Thumbs up to log exports Dear Sir: At last an elected government with the cour- age to implement recommendations of countless Studies and reviews commissioned by govern- _ment and an industry in distress. For 15 years studies have informed officials that’ one way to encourage the survival of the northwest forest industry is to lift log export re- Strictions to some degree. __~ From the B.C. Forest Policy Review facilita- ted by Gary Wouters, to the B.C. Job Protection Commissioner to the Northwest Forest Strategies by Wes Cheston, to the economic plan for West Fraser mills, our northwest forest industry re- quires some level of alternative markets for the logs we produce. '. It appeazs hundreds of thousands of dollars have been squandered because these recommen- ~ dations had fallen on deaf ears, until now. ] applaud the current government for not com- missioning any more costly, time consuming stu- _ dies and acting on recommendations from indu- stry experts on what measures are required to re- turn this area to some level of prosperity. Log export provisions incrementally increase the average log value so as to decrease the cost of a log into local sawmills. this is not, as some would. have you believe, a license to print money, but a means of lowering delivered log costs to local mills. “If 10-15 per cent of the northwest log profile is exported, which is a realistic volume, the cost of the remaining 85-90 per cent could be lowered by $5-37 per cubic metre. . As five of the six local mills are currently shut down indefinitely I don’t see log exports as a de- ‘triment to local milling but a means of creating viable mill operations and the many jobs that logging, milling and exporting maintain. In the northwest there are hemlock logs, spruce logs, balsam logs, cedar logs and pine logs. Anyone that would have you believe there ‘are raw logs is an idiot and knows nothing about the industry. Again, thanks to Roger Harris and his collea- "gues for finally implementing a start to returning this area to prosperity, which was after all the very reason they were elected, Greg Main Terrace B.C, ‘Exports needed, truck loggers say Dear Sir: CPG voimbe Media -has been. all over the! Ordersin., Council which: allows Taw; log exports from north- "west operators — both small business and major licensees — up to 35 per cent of their annual " harvest for the next three years. - What the media did not iterate was why this OIC was passed and the positive effect it will have on our communities in the long and short ‘term. Yes, there is opposition to exports but we need to examine why they are necessary in the northwest. The northwest suffers from a largely decadent, low quality, low value timber resource. Due to the remoteness of timber stands, ‘mountainous terrain, distance from resource to “mills, lack of transportation infrastructure and the high cost of access, much of the fibre in the northwest is uneconomical to harvest and process into.a finished product. ‘The repeated failures of Skeena Cellulose are a result of these issues. "West Fraser has operated for the past three years under a Job Protection Plan that allowed its contractors to export a portion of fibre (349%) from TFL 41. This plan has helped maintain eco- “nomic stability, where otherwise, major job losses and business failures would have occurred. The fact remains the cost to get fibre to the mill far exceeds the combination of the value “ garned from selling the end product and selling -; low value pulp logs or chips. In the short term exports will allow firms to. “generate enough of a return to offset the high “cost of harvesting and the losses incurred in sell- ing the very low value pulp wood. ‘JE we are to commence a recovery in the for- -est-industry in the northwest, log exports are going to be an integral factor. “In addition, log exports address one of the major concerns of the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Exports countervails argument. “The U.S. feels the export of OIC legislation will provide market pricing signals for domestic logs and thus will aid in determining market- based stumpage rates. Log exports will also faci- litate the allocation of logs to their most optimal end use, both domestically and internationally. Currently, exports would not be an issue if mills could produce the highest value product possible. In the Northwest, companies such as Skeena » Cellulose and West Fraser have tried unsuccess- fully to produce commodity products from a re- - source that is one of the highest cost regions in ~ the world, . Cost structures here are so high that we can no longer compete in commodity markets. “In the long term companies will be forced to reinvest and rethink their business strategy in - order. to adapt to changing markets and global competition. Companies will have to develop products that have a higher value than the underlying costs to make those products. . Log exports must form part of our strategy to encourage and stabilize employment in the northwest’s forestry dependent communities and - to create financial returns for forest companies, ~ "These returns can then be used to finance value, . added and enhanced eniployment opportunities. Rick Jeffery, president MORE LOGGING trucks will be rolling on northwest highways due to the province’ s decision to allow all licensees to , export up to 35 per cent of the timber they cut in the northwest. Government officials say the main intent is to get hard-hit lagging contractors working again. The de- cision will allow the new owners of Skeena Cellulose to export logs. Unions say the short-term cash flow comes at the expense of mill jobs. ‘CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD _ The Mail Bag Truck Loggers Association Vancouver B.C. People power will really save Skeena Dear Sir: [ don’t need to tell you about the difficult times this province at large and northwest com- i munities ih particular have seen in recent years. ‘ Ukniow- of your’ individual: and collective ef- forts to ensure that whatever ‘the problems’ of the ‘past, there can be — with courage, conviction, and action — a brighter future. This message has tesonated with people and communities here for one very good reason: it has a home here. In the efforts over the past many months to find a resolution to Skeena Cellulose, it has been my experience that the people of this region are not only comfortable with the notion of shaping their future, they remain hungry for the flexibil- ‘ity, opportunity, and the responsibility to do it. As I said, I have hope and confidence in our plan. And the level of community support for the Opportunity — and more important, the commit- ment of communities to be actively involved in securing their future through it ~ is so resolute that I must here acknowledge it, embrace it and salute it. The road ahead for Skeena Cellulose and the northwest will not be an easy one. Others will not do our heavy lifting for us. The challenges we face together will require the effort, compromise, and will of all people in northwest communities to make the operation re- levant to, and viable in, an aggressively compe- titive global economy. Sa much of my hope and confidence comes from people I have encountered here. They told me that they’re tired of being on the outside looking in. They told me that they want to be part of something. And they told me they want to work together to get through the uncertainty and make things here right again. It is this community bedrock determination that has driven me through this tumultuous pro- cess, and given me the confidence to make the decisions [ have made in pursuit Skeena Cellu- lose. You showed me, and you must take every op- portunity to show and tell others as well. I be- lieve your determination inspires courage, gener- ates conviction, and motivates action. It will serve the northwest well. All the human qualities that are } required to relurn prosperity to this part of the province are here, and are here in great supply. Dan D. Veniez, president NWBC Palp and Timber Ltd Montreal, Quebec Liberal lies worse than fudget budget Dear Sir: I share the sense of distaste of many readers, at Don Philpott’s suggestion to force business owners to choose and then publicly declare whe- ther or not they support the Campbell govern- ment. The suggestion shows little respect for the pri- vacy of individuals, and runs contrary to one of the fundamental tenets our our society, that indi- viduals should be able to make political choices free of any intimidation. 1 am puzzled However when one writer, Lorne Sexton, gous on to assert that due to the size of its majority, -the Campbell government has the mandate to do whatever it wants. if Gordon Campbell had said he was going to undermine public health care and public educa- tion, a course that must inevitably end in the greater privatization of health care and educa- tion, then IT would grudgingly accept that as being the democratic will of the people. Unfortunately, Campbell achieved his asto- tishing majority only by telling the most outrag- eous lies, Campbell has no mandate to savage the pub- , lic nature’ of our society because the pegple of, ; B. c. never voted | for a ‘tevolution in public gov- emance, | The people of B.C. spoke loudly and clearly, and what they said was that they were sick and tired of the deceit of politicians, they thought taxes were getting too high, they wanted greater openness and accountability of government, and they wanted to maintain our excellent health care and education systems. Campbell’s campaign § told the people of B.C. that if they yoted for him they could have all of this. Although Campbell kept § his promise to cut taxes, § he’s broken every other pro- mise he made. His actions have been so "a ins swift and so extreme that Lorne Sexton we can only assume they were deliberate lies. Mr. Sexton campaigned long and hard to re- call our previous MLA, because Glen Clark and the NDP had campaigned on a “fudget budget” But the Campbell government has made the fudget budget look like the work of an honest man. Come on Lome, don’t lose sight of your va- lues. I hope you will work equally hard to recall the pack of outrageous liars that have deceived their way into the legislature this time. , Tom Boston Terrace B.C, Energy debate bizarre Dear Sir: I hope some city councillor will further éx- plain why Les. Watmough's plea to keep B.C. Hydro as is was a bad idea, Is city council’s only argument over the exact dollar figures quoted by Les? Would it really be better to argue thal British Columbians should pay double the present rate just in order to dispute Mr. Watmough’s projec- ted figures and the fact that no one knows for sure what energy prices might do in the future? It seems to me that this is equal to killing all your livestock just on the off chance feed prices might rise sometime in the future. Lloyd Brinson Nass Camp, B. C, Gov’t will close ears to patients’ screams Dear Sir: What price do you have-to pay for arrogance these days? That’s the question that comes to mind when 1] read the story headed “Health bosses selected for business smarts” in the Standard’s Feb 20th issue. Suddenly having a hospital that ‘responds to the needs and expectations of the public is less. important than protecting the bottom line. Consider the following quote from the article: “The decisions will be evidence. based and not. ‘(while the House was not And subject to lobbying, added Warwick. The idea that medical services brings wealth to a com- munity — that type of perspective will not be a vision for the future, he said.” There’s even a caution to city council to for- get about meddling in the health care issue — not ~ that they would do it now that the Liberals are in ~ power, Now better health services apparently no longer make Terrace a better place in which to live, so community leaders should not be con- cerned, There's even a caution to city council to forget about meddling in the health care issue — not that they would do it now that the Lib- erals are in power. The boards which once were a cross section of community and who were volunteers who worked for free, would often lobby the government for more dollars to improve services. They were themselves lobbied for an increase ‘if’ Services’ by ‘the community and ‘its leaders’ * iti They -have now been replaced by- highly: paid "health bosses. | The administration of the hospital which could be held to account by boards (community mem- bers) is now only responsible to the new health bosses who work for the government and live in Prince George, Do you think they will ever respond to con- cerns of the communily? Of course not. The new health boss even says so in the arli- cle. Everything will be a business decision, not a people decision. For the government the avoiding of political heat for health freezes, closing hospitals, moving services comes at a very cheap price considering that all you have to do is pay the salaries of a few people who will clearly understand who their employer is. You could call them paid flak catchers. Paid with your tax dollars to absorb any flak that results from your concerns. You got to hand it to those Liberals. The price of arrogance is cheap. Now, thanks to the new vision articulated by Peter Warwick, we see the makings of the new cra in health care. Even a massive people’s rally to defend health care wouldn’t change his mind. Helmut Giesbrecht Terrace B.C. I didn’t leave caucus, | was suspended Dear Sir: With regard to your story in last week’s Ter- race Standard [ would like to correct a statement regarding what took place with my caucus this summer past. When I voiced my con- cern regarding the leader- ship of Mr. Day, I was sus- pended from caucus, I did not leave the caucus as your article implied. In early September that suspension was revoked aad I.once again became and active member of cau- cus, missing only two months’ in midsummer Andy Burten in session). ‘We are now into a full-fledged leadership race, which I firmly believe is necessary, I am supporting Stephen Harper, which my te- cent press release indicated, as 1-am convinced that he can and will dead the Canadian Alliance into the future. Andy Burten Skeena MP About the Mail Bag The - Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, 6.C., V8G 5R2. You can fax to 638-8432. you can e-mail. to standard@kermode.net. No attachments please. We need your name, address and phone number for verification.