Three companies interested in establishing pulp mills in the East Kootenays will have to bid at public auction for the 35,000,000 cubic feet of timber to be made available for the purpose, it was an- nounced by the Honourable Ray Williston, Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Re- sources. The timber will come from two new Pulpwood Harvest- ing Areas proposed for the region, and will be sufficient to supply raw material for at least two 350 ton-per-day pulp mills, or, if one company is the successful bidder in both Pulpwood Harvesting Areas one 700 ton per-day mill. Williston’s decision to put the timber up for auction on the basis of a bonus bid over and above normal stumpage rates came as a result of a public hearing in Cranbrook in January at which Canal Development Ltd. sought a pulpwood harvesting area which would include the Cres- ton, Cranbrook, Fernie, Upper Kootenay, Windermere and Kinbasket Public Sustained- Yield Units. In counter-proposals, Kick- ing Horse Forest Products Ltd. sought pulpwood rights in the Canoe, Kinbasket, Windermere and Upper Koot- enay units, and Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company asked for rights in Fernie, Upper Koot- enay, Cranbrook and Creston Public Sustained-Yield Units. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER WILLISTON EXPLAINS WHY EAST KOOTENAY PULP MILLS MUST BID AT PUBLIC AUCTION In his decision, Williston said that because a firm com- mitment had previously been made to leave the Canoe Pub- lic Sustained-Yield Unit open, only the six others were avail- able. The six combined con- tain 51,000,000 cubic feet of pulpwood, that figure being the difference between present -quota commitments based on trees of 11 inches diameter, and an allowable cut calculat- ed on a basis of using trees down to a 7-inch diameter to a close standard of utilization. Williston said that some of the increased allowable cut must be given to established operators in the area and that 30 per cent would be held for this purpose. The remainder, approximately 35,000,000 cu- bic feet, plus available chips from existing sawmills, will support a pulp capacity of 700 tons per day. Since the supply of raw material would be so limited, the Minister said, the only fair way was to put it up for auction with bidding re- stricted to the three compan- ies concerned. Explaining the details, Wil- liston said he proposed to des- ignate two new Pulpwood Harvesting Areas — No. 8, consisting of the Fernie, Cran- brook, and Creston Public Sustained-Yield Units; and No. 9, consisting of the Kin- basket, Windermere, and Upper Kootenay. Twenty mil- lion cubic feet of timber per year would be put up for auc- tion from No. 8 and 15,000,000 from No. 9. In each case the successful bidder will be required to build a pulp mill of at least 350 tons per day capacity. In the event of one bidder ac- quiring both pulpwood har- vesting areas, consideration would be given to a single agreement covering both areas requiring the construction of one 700 ton-per-day mill. The three companies con- cerned will be allowed 30 days to assess the decision, Willis- ton said. After that if any one of them indicates a de- sire to proceed the details will be worked out and advertising procedures for the sale in- itiated. Williston’s written decision made note of the fact that the remainder of the extra allow- able cut in the two Pulpwood Harvesting Areas — some 17,- €00,000 cubic feet per year — would enable the existing saw log industry to share equitably in the production increases re- sulting from the demand for wood supplies which would be created by the new pulp capacity. He said that with new in- ventories and changing meth- ods of harvesting there is a possibility that in the future sufficient timber may ‘become available for additional pulp capacity but that his decision was based, of necessity, on present information and con- ditions. 11 PETTY POLITICS | Sometimes politics, as it is played in the House of Com- mons, seems petty, insignificant and childish. And sometimes it is exactly that. A curious thing developed | a motion that a certain MP be recently in the House which portrays this pettiness and which I would like to relate to you. For some time -there has been a certain formula in ex- istence regarding the order of speakers in such formal de- bates as the Speech from the Throne and the Budget. This formula was agreed upon by representatives of the parties in the House and a list of speakers made up from it. The other factor which is involved is the one relating to the steadily increasing popularity of the New Demo- cratic Party, a popularity that was gained at the expense of both the Liberal and Conser- vative Parties. This increased support has caused the two ‘old line parties’ some con- cern. They decided to do some- thing about it. But, the course that they started upon related to the formula for the order of speakers in the for- mal debates like the Speech from the Throne and the Budget. The attempt was made, on April 29th by a collusive ac- tion between the Liberals and Conservatives, to upset the normal and accepted formula for the order of speakers by demanding that a Liberal MP be recognized in place of a New Democrat. Now, this may seem child- ish to you and so it did to us. Under our rules there is only one recourse open to us and that is to take advantage of Standing Order 29 and move given the floor and allowed to speak at that particular time. Because the normal order had been upset and because it was done by collusion be- tween the two ‘old line part- ies’ we took the only course available and moved that Mr. Murdo Martin, MP for Tim- mins, be given the floor for he was scheduled to speak at that time. When the vote was taken on that motion every Liberal and Conservative in the House voted against the motion thus solidifying their position. And all of this was done, in an underhanded sort of way, merely because the Liberals and Conservatives in the past few months have lost a large degree of support in the Na- tion. It seems they think that by making plenty of speeches in the House during the for- mal debates they will in- crease the degree of support which they have amongst the general public. I might add that, during the past week or so, we have noticed that our New Demo- cratic MP’s have increasing difficulty in getting recognized during the daily question per- iod, and all of this seem to be part of the pattern which came out in the open on April 29th. I certainly hope that Mr. Speaker, who is required -to be impartial, is not a party to this chicanery. Well, sometimes politics is childish. LIGHTER SIDE The boy had stolen a tran- sistor radio, and the police pounced on him and took him to the station. He was put in a cell with a three-time loser who asked, “What are you in here for?” : “T stole a transistor radio,” said the boy. “That's small potatoes,” said the man. “If you want to be in this business you ought to do something big, some- thing important. Why don’t you rob a bank?” “But I don’t get out of school until after three o'clock.” KK ok A salesman who was grow- ing nervous about traveling by air went to a statistician one day. “Can you tell me,” he asked, “what the odds would be against my boarding an aircraft on which some- body had hidden a bomb?” “I can’t tell you until I’ve analyzed the available data,” the statistician replied. “Come back again in a week.” “Well,” the salesman asked on his next visit, “do you have the answer?” “Certainly,” the statistician said. “The odds are one mil- lion to one against your get- ting on an aircraft with a bomb on it.” “Those are good odds,” the salesman mused. “But I’m not sure they’re good enough for me. I travel a good deal.” “Well, if you want to be really safe,” the statistician said, “carry a bomb with you. ~ The odds are one billion to one against your boarding an aircraft with two bombs on ite * * * A few minutes after obtain- ing permission to go to the boys’ room, five-year-old Ray- mond was back in the kinder- garten room. “TI can’t find it,” he announced tearfully. “Of course you can,” said his teacher. “You’ve always found it before. Billy, you go along with Raymond and help him.” In a short time both chiJ- dren returned, all smiles. “Raymond put his trousers on backwards this morning,” Billy explained cheerfully. “That’s why he couldn’t find it.”