APRIL, 1970

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

A Special 4-page report
by NATE SMITH

on the inter-corporate |
ownership and

virtual monopoly in the

B.C. forest industry.

Reprinted from The Ubyssey
By the end of this month, Lions Gate Lumber
Co. In North Vancouver will have shut down com-
pletely, throwing 120 men out of work.
One of the main reasons for the sawmill’s clos-
ure is the difficulty many small and medium-sized
sawmills currently face in obtaining wood.

It seems the large forest companies (MacMillan
Bloedel, Canadian Forest Products and an assort-
‘ment of foreign-owned corporations), who control
the raw forest resources in B.C., have found they
can get better prices for their logs by exporting
them to Japan.

The Lions Gate shutdown comes only two years
after another North Vancouver sawmill, Anglo Cana-
dian, which employed about 100 men, was closed
down by its new American owner, the giant
Georgia-Pacific Corporation.

Georgia-Pacific has substantial timber holdings
in B.C,, but decided exporting the logs was more
profitable and less troublesome than processing
them here.

The closing of the two north shore sawmills is

a small example of the current state of the B.C.

The industry which supports half of the prov-
ince’s economy and directly employs 12 per cent
of its labor force is increasingly dominated by a
handful of giant corporations, who control the re-

__ As the number of forest producers diminishes, so
does the degree of competition among them. The
large forest producers co-operate in a variety of

— symbol of the industry. Dirk Visser photo.

marketing organizations and partnerships (see next
page).
FOREIGN CONTROL

Even more disturbing, over half of the industry
is controlled from outside of Canada.

A report on the pulp and paper industry by B.C.
Hydro loudly proclaims: ‘‘Natural resources have
value only when they can be processed and mar-
keted at a profit . . . Foreign companies have well
established markets and capital but must now seek
out assured sources of raw materials. In this regard,
B.C. meets their requirements.” (Emphasis ours).
_ B.C. suits their requirements well indeed. For-
eign corporations account for 72 per cent of'B.C.'s
market pulp production, 34 per cent of its paper
production, 48 per cent of its plywood and approxi-
mately 30 per cent of its lumber.

“Its effect is that Canada is treated pretty much
as a branch plant by the foreign-owned conglomer-
ates,” says Bob Clair, business agent for the Van-
couver local of the International Woodworkers of
America. ‘

“The needs of the conglomerate are considered
first, not the needs of Canada.”

Who are these corporate giants? True, the larg-

- est forest producer in B.C. is still MacMillan Bloe-
del, a Canadian company. But even there, 20 per
cent of the company is owned by Americans, in-
cluding its largest single shareholder. (See other
story).

Only one other Canadian company, Canadian
Forest Products (Canfor), remains among the major

producers.

Georgia Street — the MacMillan Bloedel building

From there, the industry takes on a charmin
international look, mostly American with touches c
Scandinavia, Germany, Japan, and Britain.

Witness pulp and paper, the key sector of th:
industry.

Of 21 pulp and paper mills currently operatin:
in B.C., only six are Canadian owned (Canfor’s mii
at Port Mellon and MacMillan Bloedel’s mills a
Harmac, Port Alberni, Powell River, Anacis Islan:
and Burnaby).

Canfor also owns pieces of two companie:
operating mills at Prince George. Its partner in the
Prince George Pulp and Paper Company is the
Reed Paper group of England. Those two are joinec
by Feldmuhle of West, Germany in ownership o
Intercontinental Pulp Ltd.

American-owned Crown Zellerbach, the secon:
largest operator on the B.C. scene, has mills <:
Duncan Bay and Ocean Falls; Rayonier, a small pay’
of the vast International Telephone and Telegrap:
empire, grinds the stuff out from Port Alice an
Woodfibre.

B.C. Forest Products runs mills at Crofton anc,
through its subsidiary Northwood Pulp, Prince
George.

Despite the nice, local-sounding name, B.C.
Forest Products is owned by the Mead Corpora.
tion of Dayton, Ohio, and Noranda Mines Ltd. The
Philadelphia-based Scott Paper Company and »>-
Argus Corporation, personal vehicle of Toronte
dustrialist E. P. Taylor, hold smaller interests.

(Continued on Page 8)