The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 22, 1998 - AS arp rranpee eer ey spear | CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag _ Early 80s were tougher years Human toll isn't question about it,’’ says Bill ‘At Ieast a fella was out doing have work. as bad this time -— at least so far THE TRUE yardstick of a reces- sion in Terrace is how it compares to the dramatic collapse of the early 1980s. Logging and sawmill activity dried up in 1980 after a collapse in pulp and lumber markets, and the ~ economy languished for about three years. | Hundreds of unemployed workers were sent “ment Bridging Assistance Program (EBAP), Unlike those days, Terrace has not yet suffered a complete shut- _ down of both its sawmills for a long period of time. “Everybody was hurting — no off on make-work' ~ forestry projects under the Employ-’ McRae of the ‘80s recession. McRae was manager of Skeena Sawmills when it was owned by the B.C. Resources Investment Corpo- : Fation. “There just was no building going on. A lot of people Ieft town,” says McRae. McRae's company first ground to 4 halt when a strike started in the summer of 1980. When the strike ended in September of that year, the industry had crumbled and the company could no longer sell its lumber, “We just had to stop,’’ says McRae. With the shutdown of the city’s two main sawmills the 350 mill and forest workers were thrown oul of their jobs. ; At its height, EBAP employed more than 1,200 people. something. He was less frustrated than sitting at home and be could afford his groceries,’’ says McRac, who was also EBAP’s chairman, “We've had many ups and downs,” says McRae about the Terrace area, But he’s nol optimistic the cur- Tent economic downtum, largely driven by the financial meltdown in Asia, will go away quickly. City councillor David Hull was a paris salesman at Acklands at the time. “Terrace is far less vulnerable than we were back in the early 80s,’’ he says. Then, as now, Hull played rugby. “Back then 70 per cent of the team was unemployed or on EBAP,”’ Hull remembers. Today, he says, all the players For some thal work is a bit spotty, for some it involves retail service sector work, and for others it means combining a few different part-time jobs. But those who need money have jobs. Hull remembers the climate changing suddenly in the 80s, with both sawmills suddenly coming back up and the construction of Ocelot Chemicals plant in Kitimat bringing many well-paying jobs. But, like McRae, Hull is worried the current downturn could drag on for a lot longer yet, as a result of the continuing Asian flu, Some analysts, like the Hong- kong Bank of Canada’s David Bond, see a full Asian economic recovery taking three to five years, and perhaps even longer in the case of Japan. , Stats show we’re less forestry dependent By CHRISTIANA WIENS ate: Anderson and his sport fishing pals are all wet Dear Sir: What is it about sports fishermen —— are they bom without brains or docs wading in rivers (incidentally disturbing spawning grounds) and waving a fishing rod around have a negative affect upon one’s mental facilities? Or is it just the sort fishing commentators that are af- fected in this way? A recent sampling of anglers in the lower Skeena River show that the vast majority actual- ly supported the commercial sector. This despite the corrupted propaganda by that so-called Skeena Angler Rob Brown, Trust David Anderson!? Despite the fact that Mr. Anderson uses the false statistics of the D.F.O, to cb- tain his ends? Despite the fact that he is the worst nego- tiator (he has just given away 27 per cent of B.C. Fraser river sockeye and 10,000 chinook for 400 Upper Thompson coho)? I do admit that David Anderson talks a good line, J also remember him campaigning against tanker traffic off B.C.’s coast. Minister Anderson can talk the talk but beware if he ever attempts to walk the walk. Perhaps it was the years spent with those. twisted sisters al the Steelhead Socicty, This corrupted gang which included such characters TERRACE AND KITIMAT have less to worry about if the B.C. forestry industry falters. That is, in comparison to Smithers- Houston, Prince George, Quesnel and Hazelton. According to Forest Renewal B.C., 31 per cent of Terrace and Kitimat’s income stems from the forestry industry. Both Smithers-Houston and Prince George are _ more vulnerable to forestry down-turns as 42 _ and 60 per cent of their income depends on Ken Veldman Terrace’s economic development officer, Only one northern community, Prince Rupert, is less vulnerable to forestry down-tums at 23 per cent. Stewart is 32 per cent reliant on the forest in- dustry, while Burns Lake and Vanderhoof arc both 73 per cent dependent. Veldman said the stats back up his assertion that Terrace has greatly diversified its economy since the carly- to mid-1980s and is therefore mare resistant to a forestry-spawned recession. “In 1986, 34 per cent of Terrace and Kilimat’s income was forestry based,’’ Veld- ranking. But Veldman said lumping the two com- munities together makes sense today as there is a substantial flow of commerce between the two cities, In the mid-1980s, however, he says that rela- tionship did not exist and Terrace was much more dependent on forestry income. if Terrace was to be treated separately from Kitimat, Veldman said, he would estimate Ter- race’s forestry income dependency at about 40 per cent today compared to perhaps 60 per cent in the mid-1980s, Veldman went on to say the increased co- as that sleazy little weasel Dr. Craig Orr basically waged a relentless war to destroy the commercial fish- ing industry. Despile the fact that Craig Orr was kicked out of the Steelhead Society, his efforts largely seem to have suc- ceeded and wilh their man Anderson in power we have seen passion triumph over reason. Glen Clark should stop listening to the union hacks and do whal? Participate in the destruction of coastal communities? Help make a few rich people much richer on the backs of the unemployed shoreworkers and fishermen? Gien Clark should try and repatriate the fisheries to B.C. before David Anderson and his sports fishing “forestry respectively, man said, buddies twist it into their own surreal vision. dependence with Kitimat has improved Ter- race’s stability. The data is based on 1991 basic income. Only money that people from oulside the communily spend on products and services produced in the Terrace-Kitimat area were included, Incidentally I am one of the union hacks that Rob Brown so disdains, Before Mifflin et. al, [ was proud to - eam a living, frustrating and dangerous as it could be. Unlike Rob Brown I worked for a living, but Mr. Brown would not understand that concept. ; ; Robert Doane Terrace, B.C. The two communities most reliant on forestry ~. are Quesnel and Hazelton, which top FRBC’s list at 92 and 100 per cent of income depen- dency. * “In Hazelton, forestry is all there is,’’ said But grouping Terrace and Kitimat together as one economic community has always been con- troversial. After all, Kitimat has Alcan, Mcthanex and Eurocan whose exports can boost Terrace’s - Consulting firms have cut back By ANITA DOLMAN “PROBLEMS WITHIN the forest «industry have started to take their toll on consultants, _ Local. businesses have been - downsizing over the past two years and consultants say the coming . years don’t look promising. **We used to have between 200 and 300 people working for consul- *, tants in the area, Now I don’t think we could muster 100 between us,”’ says Rod Amold, of RJA Forestry. His business has gone from a Staff of 52 two years ago to 24 this year “7 don’t know how long we can “keep the others working,” he says. _ There'll be at least three or four years like this. We haven't hit bot- * tom yet,’’ says Arnold, ’. Pat Bolin, of McElhanney & As- _ saciates, agrees. - “7 think we’re going to have a lean two to four years ahead of us,’’ says Bolin. “We're competing for fewer con- : tracts, There’s less walk-in busi- ness,’’ he says. Consultants say roads and bridges simply aren't being built and that A bunch of phoneys Dear Sir: I must respond to Mike Scott regarding the pension he talks about in the July 8th Terrace Standard. The Reform Party is like all other political parties. The leader Preston Manning made a phony issue out of the mansion for the Opposition, which he gladly moved into as well as the limousine which was issued to him. The whole bunch are all gutless wonders, Mike ' Scott included, | If they really believed the garbage they tried to feed “}— us, then at least one of their numbers would have taken drastic measures in protest, such as threatening to quit the party because of the ‘‘about face’ by Mr. Manning. So as a taxpayer and resident of Skeena, | want to urge Mr, Scott to cut the rhetoric and admit that the Reform Party is as phoney as they come and that the electorate can see through their phoney tactics to get more votes, Andy Nabess Terrace B.C. Respect clean-up crews Dear Sir: I would like to send a message to all the people who abuse the garbage system. The workers work hard to keep the sides of the high- way clean and green, but it is only a couple of days tater they are strewn with paper, bottles and other gar- age. To all you people who throw garbage from your cars and others from the road, smarten up, If you do this after so much hard work by the workers, we often wonder what your honie is like. Give the hard-working people your respect, nol your gar- KEN HOULDEN, president of the North West Loggers Association and head of Houlden Logging, has seen the affects on the forestry industry first hand. His association has been trying to deal with govern- ment regulations and other issues affecting loggers over ihe past year and a half, The year is over for some loggers Volume harvested to June 30 in the Kalum Forest District the forestry that is being done isn’t’ = T OGGERS for West Fraser aren’t. That doesn’! reflect on the bage. doing preperation work a3 far in ad- expecting to work again until next likelihood of the sawmill restarting. Ruby McCreight vance as it used to. spring at the carliest. The company has enough logs, in its Terrace, B.C. -./ The forestry decline also means ‘The bush has been shut down: inventory to supply the sawmill “Tess work in siviculture and en- since June and woodlands vice- here for five months without firing vironmental restoration. resident Wayne Clogg confirmed up a chainsaw. i “There’s no watershed restora iss week logging would only be re- Clogg acknowledged loggers and OOP on beautifying tion projects. Nonmally, last year we would have seen three or four " requests,” says Bolin. “My estimate is that as many as - 300 jobs have been lost this year because there’s no money for sil- viculture,’’ says Amold. > With consultant businesses doing their best to keep work for their “own staff, summer staff — espe- cially students — have been at the bottom of the hiring roster, with ". many businesses not hiring any this SUMmMer. Even consultant companies who sideline in other businesses are feeling the pinch. ‘'We work for mining, trucking, consiniction,”’ says Lorne Sexton, of Skeena Project Services. Everything but highways is down dramatically, he says. He says he’s never seen them all go at the same time before. “This is as bad as 1981 to ‘85,"' says Armold, His company is trying to cope by competing for out-of-town con- 7 tracts... “Fifty to sixty per cent of our ‘work.is oul of town,’’ says Amold of their current state. “In the Jong term I’m op- ; ‘timistic,” says Bolin. ‘In the short =-terni, I don't think there’s much op- > ‘portunity, Things will be pretty tight,’ he says. ; started this fall if there were a re- markable turmiaround in markets. “It would take a very substantial - change in the market in very short order to restart the bush,’’ he said. Since logging contractors for West Fraser usually shut down late in November and extend into March, that ineans the silence it the woods could easily continue for eight months. FROM FRONT West Fraser see and balsam fs sald to U.S. markets, with the remainder going to Japan or for domestic remanufacturing. But Clogg said U.S. mills that normally sell Douglas fir and hem- lock 10 Japan are instead dumping that lumber on American markets. “That has flooded those tradi- tional markets of ours in the U.S, and depressed the price of our hem- bal grade,” Clogg said. ‘‘It’s sell- ing at a substantial discount to our interior SPF (spruce-pine-fir).”” “It’s created a glut of fibre and lumber because the consumption just isn’t there in Japan,’’ he added, Besides terrible markets, West - “Fraser and other B.C. producers are wrestling with high logging costs. “It costs well over double the contractors have suffered at least as much as mill workers. But he did note the company is still building roads in the northwest ~~ a sign of some degree of con- fidence. “We've invested more in roads in the northwest than in any other West Fraser division,”’ he said, “Even though it’s a curtailed pro- gram, it's still substantial.’’ price per cubic metre for a log in the northwest than it does in Al- berta,"’ Clogg said. Some of that is a fact of the north coast’s mountainotls physical geog- raphy and the high proportion of old rotted pulp logs in ils forests. But there’s still the B.C, govern- inent factor — the high costs asso- ciated with Jogging, road building, plauning and administration re- quired in B.C. to satisfy the Forest Practices Code. “The government has done a lot of local adjustments In stumpage in the northwest,’ he said, ‘Our stumpage bill in the northwest. Is hot substantial any more. But there is more that government can do or Source: Ministry of Forests GRAPH tells what loggers al- ready know: less timber has been cut and they've had less work for almost three years. 5 bleak outlook that we working together with government can do on costs.’’ He said silting back and waiting for the market to recover is not a winning stralegy. “The market may never come back,’’ he said. If that sounds dire, Clogg lays out what could even be an optimistic scenario, “This may be considered to be the peak of the market right now in the U.S.,’” he explained, “Even if Japan corrects itself, North: Amer- ica may experience a bit of a downturn in the economy, demand could. fall off and we could be faced with exactly. ‘the same scenario,”’ , I would like to say thank you to the Terrace Beauti- : fication Society for all the hard work that it has been doing to improve our townsite. It has been a pleasure to watch the changes occurring over the years that I have lived in Terrace. lam particularly impressed with all the work that has been done along the Highway 16 corridor, Now as tourists drive along this route, their impression of Ter- race will be a more positive one, I look forward to the beauty that is still to come. Thank you to all the individuals involved! Denise Fupman Terrace, B.C. Hospitality exceptional Dear Sir: As the owner of Travel Fun Tours from New Ulm, Minnesota USA, who has personally taken many tours ibrough Terrace on our way to Alaska, I’m compelled fo conunend the community of Terrace for their excep- tional friendliness aud warm receptiveness toward tourists. For several years I have included a stop at the Heritage Park in Terrace and have always been well received by exceptional guides, this year by Elaiac Temple and Christie Panach. Our groups always enjoy a step back in time at the park. ‘We stop at many towns and visit many attractions on our way to Alaska, bul the friendliness and hospitality shown by the residents in Terrace is second to none, and the Heritage Village and tours of Skecna Sawmills ate among the remembered highlights on our trip. _ Ente Dulka - New. Ulm, Minnesota