges. ’

“So what is he going to

do? He has no power other
than moral suasion and ‘no .
constituency. other than. the

companies,” ’ Hunt said. -

/ | But safety . council CEO

- Taniier Elton says the posi-'
tion is innovative and he ex-.
pecis as.time goes by people :
_ will see how effective it is.

, “This notion of does he”
have’ any ‘real, power...peo-. “ii
a ple need to ask themselves:
—.we have. some. real: laws °
‘on the books right now that —
don’t mean anything when it
comes to what’s happening’ -

on the ground,” Elton said.

New Democrat Forest and ~

Range critic .Bob. Simpson,

the MLA for Cariboo-North, .
questions the appointment «

of a former Liberal cabinet

“minister given his role in im-
-plementing the forest policy,
changes that people such as:

Hunt suggest are. contribut-

ing “to the high number of
deaths in the industry,

", “Given this, it seems to be

“counterintuitive. to appoint _
‘him to a role that is sup-
‘posed to be impartial both in

practice and in perception,”

~Simpson said. *

Roger Harris.

have its own ombudsman. "
_- Harris was ~~ selected
~ largely. for: his, extensive

try on many levels. He first
worked as a dishwasher in a

_on to work in the bush’as a
-faller, worked for MacMil-
lan’ Bloedel and ‘eventually
became an independent log-
ging contractor. He’s also
been a union official.

MLA for Skeena when he
was \appointed the minister

tions.

ir s really flattering and

Thursday Night 7:00 p.m. - 8: 30 p. m.

Location:

Instructor: _ Pamela

Uplands Elementary School
‘Hoekstra

background: in» “the indus- |

logging camp. He later went —

” His most recent job relat- .
_ ed to the industry was as the

of state for forestry opera- ;

+ il Me a le Sd eee a earn oe ey yt

a

JA

Harris appointed B.C.’s first
ombudsman | oe

. exciting at the same: time,” “impartial position where *
. Said Harris last week. .
“It’s certainly. brand new

-for B.C. and not all that

common in Canada.”
“Harris knows first hand

” just how dangerous the log-

. ging industry can be. In 1976,
his left knee was crushed by
‘a log. Then in 1978 his 18-
~ year-old brother-in-law was

- killed on the job — an opera-~
“tion Harris was working on.

_ at the same time. .

”” “Ten years later, he partial- :

ly severed his right hand af- «
. ter a chain saw kicked back
The. province: does not .

as he was falling a tree.
“Personally, I know’ what

» it’s like to spend six months

“in rehab away from your
family,” he says. °

_. His. appointment fulfills
-one of three commitments

at the beginning of the year

. including establishing safety ,
advocates in the industry and.

developing its Safe Compa-
nies initiative.
Last ‘year, ,the B.C. forest

injuries.
Harris says it’s reftesh-

ing to see an industry, which
is in the midst of enormous |

cultural upheaval, create: an °

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tices or compel any person.

Terrace were. at the March —

-and Mike McKibbin, the .

Association,

made by the safety council.

sector recorded 43 work-re- :
lated deaths and 106 Serious,

forestry workers can speak _
‘openly and candidly.
_ He'won’t intervene insit-
uations involving WorkSafe ~
B.C., in negotiated contracts
or any other formal proceed-
ings such as grievances. a
-He also won't make bind-
ing decisions, mandate po-

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(Some exceptions apply)

to deal with the office of the
ombudsman.
- Numerous delegates from. ©

16 announcement including ~
Bill. Sauer from the. North-. .
west. -Loggers ' Association |

head of the ‘Western Fallers -

he’s .

McKibbin’ ‘says’ _
ap...

thrilled with Harris’
pointment. — - :
- “The biggest thing right”
now is getting industry
used to Roger being there,”

he said. “He’s known. and
liked.” 8 :
.. Harris has a: two-year re 4711D Keith Ave , Terrace {All West Gluss Centre)
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Newer Savings Credit Union is pleased to announce the
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NORTHERN.
SAVINGS

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4702 Lazelle Avenue, Terrace, BC
Phone 250-638-7822 © Fax 250-638-7842

Steve Dotto sts : :

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