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Wednesday, March 6, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Kinky Boots The crew at CN Centre – Rafael Trujillo, Dan Chipchase, Terry Baratta and Glen Mikkelsen – tried on some tall boots to get ready for the Kinky Boots show on March 22 at CN Centre. There are still tickets available for the show and thay are available through Tickets North.

Decorated veteran dies at 96 Forest policy review slated for Interior, minister says

Citizen staff Decorated Second World War veteran Sir Armand James Denicola died Friday at the age of 96. Denicola earned many medals of honour and was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour from France for his part in the liberation of France. At three years old, Denicola and his family came to Prince George from Italy in 1925. He was raised on the family homestead on Foreman Road and enlisted in the Canadian Scottish Regiment when he was 20 years old. Prior to enlisting, he worked as a cowboy in the Chilcotin area for the C1 Ranch and the Chilko Ranch near Alexis Creek, west of Williams Lake. After nearly three years in the armed forces he returned to the Chilcotin for a short time. In 1947, and after his dad passed away, Denicola moved back to Foreman Road and took up farming to help his mother. He spent the rest of his life living on the farm. Denicola went into partnership operating a saw mill on Foreman Road. At the same time he farmed potatoes and eggs commercially which he sold to Roy Yip’s chain of seven grocery stores. Denicola met his wife-to-be Doreen in 1960 and they married in 1964. Armand worked in the logging industry and later at the Dominion Experimental Farm. Some time later he went to work at the Ministry of Transport as the supervisor of runway maintenance at the airport until his retirement in 1984. After his retirement Denicola worked for the ministry on a part-time basis during the winter keeping the runways clear.

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Decorated Second World War veteran Armand Denicola is seen in 2008. Denicola died on Friday at the age of 96. Armand and Doreen raised three children who grew up and still reside in Prince George, including Drew and wife Kelly, Sanna, Neal and wife Brenda, his grandchildren Ashleigh, Natasha, Scott, Shailen, Alisha, Simon, Chris and Amy, and great grandchildren Ciaran, Abigail and Lucia. He is pre-deceased by his parents An-

tonio and Maria, his brother Joe and sister Lucy, nephew Tony and granddaughter Kira. The family asks in lieu of flowers that donations be made in his name to the Prince George Legion Branch 43 or the Prince George Hospice Society. A memorial will be held at Blackburn Community Hall on March 21 at 1 p.m.

Auction Mall full of bargains Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca Calling all bargain hunters. It’s time for the Prince George Citizen’s spring Auction Mall that goes live Thursday with closing bids on the last items up for grabs ending March 20. There is a variety of merchandise, services and gift certificates from many local businesses. Bargains can be as much as 85 per cent off list price and items are added daily. “The auction process creates an atmosphere of

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excitement, competition and community,” Shawn Cornell, The Citizen’s director of advertising, said. “The auction provides an opportunity to purchase items at fair market value, based on selling price and not asking price.” There’s getaways, houseboat vacations, a tent trailer, restaurant gift certificates, furniture and tires, home renovation items, local clothing retailers, continuing education, escape room game play and for those health-conscious thrifty shoppers there are even gym memberships available. — see AUCTION MALL, page 3

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The provincial government will conduct a review of forest policy as it relates to the Interior, Doug Donaldson, the minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, said Tuesday. Slated to begin by the end of April and be completed by the end of this year, Donaldson said it will follow on one for the Coastal forest sector that was completed in January following six months of consultation with various stakeholders. That review generated a series of policy initiatives to encourage more domestic processing of logs and fibre and reduce the amount of waste left behind in harvest areas. Donaldson called the outcome “very successful” and said some of the initiatives regarding the increased use of fibre will impact the Interior. However, while he said the fact that wood was being exported rather than being manufactured domestically was a prime issue in the Coastal sector, “it’s really about curtailment and a lack of wood in the Interior.” The review is among a handful of steps Donaldson noted in response to criticism B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson leveled in an interview on Monday that the NDP has done little to ease the pain area sawmills and their workers are feeling. Canfor, West Fraser and Conifex have all invoked production curtailments in answer to declining lumber prices combined with rising log costs and lack of fibre supply. Donaldson also raised a forestry-related trade mission to Asia in December as an example of the steps that have been taken. Donaldson was part of the entourage that went to Japan and South Korea while government officials chose to skip the China leg of the trip due to tense diplomatic relations over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. As well, he said cutting permits

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DONALDSON have been expedited for more than 2.4 million cubic metres of fire damaged timber over the last two years. And he made note of the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. Established in 2016 with $85 million from the provincial government, in part it funds projects designed to improve damaged or low-value forests and encourage the use of fire from those forests. “Through that organization, we’ve invested $173 million in reforestation, wildfire risk reduction and habitat restoration,” Donaldson said. “And that again allows us to address forest health, allows us to find more creative and economic ways of bringing fibre out that was seen as uneconomical.” Wilkinson contended more can be done to ensure sawmills have access to a reliable supply of timber. However, Donaldson said it was inevitable that the annual allowable cut was going to be reduced to levels seen prior to the pine beetle epidemic. To reduce waste on the Coast, policy initiatives include creating “fibre recovery zones” where failure to reach new lower benchmarks will lead to penalties. Prior to 2003, “avoidable waste fibre” on the Coast was less than five per cent of the harvest volume but by 2017, the proportion had grown to 16 per cent, according to a ministry report and, in some cutblocks, wasted fibre volumes are greater than the timber volume harvested. — see WORKERS, page 3

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