toe

Aé4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 28, 2005

TERRACE

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

PUBLISHER: ROD LINK

ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G 5R2

TELEPHONE: (250) 632-7283 - FAX: (250) 638-8432 sO - WEB: www.terracestandard.com ‘EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard. com

The New Year

BY ALL accounts. it’s going to-be a happier new year in the northwest: than has been the case, in the - recent: past.

. The « opening of the Terrace Lumber Company “in August provided areal boost to the community not only for: the jobs provided ‘but for: the sense that a corner has been turned. ,

“Challenges remain, not the least of. which is an adequate and compatible wood ‘supply for the company as it finds and secures “markets for its product. | :

The answer to those challenges now rests with - the Chinese government, the ultimate owner of . the old Skeena Cellulose pulp mill. equipment at. “Watson Island near Prince Rupert. It has an offer in to buy the mill site itself with.a view to re- opening the facility instead of shipping the: equip- ment to China.”

'. Until. the Chinese reach a decision, the fate of | Tree Farm Licence No. 1 and other wood sources now owned by the Lax Kw’ Alaams, which were once tied to the pulp mill and the Terrace Lumber _ Company mill here, remains up in the air.

That wood ,will be needed by the pulp mill - should it open again and also so by the Terrace Lum- _ ber Company. «

It’s-a complicated : scenario o involving a lot of players but at the same time, it is reassuring to . know the’ local ownership of the mill here can and will work. »

‘ There’s another challenge t to the riorth of .us

4

‘the provision of hydropower past Meziadin for.

~ the: people who. live there and also for potential _ mines. It’s a matter of convincing the provincial gov-

,.ernment.that while extending hydro power is ex- "pensive, ‘doing so gives that area nothing "more

.than what exists already in every other part of the province.

_A coalition of northwestern governments and resource companies is hard at work twisting gov- ernmental arms and 2006 should — and must — be the year for action on this.

Just as is the case with the Terrace Lumber

‘Company, the campaign to extend hydro power ultimately rests with the ability and capability of

local people to doggedly pursue a common goal.

And that’s what living in the northwest is all | ~ looking to access foreshore ‘for their projects. It is not '. just foreshore for shipping

about — defining and pursuing common goals.

There have been times of disappointment and dis- : agreement. And there will be more times. of dis-

agreement and disappointment but overall there is

a general agreement that this is a worthy place in

which to live, work-and prosper. _ Keeping a common goal of community bet-

terment in which.all can take part is a darn good

resolution for the new year. And the trick will be to keep that resolution i in- tact for the next 12 months.

- PUBLISHER /EDITOR: a Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur ' NEWS: Sarah A. Zimmerman ~~ _ COMMUNITY: Dustin Quezada : NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs | - FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping, Carolyn Anderson CIRCULATION: SUPERVISOR: Alanna Bentham ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: ’ . Bert Husband, Susan Willemen - AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur

SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; ‘Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(+10.98 GST)=167.89

2005 WINNER CCNA B

COMPETITION

_ MEMBER OF

B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, . . CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION SONA... ( ; AND ComMuNtTY reer Noor

B c. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bcpresscouncll.org) —

Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of

each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Cotumbia, VBG 5R2. Bi ack Press Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy- right holders, including Black Press Ltd., its illustration repro services and advertising agencies.

Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited.

Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash.

Special thanks to ali our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents

_ community

NEWSPAPERS ©

WELL, STEPHEN, You'Re NOT GETTING © “TWt GAY VOTE AND You HAVEN’ T CAUGHT FIRE WITH WOMEN |

NOTERS

Past time. to make port a reality -

THE HEADING on the District

of, Kitimat’s web page reads |

“Port of Kitimat, a Marvel of: Nature and Industry.

Itis an especially well put

together banner and brand- 7 _ ing for the community.

In fact the new updated web page is something the, and . council should be proud of.

It portrays a very positive .

image of the community and reaches out to poten-

tial investors in all the right - ways. The dilemma is that

in some ways it.might be

working a.bit too well. -

_By any. definition a port is a place where manufac- turers, - -import/exporters,

resource companies, major

project proponents, just to name a few, can look to as a place to ship products out or bring them in.

It is the place you go. as. an investor when you are

looking’ for the shortest -

route between your product

‘and. customer.

Today there is an atmo- sphere of excitement-in the northwest over the many new opportunities ‘that are becoming available. The re- cent agreement between the Haisla and Kitimat LNG is a: major step in bringing that project closer to reality.

. Terasen, : Enbridge, Cas- cadia are all companies

out oil, gravel and other

commodities, but a facility _ to ship in the construction

materials that will be re- quired to build these proj-

ects.

: MY VIEW

-ROGER HARRIS

Sawmills and interior pel- let manufactures are look- ing to the northern ports as

-a vehicle to ship their prod- ucts to the Asia.

With the difficulty in ac- cessing .rail cars, the high

cost of transportation «and... the congestion in the south-. .

em ports, manufacturers are looking for options. The increase in mining activity on Highways 37, 16 and 97 is seeing a substantial increase in the amount. of bulk minerals looking for

the shortest route to their

market place. This doesn’t even consid- er the significant numbers ©

‘of projects across western

Canada, like the Mackenzie and Alaskan pipelines, all of which will bring in a sig- nificant volume of material for’ their construction. The materials for many of these ventures will come from Asia. and a significant vol-

~ ume of that will be in break

bulk form.

This brings us to our challenge; some would say”

our problem. - "Today in Kitimat, there

are three private firms that have foreshore infrastruc-.

ture capable of landing ocean going vessels; Meth-

‘anex, Eurocan and Alcan.

These are private facilities

built to handle the specific . ~ products each. of these busi- _ nesses produce. Their prime

purpose is to.support the in-

dustries and companies that | have invested in them.

Being «strategically © lo-

‘cated as a port and being a port are two very distinctly

different things. When a potential new comer to the area‘ looks at

‘the District of Kitimat web _page, reads of all the oppor-

tunity and benefit of deal-

ing with a private port, they

eagerly travel north to look over the facilities. : What they find is ‘that

there is no infrastructure

for.them to access to either ship product in or out. In a private port if the owners of the docks are not inter- ested in moving your prod- uct, you’re just plain out of luck.

Any investment in a port infrastructure is tremen- dously expensive. Requir-

ing every proponent who

is looking to Kitimat as.a

shipping point to make that . <Investment: will dramati-

cally limited the number of

‘projects and opportunities

available to us.

Additionally, we need to ask ourselves how much foreshore, development will

be acceptable to the com-.

munities of the valley, there are other interests that de-

pend on the Douglas Chan- ~

nel for their livelihood and . their concerns need to be

considered. . What makes this chal- lenge critical is that there are other ports in the north- ©

west quite capable of mov-

ing both containers as well as bulk materials. As we

’ continue to market “the port | ©

that isn’t there,“ shippers

merely move their eyes fur-

ther north and another op- portunity is lost.

We are at a time of sig- . nificant growth, not just in .

_ B.C., but right across west- ern Canada. Producers and

customers are looking today . to secure long-term reliable: .

_shipping arrangements.

_ It’s time to get the horse in front of the cart and quickly! We need to move promptly and effectively. to

identify an area and create

a contract port ‘capable of handling the vast variety of products that are looking for a home.

First Nations participa- tion is essential in this, as is the need to bring the regula- tors, from all levels of gov- ernment on side, is equally critical. The benefits of a private port only become

‘real when there is a way of

tapping into it.- To continue to marketing - a product that doesn’t exist

only frustrates potential in- _vestors and delays the real

goals; new _ investments,

‘new industries and new op-

portunities for all of us. Why this is so important

to Terrace anda possible —

solution is for another col- umn.

Band students a fine ensemble |

LOVE SWEETS? Can’t eat too much whipped cream or

pie crust? Then plan to attend

Thornhill Junior Secondary School’s spring dessert con-

~ cert.

For the modest cost of a ticket visitors are invited to raid a smorgasbord of tarts, squares, cakes, cookies, and cream puffs. Dessert donors

urge everyone to heap their

plates and return for seconds. Empty -platters let Moms take home their: Pyrex plates after the concert, trimming organizers’ task of reuniting bakers with their bakeware. — But dessert is icing on the

. cake, you might say. The

Thornhill Junior Secondary School concert and jazz bands

play well enough for anyone,

not just parents, to enjoy their music. “This year’s Grade. Eights

have already been playing .

for two years, since Dare to Dream raised funding for band from Grade Six upward. Those two extra years of instruction makes a world of difference in the band’s ability

' and quality, says their music

THROUGH BIFOCALS (CLAUDETTE SANDECKI teacher.. = |

Besides rousing selections

played by all 40 students, en-

sembles of from two to five students enlivened the pro- gram performing tunes of their own choosing meticulously rehearsed through many lunch hours.

While the students played for us, in their imaginations I’m sure they could see them- selves showing off at the Na- tionals. Their school has a winning reputation’ and these students aim to defend it.

. desserts.

time exercises and the school’s

record of. bringing home from Canada-wide ' competitions

awards instills confi- dence in even the most junior band members that they will do well when they, compete

. nationally next spring.

To finance their trip, they constantly fundraise. Their next bottle drive is scheduled for January 7.

The band’s current venue,

Thornhill Community Church on Krumm Road, offers gentle acoustics and wide uphol- stered chairs for those of us who drool at the mention of

This comfortable atmo-

“sphere leaves me free to con- centrate on the music and the’ -students’ actions. ,

I love to watch the kids’ enthusiasm evident in their en- ergetic toe tapping and intent tracking of the beat as they make ready to add their singu- lar toot or tap on cue.

Unlike Vicki Gabereau’s choice of maracas - a gourd filled with seeds or lead pel-

. lets - the drummer held a Lil- The combination of lunch- .

liputian waterwheel by its

‘ me.

‘long shaft. Each quarter turn

_ rotation produced a_ssshing

sound,

- Band members looked crisp . in new uniforms their ‘size, black. with white shirt and a red bow tie. I smiled at the

_carefree Dean Martin look of

one lad with his tie rakishly askew until, during a break, someone yanked his tie under his chin.

Despite my technical hand-

icaps, my family assigned me ‘to photograph our two grand-

daughters in their concert

- finery. I managed to pose the -

girls in front of a door marked Janitor. °

I’m told the general school population looks upon band as “not cool”. That befuddles

Fight of the band students ~ also belong to hockey or bas- ketball teams. And what could be cooler than being a valued. -

| player on a 40-member team?

A team that. travels nation- wide annually. Wins com- peting against the best in our nation. And is rewarded with all the desserts their uniform waistband allows.