The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 2, 2002 - A5 July “Provincial officials who make it easier for oil and gas companies to do business are touring the “northwest this’ summer. -The northwest is still a long ways off from ‘being the” scene of any exploration, but officials want to make sure people know what is going on, say government officials. _* Some companies are eying the potential of coalbed methane, a natural gas found resident adjacent to coal deposils. ~The province has a separate agency working in the northeast to make it casier for resource. companies there to find and tap gas and oil de- ‘posits. , tohobtbeick ‘The new B. C. Liberal government is sounding “the alarm bells over the future of Skeena Cellu- . lose whose rescue the Liberals called a bail out “when they were in opposition, “I’m -not going to speculate on that,” said “competition minister Rick Thorpe who is re- sponsible for selling the company. “I understand the impact it [Skeena Cellulose] has on the ‘northwest, of families, but [ also understand my responsbility as a provincial minister on behalf of ‘the.entire population of the province.” .Skeena Cellulose has closed down its Prince Rupert pulp operation, saying it was losing . money for-every ton of product it was selling. And company president Bill Steele has re- “tired. But he remains on SCI’s board of directors. ahkkkhe A former Liberal Member of Parliament for " Skeena is to be the next Lieutenant-Governor of BC. ‘Iona Campagnolo, 68, will become the 27th _Lieutenant-Governer in the history of the pro- vince, taking over from Garde Gardom, Campagnolo was Skeena’s MP from 1974 to 1979 and was also a senior official with the fed- eral Liberal party. th bhkhk Skeena Canadian Alliance MP Andy Burton has left his party’s caucus, saying leader Stock- > well Day should resiga. '“There were just too many distractions,” said Burton over the controversy surrounding Day’s : leadership. “We simply weren’t effective as an . _ Opposition.” >. Burton now joins nine other Alliance MPs -whoshavedeft:their party’s caucus. wisics fe tik: ofl Members: of the partyrin:: the Skeena constis: " tuency ‘back ‘Burton’s‘departure, saying he has their approval to make any’ decisions he feels are ~ best for the party. Ooi A July 3 fire has destroyed a building owned by Terrace Furniture Mart’s Kewal Bal. - The building on Lakelse Ave. had just been remodeled to act as another furniture outlet be- ‘longing to Bal. The building also housed the offices of the Northwest Loggers’ Association and files, equip- ment. and furniture were damaged in the blaze. Fok Efforts to repaint an historic downtown build- . ing some consider an eyesore has revived the de- ~ bate over whether it should be protected as a - heritage site. ~The B.C. Provincial Police building at the camer of Lakelse and Kalum, which has been the ‘location for a variety of businesses over the . years, was painted purple and marigold two years ago. a ut volunteers with the Terrace Beautification “Society say the colour scheme is appaling and “want. it repainted off-white with green trim — its ~» original colour when it was a police station. + Building owaer Ray McCarthy fears the issue isn’t so much the colour, but the prospect of hav- ing it declared a heritage sile with a consequent , possible impact on its commercial use. , wat kik Damp and rainy weather has resulted in a very quiet forest fire season so fat. Going into mid-July, only 35 fires were repor- ted in the northwest and that’s less than any other region in the province. The relative lack of activity has resulted in some forest fire officials being sent to Alberta where that province has experienced major fires. kkkhhk A renovation and expansion of the Overwaitea store is to be accompanied by a general sprucing up of the Skeena Mall, Securing Overwaitea as a mall tenant gives it an anchor from which owners L and C Manage- ment can now use, says a company official. The Overwaitea expansion is to be 11,000 square feet and there'll be an overall loss of about 36 parking spaces at the mall. Party of Overwaitea’s the expansion and reno- valion includes putting in a recycling centre. bickkknk Supporters of a RCMP constable who was or- dered to resign have started a petition to save his career. Constable Jason McDonald admitted he tip- ped of a local garage to an impending Employ- ment Insurance records search in 1999, His supporters say they don’t condone what he did but add that the punishment is too harsh for the offence commiited. McDonald has been suspended with pay since the investigation began into his conduct. August Five people are now in the race to fill the city council seat left vacant when Olga Power re- signed. Stew Christensen, Roger Leclerc, provincial Marijuana party candidate Bob Erb, Betty Campbell and Marylin Davies have all filed pa- pers for the Sept, 8 by-election. kkkikk The city is buying a large parcel of provincial Crown land off Kenney St. where it plans to eventually build a new fire hall. The cost is $235,000 for the 2.4 acre parcel, _ which. is about half of the Jand upon which .the * provingial highways maintenance yard, was. once located. pee Puce any TA gph te The remaining 1. 72. acres has been ‘put up for 7 sale by the B.C. Assets and Land Corporation. kkk hhk The provincial government ended its dispute with registered nurses by legislating a three-year contract giving them pay raises amounting to an hourly wage for senior nurses of $32.42 an hour by the end of the contract. Nurses had wanted more, warning that large numbers would leave the province for more Ju- crative pay elsewhere, kkhkke The Nisga’a Lisims Government increased the price of a mushroom-picking permit on Nisga’a lands for a non-Nisga’a person from $25 last year to $250 this year. Nisga’a people will be charged $100. The increases have made pickers and buyers unhappy, saying it will hurt their ability to earn money, tht hkk A wee bil of price relief surfaced on Pacific Northern Gas bills when rales dropped by three per cent. The B.C. Utilities Commission ordered the re- A TOTEM pole blew down during an October windstorm at Kitsumkalum village, Tha. band decided to allow it to remain where it fell, according to tradition. SKEENA CELLULOSE contractors owed money concucted a heavy metal picket outside the TD bank branch here. The contractors accused the bank of improperly seizing money that would have allowed Skeena Cel to pay them. YVONNE MOEN campaigned in July to re- paint the purple building downtown she called an eyesore. duction because declining natural gas prices meant the utility was collecting money at a faster pace than was needed to make up for a shortfall in 2000 and early in 2001. September Skeena Cellulose’s financial fortunes began to unravel when the company sought — and received - creditor protection pending a sale of the gov- ermment-owned enterprise. But that happened after the TD bank refused to honour August paycheques to contractors. At the same time, the company announced a halt to its Terrace sawmill operations, throwing doubt into its workforce inside the mill and with | loggers and contractors working in the bush. The company’s pulp mill in Prince Rupert has been down since July owing to a depressed pulp market. khkkke Marylin Davies was elected to Terrace ‘city council Sept. 8,-defeating four other candidates. She takes the seat vacated when Olga Power resigned to move to Vancouver Esland. Davies will be up for re-election, as will other councillors and mayor Jack Talstra, in November 2002. toto trick Skeena Canadian Altiance MP Andy Burton has returned to the party’s parliamentary caucus, saying it is better to work for change within than from the outside, Burton joined other Alliance MPs in leaving the caucus earller, saying he had lost confidence ~ in the abilities of parly leader Stockwell-Day. The MP had faced expulsion | from the. caus “if he didi’t return. a wba : od tolokitok A 62-year-old residential] school survivor walked through Terrace, on her way to Prince George after starting out in Prince Rupert. Martha Joseph is out to raise awareness after her civil case relating to her years in residential schoel was dismissed. whthkk Loggers and contractors heid what they called a “heavy metal party” outside of the TD bank here in protest of the bank’s refusal to honour Skeena Cellulose cheques issued in August. Others began to blockade entrances to Skeena Cellulose’s sawmill and log yards in an attempt to force the government-owned company to pay up. They wanted to stop the company fram ship- ping lumber to generate cash flow they said should be going to them. totcthboikk A company with roots ln Vancouver but based in Switzerland with a pulp mill in the former East Germany has emerged as a front runner to huy Skeena Cellulose. Mercer International is in close and confiden- tial talks with the provincial government. It secured substantial assistance from the Ger- man government to revamp an ailing pulp mill, a factor which might become a parallel to the si- tuation in northwestern B.C. October Teachers here and elsewhere have voted ta take strike action to back demands for a 34 per cent wage increase over three years. Part of that increase is called a market adjustment of a 10 per cent hike to attract new people to the profes- sion. School districts have responded with an offer that’s substanially less. tote kick Work to replace the wooden decking on the old Skeena Bridge with steel grates has finished. Also installed was a new walkway, railings and the corners have been cutback for easier driving. The work is meant to save money because of the cost of continually having to replace hard- wood planks as they become worn down. toto Doctors, nurses and others at Mills Memorial Hospital are beginning 10 benefit from video hook ups. The idéa is to provide education and hands-on advice as a way to better patient care and services in more remote locations. toot Silviculture workers began to return to the bush to do work on lands under licence to Skee- na Cellulose. Money from Forest Renewal B.C. for the work had been withheld because the company was under creditor protection and it feared having it tied up in legal wrangling. West Fraser and the Kitsumkalum band are now handling the various contracts worth close to $2 million. toliotohok A windstorm toppled one of two totem poles in front of the Kitsumkalum band office Oct. 26. Tradition now dictates that the pole. will re- - main where it:1s ott of respect for its spirit. Kitsumkalum band chief councillor Diane Collins said a covering will be: built over the pole to protect-it from the elements. A rollen support log at the base of the pole coudn’t withstand the force of the ‘windstorm. : There-was no damage, caused when’ the: ‘Pole fell over.. © : op