Daily Archives: December 13, 2019

Doug Donaldson

Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests… “Yesterday, along with Labour Minister Harry Bains, I met with representatives from a group of over 100 forestry contractors who came to the Parliament Buildings to have their voices heard. …“Now, like other forestry workers and communities, they are going through tough times. …“In addition to the strike, the forest industry has faced a perfect storm of challenges over the past year – from market pressures, low commodity prices and ongoing unjust duties from the United States to impacts from climate change. …“We listened to what they had to say and shared their concerns about reduced operations on the coast this past year. More than that, we heard their concerns. …“In the meantime, we are making changes to strengthen the B.C. forest sector’s resiliency so that it can come out of this situation stronger.

Joel McKay

…let’s dissect … appurtenancy in the forest sector. Unless you’ve lived in a forestry town or worked in the industry, you’ve probably never heard of that term. Appurtenancy is one of those obscure policy tools you’re not likely to come across – yet one that’s still groused about in places like Mackenzie, Fort St. James and Quesnel. Appurtenancy was the policy tool that linked harvesting areas to community benefit – essentially, the trees that were cut in an area had to be milled in that area. The idea was to use public policy to incentivize local community sustainability and development – it was particularly championed by the government of W.A.C. Bennett in the years following the Second World War. But riding the wave of deregulation through the 80s and 90s, appurtenancy was mostly phased out by 2002 – with only 11.5 per cent of B.C.’s harvest subject to it. …On the topic of deregulation and its impact in rural communities – the advice is this: be careful, very careful.

VICTORIA, B.C. – MLA Dan Davies of Peace River North and MLA Mike Bernier Peace River South attended the Forestry Worker Rally in Victoria. …Davies and Bernier share … the frustration that no representatives from the NDP came out to speak with the group. Davies shares… this is a crisis across the province & the NDP government has done diddly to help. Bernier shares …Forestry workers feel the NDP is ignoring them so they came to the front steps since the Government won’t come to them. …Forests Minister Doug Donaldson said, “when it comes to stumpage, coastal rates went down by 24% in October and the rates will be adjusted again in January 2020. The old government knew about the challenges facing the forest sector and it failed to act. Instead of helping forestry communities become more resilient, it buried reports warning of mill closures. Its shameful inaction has led us to where we are today.

Re: comments made by Bill Routley on USW strike. Once again, Bill Routley shooting off from the hip not mentioning key points on the topic. Bill is telling us that Western Forest Products does not care about their employees in the way they are treated, but forgets to realize that when the strike is over, these employees will still be employed by Western, once again collecting their paycheques. …Butler also fails to realize that B.C. is not the only lumber manufacturer in the world. B.C. is in competition with other countries that manufacture lumber. …The key factor here, is that a new contract is only going to come to reality based on the yearly net incomes of the company.

The city is on the right track as it reviews heavy industry taxation, according to a group of citizens watching the process with concern over residential tax bills. …Last year, the city shifted about $4 to the average-assessed household to lower heavy industry tax rates. Council then decided to review a policy to lower heavy industry tax rates over time. …The committee this week agreed to send revisions of that policy to council in the new year, recommending the mill rate cap be based on the rates of average B.C. cities without ports, which can drive down rates due to a legislated federal cap. …The move is expected to change the mill rate cap for heavy industry users in Kamloops — Domtar and Tolko — though by how much remains to be seen until the report goes to council.

John Horgan

VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan says aid for truck loggers hurt by a five-month forestry strike on Vancouver Island is on its way, just a day after contractors rallied for action on the steps of the legislature. Horgan told Postmedia News that he’s heard “loud and clear” the stories of hardship and despairfrom mid- and North Island communities where contractors, truck loggers and others are caught in the middle of a lengthy strike between the United Steelworkers and Western Forest Products. “There are truck loggers who are being affected by this, not for any reason of their own making,” Horgan said Thursday. “So we’re looking at ways we can ensure that they keep their vehicles, for example. Those are programs that are being developed right now. And we’ll have more to say about that probably early in the new year, maybe as early as next week.”