; an FIRST shots were fired -. last week in what could be a war over the planned sale of Orenda Forest Products and its forest licence. A New York-based investment Syndicate wants Orenda’s wood to: help re-open a closed new- . Sprint mill at Gold River on Van- couver Island. - °° But. Skeena Cellulose, which ' buys pulp fibre from Orenda, says - it'also needs the wood to keep ils : two pulp mills at Prince Rupert | Operating. - It. said losing the Orenda wood — -would lead to the closure of its Prince Rupert B mill and the loss “of up to 250 jobs, .Orenda vice president Frank ‘Foster questioned Skeena Cel- lulose’s statements, saying the -- company purchased nowhere near. os the amount of fibre it said it did. Reports last week indicated Skeena Cellulose — purchases a 100,000. cubic metres a year and has’ an option to purchase up to another 100,000 cubic metres, . That amounts to about 9 per cent of the requirements of ‘Skeena Cellulose’s two Prince - Rupert pulp mills, -, Foster said Orenda’s figures Show. Skeena Cellulose bought 79,000. cubic metres from last Spring up until the end of January _and 37,000 cubic metres in the period before that, :. "We have tried to refrain from discussing customer relationships “and so on but we feel Repap oe (Skeena Cellulose’s parent com- - pany) is fear mongering with respect to fibre,’’ said Foster, - Orenda targets recovery fibre shortage makes it worthwhile to try. to use Frank Foster He was particularly curious about Skeena Cellulose state- ments that Orenda wood makes up 30 per cent of the supply for the former’s Prince Rupert B mill. ‘We know that the mill has a capacity of one million cubic mictres annually, Our sales to them come nowhere close to that,’' said Foster. And if Skeena Cellulose needs fibre, said Foster, it has additional supplics through a minority ownership position in Bulfalo Head Forest Products. - _ That. Skeena Cellulose has a 49.5 per cent slake in Buffalo Head. : ORENDA FOREST PRODUCTS is going to test a . mobile chipper next month in the Meziadin area where it logs. operations. - The intent, says company vice president Frank _. Foster, is to increase the recovery rate of its logging It’s also a sign the company wants to demonstrate _ Company, « ‘logs. in the. Stewart area, jist as does Orenda,: | Pat Ogawa “We undersiand that Buffalo Head last year sold 80,000 cubic metres of pulpwood fibre to third party interests, If that’s the case, how can Repap say they have a shortage,’’ Foster said, Skeena Cellulose Prince Rupert pulp mill manager Tom Boughner said the company singled out B mill in {ts worries ‘over losing Orenda wood because it is the more vulnerable of the two mills it operates. Arriving fibre first goes to the A mill and then to B mill, be said. . “Ifwe are toruna shortage, | it’s felt on the. B. side. If. we can’t get. the fibre we need that’s where the’ impact is, It’s just, not viable to Tun it at 60 per cent capacity,’’ wood which would have been left behind seventh ; : years ago, A chipper is also one way of adding value to : Orenda’s fibre. One big unknown factor in Orenda’s ‘chipping plans is what its proposed new owners will do. said Boughner. Another Skeena Cellulose offi- cial, Terrace-based Pat Ogawa, said Orenda is concentrating on the past when there was a low demand for pulp and paper pro- ducts and not the present. He acknowledged thit Skeena Cellulose didn’t purchase Orenda fibre up to the level indicated in its sales contract “In past years we may not have bought as much from Orenda. That’s changed. You know there was a surplus of fibre accrued in the past,’’ said Ogawa, “Last year we closed B mill down for the first quarter. Now we need every chip we can Bet” he said. . As evidence of Skeena Cel- lulose’s fibre shortage, it just Jast week told Orenda it wants to buy all of the 100,000 cubic metres as called for in its contract for the — coming year. And it wants to exercise the op- tion to take another 100. 000 cubic metres, The: contract between Skeena Cellulose and Orenda bas two years left to run. As for Buffalo Head Forest Pro- ducts, Ogawa said it takes delivery on as much of that com- “pany’s pulp ‘it can under its mi- nority ownership. ... The majority. owners s of Buffalo Head are then free to sell remain- ing supplies elsewhere, that it’s working toward fulfilling a requirement in its forest licence. That requirement states the company must have _ some kind of wood processing facility in place by November 1996, . And this could be a factor to balance growing op- -position to a planned amalgamation of Orenda and its forest licence with a New York-based invest- ment syndicate. That syndicate wants to use Orenda wood to re- open a closed newsprint mill at Gold River on Van- couver Island, . Northwest politicians and some companies, citing ..@ pulp fibre shortage here, say they don’t want Orenda wood to Ieave the northwest. ‘'We’ve been compiling fairly extensive and ex- -pensive information,’’ said Foster of its chipping test project. ‘‘We’re going to test to sce if it’s eco- nomically viable to bring out material we can’! OFP Acquistion Corp., the company formed by the New York-syndicate, has so far refused to out. line its plans for Orenda or for its forest licence. Sp But Foster did say OFP has told Orenda there is a.” likelihood of new jobs as a result of the proposed | amalgamation, : He said the proposed new owners will also have... the option of further considering a long-standing ~ Orenda plan to build a pulp and paper mill between oe Tenace and Kitimat os Foster did note that Orenda is the only one 2 of three companies to receive forest licences in 1985 © ~. in the Stewart-Meziadin area still trying to setup a" processing facility. a Establishing a processing facility was one of the a requirements contained in the licences when they , were granted. 2 One of the companies, Tay-M, has since. been ne sold to West Fraser. The other, Buffalo Head Forest °°»: |. don’t vote NOP next time, presently use,” _ Hugh Cooper Foster noted that increasing prices for fibre and a : Sale worth millions to execs SENIOR EXECUTIVES of Orcnda Forest Products will prof- it handsomely from the sale of their company to a New York- based syndicate, ; The deal calls for Orenda to amalgamate with OFP Acquisi- tion Corp, and form a new com- pany, Orenda Newsprint Ltd. Orenda Forest Products share- holders will receive preferred shares in the amalgamated com- pany which will be immediately redeemed for $5.50 each, That price is in excess of the current trading price and is higher than the historical price for Orenda stock. Topping the list is Grenda founder and president’ Hugh Cooper who owns outright 900,821 shares, At $5.50 each, that amounts ta just over $4.95 - million. Cooper also owns another 38,500 shares through a company through a company called Intemational Pri- Products, is now owned 49.5 per cent by Skeena “ Cellulose. vate Placements Ltd, Company vice president Frank Foster owns 153,000 shares car- rying a resale value of $841,500. Company executives also stand to profit by exercising share op- tions, These are agreements whereby a company agrees to sell employees stock within specific ‘time periods, t Cooper, Foster and a third com- pany official, solicitor John Sparks, all have such option ar- rangements. Cooper last December had an option to buy 200,000 shares. That was supplemented Dec, 13, 1994 by an option to buy another 100,000 shares al $2.72 piece. Foster was granted an option, also on Dec. 13, to buy 50,000 shares at $2.72 a piece. That's on ‘top of an cxisling option to buy 100,000 shares, Sparks alsa received an option to buy 50,000 shares at $2.72 a piece. As is the case with Foster, . he already had an option to buy 100,000 shares. Speaking last week, company . vice president Frank Foster said it is not unusual at all for com- panies to establish stock option agreements with employecs. “There isn’t a company in this province that doesn’t do this,” he said. | kkkkk Orenda wants to have the amal- gamation approved at a share- ‘holders’ meeting in mid-April. A majority of shareholders must give their assent. Orenda already had the ap- proval of 52 per cent of its share- ~ holders when it and OFP Acquisi- tion structured the deal. The amalgamation must also - have court approval under a pro: vision of the B.C. Company Act. OFP Acquisition must also raise ’ the money for the share redemp- tion plan in time for the Orenda shareholders’ meeting... J ‘beris is. 638-0333, ay) The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 22, 1995» AS * cramepemneinanenemeaban ie | CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Remember other victims, too Dear Sir: The kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Melanie Carpenter has left many people across the country shaken and outraged. The result of violence has a face. The creator of tragedy has a face. But whose face is it? The Terrace Women’s Resource Centre staff has had many phone calls about the incident at the centre and at home. We have had two separate petitions delivered to our door. People are upset, angry, and determined to get involved. The petitions, one from the Melanie Campaign Society, see Violence against women and children as # problem of the justice system. Both petitions demand stiffer penalties, more incarceration, longer jail sentences, more legal and Jaw enforcement action. There are areas we can agree with these petitions, But more is needed. Personal invelvement is needed. "All the victims of violence have faces. Every one of the more than 100 women each year that die as a result of violence. Every one of the more than one million women assaulted cach year in Canada. Why are we shocked at the death of Melanie Carpenter and not at the number of battered women who run to transition houses every day of the year? We must join together and demand within ovr own community, It was not only justice system that failed Melanie Carpenter. It was also every one of us who live in this culture who are too afraid, or busy or unseeing. Those are the faces ‘who perpetuate the violence. And those are the faces that can stop the violence, We must go farther than reforming the justice system, There are no easy answers or quick fixes. We have to work today, and every day in every part of our lives. Only then will the violence end. ' Terrace Women’s Resource Centre Terrace, BC. Rafe, Rafe and more Rafe An open letter to Terrace City Council: Dear Council Members: Declaring the City of Terrace a Rafe Mair Free Zone shows years of environmental inquiries into the KCP project are discarded with a stroke of a pen, Now silent perversion takes over to punish the listening public of CFFW FM. To interfere with a private broadcasting station's choice to air Rafe Mair shows some council members are in a conflict of interest. Council was voted in by Terrace residents to administrate the city, to interfere in a private business is wrong. Although F don't agree with the killing of the KCP project, J didn’t attend the public environmental inquiries, either. : Terrace city council should had aired their views actively at those meetings, Maybe then a compromise could have been reached to complete the project to everyone’s satisfaction. Do you plan to ban the content of a newspaper next? Manfred Bader, Terrace, B.C, akkkek Dear Sir: I had to chuckle to myself after reading your article “Cty Slams Rafe Mair’. It should have read “City Council Decides: to Censor . ‘What Public Listens To.” ar . How, could: ~anyone be: 50. childish a6. to. feel- it. necessary to.ban a radio ‘show simply because the host had: (has) ‘a difference of » opinion. Whether I agree with Mr. Mair or not, he has the rghit to speak his mind and Terrace has the right to listentohim, — - - For those who disagree with Mr. Mair, it’s casy enough to walk | ‘up to your radio and hit the switch. I believe it’s called the right to free speech and if city council cannot handle hearing an opinion other than their own, then. perhaps they’re in the wrong line of : _. Work, Rafe Mair discusses some very interesting topics on his program and aside from being against our rights to listen to what we choose, ~ I feel Terrace would be missing out if council gets their way and the show is banned. We are secluded enough from the rest of B.C. Let’s not Iet ourselves be alienated over such a trivial matter. Mr. Mair. |. may have influenced a large number of people over KCP; however, he did not make the final decision. If you are not happy with it then a On Stenmark, Fe Terrace, B.C. Sodas kk kkk Dear + | a ~My motion about'taking Rafe Mair off the air was never meant to o be taken seriously. It was meant to get attention-and it did. » Terrace city council wants to send a message to the lower main- 1) tand to say that we are hurting up here in the north. We fecl “threatened; our economic well being is ‘continually being sacrificed on the alter of political expediency, There is an uproar over the issue of freedom of specch. What about our freedom of speech? Rafe Mair’s talk show is so plugged -] up with lower mainland calls it is impossible for northemers to get through. One individual from Terrace I spoke to mentioned that te _ has been trying for over two years to get on the show! ‘| challenge Mr. Mair to come up to the north and broadcast live: Perhaps then we can get our concerns on the table and Mr. Mair can talk face-to-face with the men and women whose livelihoods are ‘on the cutting block, We live in the north. We have to band Sogether and speak out to protect our way of life. I regret that my motion was upsetting to some people. The last . thing I wanted to do was to offend anyone. - But, if nothing else, people: throughout, the province are “talking about Terrace and about the latest: blow. to. our economy and 30 maybe, in this case, the ends have justified the MIEANB. ; . ont “Fa Graydon, a “Terrace, B.C. THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO. READ - The Start | Fires at Safeway — ' SOMEBODY LIT two fires last week at Safeway. They were small fires. And they were put out fast. There was not a lot of damage. There were no injuries. The store was Closed for. a -couple of hours. ,Police are-still looking for a suspect. He is a. teenager. He has blonde hair and wears glasses that have a gold frame. On the day of the fire, the teenager was wore Jeans, runners and a light jacket. - They think the teenager got into a pick up. ‘They think. itisa gray Nissan pick up. And they think the pick up was dirty. There were three other people in the pick up. . If you can help the police give t them a call,