Se a enn oe Milton gets ready toinvest — This week: Milton M. Jovial, introduced in this column last week, is 4 ficti- tious investor preparing to embark . ona fictitious logging venture in a . fictitious Northwest forest. How ' Jovial goes about setting up and operating this venture, however, is typical of the forest industry in B.C. today and is designed to help the general public understand how the system works. The following is the text of Jovial’s reply to a letter from Herby Squish, a Terrace-based forestry consultant, that appeared in last week’s column. - Jovial HSForstry Lid. Terrace B.C. wn Attn, Herby Squish Dear sir, - Thank you for your Oct. 24 response to my investment inquiries in your area, I read your suggestion for the construction of a 65 million board foot per year sawmill east of Terrace with great interest. Preliminary investigation seems to indicate that such an investment, about $40 million "Terrace Review — Wednesday, October 31, 1990 AT “by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Arnold and Doug Davies "Canadian, backed by an’ Annual Allowable Cut of 600,000 cubic 7 metres of timber is ideally suited to the type of investment I have i in mind. I would like to note that | par- ticularly appreciated your advice on the production of commodity export lumber and pulp chips as opposed to the production of value-added wood products. I was aware from the onset that value added products would require a — Letters to the Editor — Let’s have some clear goals An Open Letter to Hon. Brian Mulroney Prime Minister House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario Dear Mr. Mulroney: First of all, I fully realize you have an extremely difficult task _ ahead — as I watched the news last night with absolute disgust at the despicable behaviour of the members of the Senate. I feel it’s not excusable in any way and far worse than any badly behav- ed school class. A short note on my back- ground. I was elected in 1952 as a member of the B.C. Legisla- ture and continued as a member for over 23 years; I was also Minister of Agriculture for six of those years. Since then, I’ve been a consultant for various ' groups on government affairs and I must say I’ve never seen a worse performance at any time during 33 years in and around government. In my opinion, most of us as Canadians deserve better from our government in- stitutions. We are all looking for answers and leadership in order to resolve some very serious pro- Arthritis campaign To the Editor; ‘The Arthritis Society of B.C. and the Terrace branch wishes to thank all people of the area who kindly gave during the Septem- ber Campaign, and to thank the canvassers who so. willingly Assisted us in a very successful arthritis month — you raised $7,654, We also appreciate the coins _ dropped into th¢ ‘‘Boxes” plac- edi in the stores. L. Higgins, . Terrace. blems. The first one concerns our massive debt, which is near- ly double that of when you came into office. This large debt is simply transferring our pro- blems onto our children and grandchildren. No government has faced up to this, which is not only economic incompetence but also morally unjust as it will place upon the coming genera- tion an impossible task. I strongly feel this is the cause of the obvious frustrations showing in the whole Canadian society. The G.S.T. is only one symptom, let’s face it. None of us likes taxes, yet if we could be see a clear goal as to where our leaders of all parties want to take us, it would be acceptable; however, when we see that over 33 percent of our total taxes are going to interest payments, and we well know it will be over 40 percent in five years time, we all feel helpless. This won’t create one job or give service to any- one. What if one-third of the G.S.T. went to interest pay- ments, one-third to debt repay- ment, and one-third to help pay for debt repayment? I’m sure if this were done, most Canadians would even accept a 10 percent G.S.T. as they would see clearly light at the end of the tunnel. I must say I supported you when you got elected in the hope that you could bring some order to our growing economic pro- blems, over which the previous government had shown such in- competence. Unfortunately for all Canadians, nothing changed and we continued. to spend far beyond our means. For all these reasons, the only way you can turn things around is first of all to abolish the Senate completely; I see no hope of reform, as it’s gone too far. Then, set up a small task force of five non-elected people from all major groups (labour, busi- ness, native leaders and two others who are not connected to any one group) to consider whether there is a need for some sort of reformed Senate (or other body) with clearly defined objectives, which in no way con- flict with the elected House of Commons. I foresee a group whose responsibility would be more in the field to direct both research and development and the gather- ing of a sound, well-researched information base that all groups in society could use without fear that it would be politically slanted. We simply have to have a clear direction as to our future _in order to bring all Canadians together with a common cause — something, unfortunately, which we haven’t seen since World War II. It seems very clear, without blaming anyone, that we have slipped into the habit of blaming others for all of our problems without looking at ourselves and asking, ‘‘What have I done?’’ in an effort to show clear leadership and an en- ticing future for coming genera- tions. My mother often said, “We only tear down others to: bring them down to our level, and that doesn’t raise our stature one bit.” I know you must get thou- sands of letters; however, I hope you will seriously consider the need for substantial change, as I suggest. The need is there to all Canadians, regardless of race, a clear vision of the bright future ahead for all if we forget our bickering (no matter what party we belong to) and all strive for solutions. Cyril M. Shelford Editor’s note: Cyril Shelford is a@ former resident of the Northwest who served as the MLA for Skeena and is now a member of the Indepenient Forest Resources Commission which is advising the B.C. government on Crown JSorest policy. } much greater investment in both a mill and marketing techniques and would not provide the same imme- diate returns on my investment as will commodity production. This particular advice assured me that I had made the correct decision in choosing your firm for the prelimi- nary field work. I would like at this time, there- fore, to proceed to the next step. As per our telephone conversation earlier this week, I am enclosing a check for $3,750 which represents one-half of your quoted fee of $7,500 for the preparation of a complete timber profile on the two areas you have suggested for the application of Forest Licences. One southwest of Terrace with an AAC of 300,000 cubic metres and the other southwest of Hazelton also with an AAC of 300,000 cubic metres. Please submit this timber profile at your earliest convenience. With this information at hand I can proceed with a marketing survey and preliminary mill design which will then allow you to proceed to the next logical step, the forest tenure bid proposal. , Sincerely, Milton M. Jovial Jovial Logging Inc. New York, NY Choose your rut carefully... by Tod Strachan April 1, 1990. It was April Fool’s Day, of course, but also the date of a much more important event. April 1, 1990, was the day the Ministry of Highways took over the Nass road, or Nisga’a Highway as it is now known, and that was an event that offered a lot of promise. A roadway to the Nass Valley that was as good as any gravel highway in the province. A fine day indeed. Or was it simply April Fool’s Day? Sam Munroe, the alternate direc- tor on the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine for the Nass Vat- ley, says the road is more dan- gerous now than it was before. Parts of it were apparently sur- faced with a mixture of gravel and clay that turns to plain mud when it rains. The worst section, accord- ing to Munroe, is from Lava Lake to Kalum Lake. "You need a four- wheel drive to use it," says Mun- roe. “They're trying to grade it but Pifer — Continued from page A6 Socred convention, when Ab- botsford MLA Harry DeJong warned me to be careful of what I say, ‘‘because these peo- ple don’t take kindly to that sort of stuff.” Thanks, Harry. Now, if you don’t mind dispensing some of that good advice to your boss, too, perhaps you could urge him to recognize just what con- flicts of interest are, and why it’s so.important in a just and democratic society to avoid them. they’re just moving the mud back and forth." Terrace director Bob Cooper agrees. “As soon as it started to rain,” says Cooper, “the material went to soup... It was good when it was dry." But that probably had a jot to do with the clay content as well. Anyone familiar with the clay in this area knows that it turns to rock when it’s dry. And Thornhill director Les Wat- mough adds simply, "It’s a real mess." Watmough says the gravel was being tested for quality as it was being hauled from one of four gravel pits along the route, but, "What happened to the testing program IJ have no idea.” But Watmough does make one positive observation. "In three to four years," he says, “all the clay will wash off." Board chairman Jack Talstra asked why some good quality gravel couldn’t be added to the surface but Watmough pointed out the obvious, that the gravel would eventually mix with the clay and disappear. Then how about paving it? No way, says Munroe, The clay mixture would have to be removed and replaced first. After that discussion, it was no Surprise that a motion made by Munroe and seconded by Pete Weeber received unanimous appro- val. The regional district will be writing the Ministry of Highways asking that something be done to correct ihe situation. before the muddy ruts freeze into permanent grooves. And with near-freezing temperatures in the region lately, that could happen almost any day now.