vee Doing just fine without union card Dear Sir: I found the comments made by Ross Slezak (Mail Bag, The Terrace Standard, Sept. 17, 2003) so funny I almost did not reply, but his comment about my standard of living being sig- nificantly improved by the union movernent could nol go unanswered. I have been self employed for more then 13 years now. ] am beholden to no one and no orga- nization other then myself and the fact is I will ‘~ work Long hard hours with few’or no’ breaks for as long as is needed to get the job done Currently spend most of my time in Alberta, a place | hate [or its flatness but tove for its need and appreciation for hard workers, Most days 1 spend on 2 job site working alone for as many as 16 hours and on an average of 14 hours with few or no breaks and for as many as 21 days straight. 1 get no benefits other then the ones I pay for out of my own wages and Employment Insurance is just fantasy, And ] would not have it any other way. The idea that one of the oh-so-elite Alcan _workers could call me a whiner will keep a smile on my face for weeks, Thanks for that Ross! So as I head back to work in Alberta for whal looks like a six-month contract I can only hope that the rest of the very high paid union workers that are still working, vote to stay working rather than vote to strike. But I won't hold my breath. After all greed is avery hard vice to give up. Gordon Blakeburn Thornhill B.C, Armchair sniping at labour solves nothing Dear Sir: It is very obvious that Mr.Blakeburn (Mail Bag, The Terrace Standard, Sept. 17, 2003) has no connection to any form of labour organization nor does he or Mr Weeber have any respect for the many millions of workers that go out each day to support their families and local busines- ses. I was told by several Eurocan employees when [ stopped at the Carnaby site on my way to Terrace a few weeks ago the issues were mostly about the safety of its workers. Money was not the only thing. Employees say they get very little training and are placed on job sites where they are required to work with all kinds of different hazardous chemicals. — The safety of employees is paramount at the mill where I work and we are respected as a ya- luable asset by our employer, as should be the case anywhere in the world. a aye Mr. Blakeburn and Mr, Weeber would dustry is going i ome a bit of a eh time today. Labour has no control over many of the issues that have brought on these tough times but are diligently working in cooperation with industry to help out - without selling the farm to do so. Personally, I think the real greedy one here is the letter writer that does not belong to a union, for whatever reason, but is one of these people who just wants to sit back in his armchair and complain about issues and not be a part of the solution. Generations of people have sweat blood over the years to get decent wages and safe working conditions for all people including some of your friends. We know times are tough for everyone, "including industry, but I don’t think we should throw the baby out with the bath water. We need to work together on this issue, and not do just as The Terrace Standard, Wedtr-sday, October 1, 2003 - A5 CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag IWA WORKERS at New Skeena Forest Products mill struck a deat with new owners after picketing early this year. But labour strife at West Fraser's northwest mills have prompted let- ter writers to debate the merits of unions. FILE PHOTO Mr.Weeber and Mr.Blakeburn say and just blame it on organized labour. . We all want the same thing, a decent living with decent working conditions for everyone. It is no benefit to anyone if these employers close their doors and threaten employees to sign this “or else” is also wrong. We need creative ways to make these tough times work for everyone and we will do our part to help. Nipper Ketile, Houston, B.C. Let the laws of supply and demand decide Dear. Sirs I: wonder-how ‘many: people’ other: than: ‘ nysétf and Glenn Kelly (‘Let business regulate itself”, The Terrace Standard, Sept. 17, 2003) would like to see more stores open on holidays? I actually hate to see a holiday come up be- cause it’s a waste of time to drive all the way to Terrace from the Nass and not be able to buy anything when you get to Terrace. I'm quite sure there’s enough time in a day ta observe and respect any holiday plus being able to buy what you need before travelling 1O0km back home to the Nass. Buying needed items has no reflection on dis- respect for any holiday. But if someone can only accomplish one simple task per day then by all means don’t shop if celebrating is more impor- tant to them than buying needed items. To force any person to celebrate by removing the choice of buying and/or celebrating in the same day seems almost like violating the Char- ler of Rights and Freedoms. I’m with Glenn on this one, let supply and de- mand determine who stays open or closed. Lloyd Brinson, Nass Camp, B.C. Call us Kermode City Dear Sir: Here’s my Kermode entry: Why not change the name of Terrace to Kermode City? There are a thousands of places named Ter- race. We got the name about 75 years-ago when the Post Office refused to call this place Litte- ton because there was another place in Canada called that. Since the townsite was layered in -benches. or. lerraces; ‘they. chose; that name. But (times ‘Change: and therewwe-are in 2003 try ing 10, come up with a Kermode emblem design "Fon the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kermode City would be completely distinc- tive to this region which is famous for the Spirit Bear. Moksgm’ol is too confusing to pronounce or spell to the average outsider, even with a fea- ture film in the works on thé subject. Spirit Bear City would be too involved a name. The community is currently suffering from economic woes because of the mill situation but even so our cily should have a policy to have all materials related to the Kermode Bear made right here in Canada, not having them ordered from Hong Kong or Japan. The mill on Keith doesn't seem to be going anywhere since the BC Liberals dumped it. I say the City should get that property and build a multiplex and a total sports center under one roof the promotion of the 2010 Olympics available for this purpose, Make it an election issue in May . 2005, . Current plans for Upper Little Park are too constraining:for our needs and show lack of vi- sion on the part of city officials. With the mill revenue gone such a total sports center would ~ generate monies io Kermode City’s coffers. Another feature of the sports multiplex on the old mill site should be a “YM/WCA” which is -now funded by governments, Call ita YCAC for Young Canadian Athletes Center. This would five athletes coming to Kermode City a place to stay while they are competing. ge Mighty Moe Terrace, B, C. Anti- abortion logic doesn’t make sense Dear Sir: Oh, the erudite and air-tight extension of logic from Richard Hassett regarding barely barren bears and threatened human reproduction. and abortion (Mail Bag, The Terrace Standard, Sept. 10, 2003). Questionable cerebral brilliance, what with human population going onto seven ~ count “em ~ seven billion and such an overwhelming per- centage of thal, with lives of desperation, not to mention, the resultant downward slide of the en- vironment. Ricky, baby, did y’all miss count day, with ihe Count, on Sesame Street? Count ‘em — seven billion, 1 suspect “The Flat Earth Society” has morphed with a new theme of biological viability “every sperm is sacred, every egg divine’. If you don’t know the words just hum along. In closing, as a Great Satan card-carrying member of the Liberal/Socialist mind set, I am forced from the very thought that hackneyed Hassett is horribly harried regarding threatened reproduction, beyond abortion to the attractive- ness of retroactive abortion. God preserve and protect us from the thoughts and will of the Islamic Judeo-Christian funda- mentalists, the three intermingled religions fram the harsh sands of the Middle East. Do they truly anchor us, with sound morality, or do they pull us under? Michael Tugwood, Terrace, B.C. Walsh Ave. too narrow Dear Sir: 1 would like to congratulate the city planners who laid out the new section of Walsh Ave. be- side the new Skeena school. The concrete curbs and wide sidewalks are absolutely first class. There’s just one little pro- blern.. When. cars are parked along both sides of the street, as they always will be at 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 pm, as long as there is no intra-urban school bussing, there is not enough room for two cars to pass in opposite directions, let alone a school bus and a half-ton. I can’t wait to see what it will be like in the winter. Since it-is too late to move the beautiful con- crete curbs, perhaps it;would, be,a, good idea, ei- ther, tq :put:No stopping 8:15 a.m. to: 8:45,4a.m. ~and: 3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday to Friday” signs-along the south side of the street, or make the section of Walsh between Kenney and Mun- roe a one-way street. Tim Keenan Terrace, B.C, About the Mail Bag The Terrace Slandard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St, Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638- 8432 ofr e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com. No at- tachments, please. We need your name, address and phone number for verification. Our deadline is noon Friday or ncon Thurs- day ahead of a long weekend. and include bowling. There will be money from It’s time to act to fix the fibre basket By DANIEL D. VENIEZ IN A VERY real way, New Skeena’s challenges are a microcosm of what the region itself faces. Just last week in Terrace, the city organized an emergency forest confer- ence to grapple with some of these is- sues. As a company and as a4 region, we have tackled many of the tough is- sues head-on. While it has been pain- ful, we have made very substantial progress in our rebuilding efforts. We are almost there. Without question, the most critical part of the value chain is our wood basket: It is the major piece of unfi- nished business where the entire north- west should now direct its focus. Numerous studies have offered pre- scriptions for the rehabilitation of the forest. All have been ignored. The northwest is in what the Mini- stry of Forests describes as a "Transition Zone” where much forest land is home to over-mature trees with high rot content. The hammer of a “one size fits all" regulatory framework that does not re- cognize the unique nature of these for- ests has dealt a massive blow to the forest economy in the region. The combination of poor timber quality and high access costs makes this the most economically challen- ging fibre resource in the province. To put this in perspective, in the In- terior, the terrain is rolling. The hary- est is 90% to 100% saw logs. On the Coast, where terrain is difficult, the timber is high value, Inthe -transition zone, saw logs makeup just 40 to 50 per cent of what we cut, and’ the Jogs have poor grade recovery al that, The rest is pulp log content of marginal or negative value. That means that the economics in the Northwest are radically different. I came across an ad published in the News-Herald on February 27, 1933 from Columbia Cellulose, the compa- ny that built the original pulp mill in Prince Rupert. It is instructive. The ad describes the “once useless, over-mature timber” that formed the basis for the pulp mill’s furnish. At that time, investment flowed to the region because of access to low cost fibre. Today, regulations make this deca- dent fibre among the most expensive in the world. The result over the years is the curnulative starvation of capital to once robust assets. Almost 50 years later, the message in this ad could have been written in 2003. Stifling regulations are doing two things: First, they prevent the forest from properly rehabilitating. Secondly, they prevent the private sector from helping to do that by choking off capi- tal to the region. The over-mature northwest timber has long been. a disadvantage to pro- ducers operating in the region and has been considered a matginal resource by New Skeena and its predecessors. Tronically, the very nature of this region also makes it an ideal growing area for future forests, promising a very productive “second growth” of very high quality. To tap that poten- tial, we have te log and replant the decadent, old growth, and do so on an accelerated basis, There simply is no other way. The so-called results-based Code “requires many roads. be built to meet provincial highway standards, (The average annual cost A ‘New. Skeena for is $10 million to $15 million per year for the next three years). After use, many roads must be de- commissioned. Grass seed must be planted and culverts removed. Last year, SCI, a bankrupt company, was required to sow $100,000 worth..of ” grass seed, This breathtaking; example of regulatory madness is in place de- spite ample evidence natural rege- neration is faster and better for the en- vironment. The Code requires bridges have the structural ability to withstand earth- quakes and 00-year floads — the most conservative — if nol extreme — of risk probabilities. This is another rejection of common sense, The Code also calls for cuts to be out of the public’s view. “Viewscape rules’’, laudable though they might be, are applied to areas of very little pub- lic use. This costs a great deal of money and is another example of per- vasive economic waste. For an econ- omy built on the forest resource — not tourism - this is another costly “job killer’ as Premier Campbell described it prior to his election in 2001. Over the last decade the lifeblood of our economy has been choked-off by enforcement of regressive or puni- live regulations, Economic viability is not the priority under today's policy and regulatory framework. Under the new version of the ‘Results-Based Code’, this continues to be the case, at least as it will likely apply to the northwest, Other forces acting against us in- - clude our large geography that piles up higher hauling costs and our forbidding terrain, which also drives up costs. “When New. Skeetia ‘operates, 0 million per year will be spent on fibre ‘-and the infrastructure required to harv- est il. That_is by far. the single largest cost compopent of our business. Without a change to the regulatory régime that recognizes the uniqueness of the northwest timber baskel, the re- gional economy won't survive. The tules governing logging in the north- west cannot be simply transplanted from the lawer Coast or the Interior, The forests of the northwest should be treated as the transitional zone that they are for the purposes of forest policy and the regu- latory frame- work, In other words, the re- gion should be designated as a special eco- nomic zone for forestry pur- poses. The wood is differ- ent, It is un- ique. The geo- graphy is different. It requires focused and joint effort and attention to rehabi- litale. So what can be done? Several things — all of which cost the province no money, are not subject to counter- vail considerations, and are appropri- Dan Veniez ate given the state of the fibre basket. and the economic dependence of the Northwest communities. They are: @ Make more wood available now. M@ Since the province ends up own- ing the roads, the province should: pay to build ther. M@ Blend cut blocks. One measure is to allow cut block blending in the transitional zone on the same basis as is allowed on the coast, Wi Increase conventional ground- based logging in Terrace. It’s consider- ably more cost effective than cable logging systems. Recent technology , makes conventional logging much more environmentally; friendly than in the past. To expand use of such sys- tems near Terrace requires the coop- eration of the regulators.. M Maximize timber harvested per kilometre of road. This would make more efficient use of the precious in- vestment dollars spent’ on road con- struction in this transition zone due to terrain and the Code. M@ Increase cut block sizes. This al- lows significant synergies in logging operalions, There are numerous con- siderations in the new Code that bear on cut block size. However, it is be- lieved that, within the parameters of the Code, average cul block size in the transitional zone can be signific- antly increased. Our ability to turn the forest econ- omy around for the long term depends on our collective willingness to deal squarely with the fibre problem which has plagued the northwest. I believe we are faced with a truly unique and historic opportunity to change the course ‘of the economic destiny of the northwest for the better by demanding Victoria correct the po- licy mistakes that have cost this pro- vince dearly and decimated the econ- omy of the Northwest, Mr. Veniez is President and CEO of NWBC Timber and Pulp Limited and New Skeena Forest Products Ine.