thewestern canadian lumber worker

n of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA fern Canadian Regi No. Affiliated with AFL-CIO0-CLC Sth Floor, 1285 West Pe: Vancouver, B.C. V6E 4B2 Phone 683-1117 Editor—Patrick S. Business Manager—Wyman Trineer Forwarded to every member of the WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year.

EDITORIAL

TE IWA’s warning that Canada is facing a critical shortage of skilled tradesmen was borne out by the statistics cited at the recent Apprenticeship Forum sponsored by the Provincial Apprenticeship Board.

Provincial government economist Lee Doney stated that in B.C. alone, the number of apprentices in the crucial sectors of forestry, mining and manufacturing would have to be doubled to meet demands for skilled tradesmen forecast for 1984.

These shortages of skilled workers are evident in other areas of the country and will be intensified when the mega projects now on the drawing boards get underway.

The problem is so serious that unless concrete action is taken now to indenture the needed number of apprentices, the country will face economic stagnation.

Organized labour has long argued that those employers who refuse to train their employees should be penalized by the government through a levy system. Too many employers have relied on skilled immigrants instead of training their own employees. Others are content to pirate workers from other companies.

This not only puts an added burden on the good employers but also denies many workers a chance to upgrade their skills.

As B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Kinnaird stated in his address to the Forum, “industry should either do more training voluntarily or be forced to, either by direct legislation or indirectly through a grant and levy system.”

A number of unionists believe that if such a system was implemented the levy imposed must be sufficiently steep to prevent employers opting in favour of paying the levy rather than bothering with an apprenticeship programme.

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Sunshine Coast for the reason that timberin these low elevation areas should be pre- served for the small independent loggers now operating in the area and that the property should be preserved for public use, for park, residential and future timber growing purposes.

Hanson said, “This appears to be just another giveaway by the Social Credit government of this province to the CPR which has a 125 year history in this nation of grabbing land and resources from the public domain.”

CPR AT IT AGAIN

Don Lockstead MLA for Mackenzie has revealed that the provincial government is actively and currently considering trading a

STOP FOREIGN SPECULATION

It is no secret that house prices in British Columbia are escalating at a fantastic rate. As of this moment, the only people in the market in the Lower Mainland are those who already own a house, or who have moved to the area with substantial capital.

Once we said that house prices were soaring out of sight. In Vancouver right now, the vast majority of young people can no longer even imagine the possibility of owning their own home.

Pinning down the causes of this disas- trous situation is a difficult task. Specula- tive frenzy plays a part, as do the simple laws of supply and demand.

If more money is chasing houses than there are houses to buy, prices will inevita- bly raise. The question is, why are prices still going up when there are so few new buyers?

Part of the answer is demand for housing stock on the part of foreign residents. As the Canadian dollar slumps, the holders of foreign currency can purchase assets in British Columbia for what are, to them, bargain basement prices.

We know for a fact that businessmen based in Germany are bidding up the price of BC farmland to a level where BC farmers cannot compete. Unfortunately, the provin- cial government — which keeps records on the citizenship of land buyers — refuses to compile and release the statistics.

We do not know how much foreign capital is being invested in BC housing. Indeed, in reply to a question from NDP MLA Stu Leggatt, on December 10, 1980, the Minister of Housing admitted that there was no committee studying the extent of foreign ownership of housing.

This situaiton is absurd. We know that foreign ownership of housing is growing, but we do not know its true extent, nor how much purchases are fuelling inflation.

Housing is a basic social need. One of the first priorities of the provincial government should be to ensure that all of our citizens have a decent place to live, preferably in a house of their own.

Canadian residents should have first claim on British Columbia housing. No one objects to citizens of other nations moving here. What we do object to is speculation in land and housing by businessmen who are not residents of Canada.

Hopefully Mr. Chabot will order officials in his Ministry to report to him, and then act quickly. It is almost too late already.

number of parcels of old CPR owned E & N land on Vancouver Island for properties on the Sunshine Coast through the CPR’s Pacific logging division. Lockstead has

been informed that the total transaction would involve in excess of 6,000 hectares of land, 2,000 on the Sunshine Coast and 4,000 hectares on the Island.

One of the parcels of property on the Sunshine coast is located near Roberts Creek between Sechelt and Gibsons which includes approximately 1,000 hectares of land.

Another 1,000 hectares are involved in the Skookumchuck area on the Sechelt Inlet.

It is estimated that the property alone in the Roberts Creek area is valued at approxi- mately $20,000 per acre.

The property at Skookumchuck is worth about $5 per waterfront foot. The timber values on these properties according to forestry officials could exceed $60 million. At current stumpage rates this couldmeana minimum of lost revenues to the province in stumpage fees of between $12-$15 million.

These figures of course exclude the property value of the approximately 7 square miles of land the value of which could exceed $100 million.

NDP Lands critic Gordon Hanson has demanded that the Social Credit govern- ment terminate immediately these negotia- tions for the property trade off on the

PENSION NOTICE

If you changed your home address during 1980 and you forgot to advise the |IWA pension plan office, you may not receive your annual statement of pension benefits this year. Each year thousands of statements are not received by members. These statements are important to you as it is the best way for you to check that the hours you worked were correctly reported to the plan.

So, if you think that the IWA pension plan does not have your correct address, please complete this form and mail it to:

IWA — Forest Industry Pension Plan 501 - 1755 W. Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 4S5

PLEASE PRINT

NOTIFICATION OF ADDRESS CHANGE

Your Social Insurance No. meee) coe

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4/Lumber Worker/January, 1981

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