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idard:com: ©.

Netinesday, March 6; 2002

‘New’ SCI axes logging contractors

By JEFF NAGEL
TWO Terrace logging contractors will
be stripped of their perpetual contracts
as part of NWBC Timber and Pulp’s
purchase of Skeena Cellulose.

Clear Creck Contracting and Jasak
Logging were told March 1 they’ll lose
the lucrative “evergreen” contracts
they’ve held since 1992.

“NWBC had asked us to put those
terminations in the contract,” enter-
prise minister Rick Thorpe said, add-
ing the Montreal-based buyer wanted
the change to reduce SCI’s costs. He
said the decision to eliminate them
was part of what was necessary to sell
the company.

Evergreen contracts are replaceable
every five years and give contractors
security to borraw money for expen-
sive logging equipment. Eliminating

them means SCI’s new owners will be
able to put the wood they were to log
oul to open bidding, leading to chea-
per rates and reduced costs.

NWBEC president Daniel Veniez
said the company had no leverage to
get evergreen contractors to agree to
competitive rates.

“They’ve got guaranteed contracts,
there’s no room to negotiate,” Veniez
said. “You can't be protected under
the law from competition and call
yourself an entrepreneur at the same
time.” .

_ “Guaranteed annual incomes to
anybody is wrong,” he said. “We plan
on doing our best to change that.”

Veniez said the terminations are
just part of wide-ranging measures to
eliminate the “culture of entitlement”

to compete and survive.

“This is part of what has to be done
on a systematic basis,” he said.
“People are either partners going for-
ward or we’te not going to want them
to have any role in the business what-
gocver.”

“Without competitive pricing you
don’t have a sawmill operation,” Ve-
niez said. “It’s time for everyone to
get real and stop thinking of
themselves.” .

SCI’s three other everpreen con-
tractors ~ Main Logging, K’Shian
Construction and Don Hull and Sons
Contracting — keep their contracts.

Veniez said they “appear to be
flexible in negotiations” and are trying
to contain costs.

Clear Creek and Jasak were the two
evergreen Contractors most resistant to

an effort by Skeena Cellulose man-
agement to have them all reduce rates
by 10 to 15 per cent, said Bill Saver,
manager of the Northwest Loggers As-
sociation.

“It's quite a coincidence in our
mind that these two contractors that
didn’t go back to work right away last
year at a reduced rate happened to be
the ones excluded from this new
deal,” Sauer said.

Veniez said the decision doesn’t
mean the two contractors won’t get
SCI work, but they will have to bid for
it along with others.

“We want cveryone to make a
buck. But we want to challenge a sys-
tem that gives people a free ride at the
expense of others,” he said.

Veniez said the move will reduce
the amount of wood Skeena logs using

evergreen contractors from 70 per cent
to the 50 per cent standard for interior
logging companies.

“it’s really a slap in the face,” said
Clear Creek owner Rob Wood. “We
give the p-----n thing to him for $6 mil-
lion and he still has to chop and
chop.”

Clear Creek’s contract guarantees it
tighls to log 98,000 cubic metres per
year — if Skeena Cellulase cuts to the
limit of its allowable annuai cut,
Wood said.

At a value of $10 to $15 per cubic
metre, it means the loss of a contract
worth up to $1.5 million a year in re-
venue for the contractor, which em-
ploys 35 workers.

Wood said SCI could even bring in
contractors from outside to log timber
Clear Creek would have cut.

wants
your
money

NWBC TIMBER and Pulp
wants northwesterners to
invest $15 million and be-
come partners in its drive
to resurrect Skeena Cellu-
lose.

President Daniel Ve-
niez wants all of it in
place by the end of April
when the sale of Skeena is
to close.

But he won't say what
will happen if the money
isn’t raised.

“Ym not thinking that
way,” Veniez said. “1 want
$15 million by closing. We
need to make it happen,
We're going to make it
happen.”

He says it’s important
the concept is embraced
and northwesterners sign
up for a new way of think-
ing about SCI.

“When you have the
community putting its own
skin in the game, it drives
performance,” he said.
“The mindset of the owner
is very different from the
mindset of the employee.”

It would also send a
powerful signal in the mar-
ketplace, he said. —

“We're creating a great
company for the future. For
that their participation is
required and wanted.”

The sale would go
ahead regardless, he said.

The community invest-
ment idea will likely be
overseen by Northern Sav-
ings Credit Union.

But Veniez’s deadline —

of late April to raise the
money came as a surprise

to credit union CEO Mike

Tarr.

“EL wish him good luck .

on that,” Tarr said, adding
he expected the invest-
ment idea might take off
once SCI mills are back
up and running, “I don't
think people are going td
be jumping to that oppor-
tunity right off the bat.”

He also said the credit
union hasn’t made a final
decision yet to lead the in-
vestment drive.

“We're not going to ga
out and use ow reputation
to raise money unless
we're absolutely sure this
is something we.can stand
behind,” he said,

Cont'd Page Al2

that he says hampers Skeena’s ability

should be a big hit In Terrace, says local transit driver Dave Capener who
took a group out last week on a tour. There are two new buses here,

New buses praised

BRAND NEW buses that replace the
existing transit fleet rolled out onto
local transit routes earlier this week.

They’re more than half a year late,
but passengers who got a preview
March 1 say the wait was worth it.

The two new Dennis Dart transit
buses offer a smooth, quiet ride, ac-
cording to city councillor Rich McDa-
niel, who rode the Terrace Regional
Transit System for the first time.

He gives the new buses a big
thumbs up because they are wheel-
chair accessible and are easy to board.

The low-riding buses have a kneel-
ing feature that allows the driver to
lower the bus at the curb. A ramp is
deployed in seconds,

“I can assure you, that entrance is

of great benefit,” said McDaniel who.

is council’s liaison with seniors.
Inside, there's space for two wheel-

chairs or one scooter. The new buses.

offer a range of features, including lar-
ger windows, route signs that are vis-

ible in the dark or fog, a bike rack, and.

air conditioning.
The buses had been scheduled to

arrive back at the end of last August to

coincide with a transit expansion here.

Jerry Peltier, manager of Coastal
Bus Lines, the company operating the
transit system, said a problem with the
climate control systems are to blame
for the delay. ,

B.C, Transit wouldn’t release the
busses once they arrived from the Brit-
ish manufacturer because of problems
with temperature control. [t wanted the
problems fixed first.

That took longer than expected be-
cause there were so many other Dennis
Darts being worked on as B.C. Transit
underwent a major fleet upgrade,

Senior bus driver Dave Capener ex-

“pected the new arrivals will be a hit

with: passengers, He knows of a para-
plegic passenger who’s familiar with
the Dennis Darts from Vancouver and
has been waiting for the new busses to
arrive in Terrace for months.
'. The transit expansion was designed
to help attract more bus riders. Rider-
ship has increased by 20. percent on
both the conventional bus system and
on the Handy Dart since August.

“We think that's due in part to in-
creased service to most areas in town,
and just more regularity in the

“schedule,” Peltier said: recently.

Nh AS Lids aod 5 ": ae ane is Un: a
NEW BUSES which can kneel down for better access for passengers

Gov't eases the way
for city to give a ‘yes’
to slot machines here

THE PROVINCE now says it will let
towns change their positions on whether
they want slot machines — a reversal that
opens the door for a possible casino in

- Terrace:

Best Western Terrace Inn owner John
Georgilas has proposed either a destina-
tion casino with conference centre, or a
stripped-down community casino only. He
has land adjacent to his hotel for either
option.

Victoria says there will be no new des-
tination casinos.

But two to four community casinos
that now operate table games only in ci-
ties where slot machines aren’t allowed
will be able to relocate, subject to the
approval of the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

That raised the possibility that one of
those casinos could be relocated to Ter-
race — if the province allowed city coun-
cil to change its mind and become a
“slot-friendly” community.

Terrace city council in 1997 opposed a
proposed charity casino here, and then
went on to create a bylaw outlawing slot
machines and video lottery terminals
here,

Premier Gordon Campbell had indica-
ted at the Jan. 16 open cabinet meeting
towns wouldn't be allowed to revisit those
decisions.

Now it appears they will.

“Any municipality can change its
mind at any time,” Solicitor-General
Rich Coleman said last week. “They can
revisit their past decisions.”

If Terrace council decided to embrace’
the idea of a casino here, Terrace would

then be considered as a potential location.

for a casino relocation.

But Coleman said it may still be long
odds. oo

Where any casinos are relocated de-
pends on a solid business case for a new
location, to be assessed by the lottery
corporation,

“They would have to compete with
whatever other groups or communities are
in negotiation with the corporation on a
level playing field,” he said.

Areas with significant population and
tourism traffic would probably merit clos-
est consideration, he said, adding Terrace
may not fit the bill.

“ft suspect they would Jook at a larger
population area or tourism area for those
relocations,” Coleman said. ,

City council has set March 20-21 as
the dates for hearings on the idea of al-
lowing a casino here,

A decision by council could follow on
March 25.

The Terrace and District Chamber of
Commerce is conducting a survey of its
members to determine what side to take
on the issue.

The issue arose again after Georgilas
in January proposed an $8 million desti-
nation casino and conference centre.

After cabinet said no to new destina-
tion casinos, Georgilas came back with a
scaled-down $6 million proposal for a
community casino alone.

Consultants hired _
to cut health costs’ -

THE CASH-STRAPPED Northern Health
Authority has hired a consultant to probe
the workings of every health care facility
under its control in the north.

It’s the first step in what could lead to
dramatic changes in the way the facilities
operate and what they offer.

The authority, created last year from a.

series of smaller ones in the north, faces
frozen budgets from the provincial gov-

, emment and rising labour and other costs.

It has projected operating costs of $375
million this year but expects revenues of
only $352 million, meaning it has to cut
$23 million. .

The total cuts over the next three years

- amount to more than $45 million.

“We're on a very tight time frame,”

‘said authority chief executive officer

Peter Warwick as the authority prepares

' to begin its new fiscal year April 1.
“We have 48 facilities to look at and —

we need answers.” .
“We need to lock at acute care at
those facilities, at utilization rates at

-those facilities, at occupancy rates and at
- the ambulance systems,” Warwick added.

The review. will also take in quality

_ and safety issues and look at critical.
‘Mass services such as specialists, he said.

The term “critical mass” is often used:

to deseribe what levels services need to
function at in order to be viable,

It’s been used, for example, by physi-
cians saying that if specialists leave
towns, other specialists and general prac-
titioners might follow because a certain
level of medical activity and services
cannot be maintained.

Alex Berland, hired to do what's
called a “role review,” has experience in
the north, ,

An expert in mental health, Berland
has also worked at Riverview and has
worked for the provincial government. He
recently was in England.

Warwick described the cost pressures
facing the new authority as “absolutely
horrendous.” wos

Other authorities have ‘already ad-
vanced their planning to. the point of
identifying specific cuts to specific hospi-
tals. De

But Warwick has said any such spec-
ulation is premature pending a comple-
tion of what he calls a redesign of north-
ern health care to savé as much money as
possible, |
 Berland’s. consulting contract-is the

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