Friday, May 24, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Watering the peas Kai Gale, 3, right, takes his turn with the watering can while Aria Goodrich, 4, looks on at The Exploration Place. The class from the Fort George Early Explorers Preschool planted Laxton’s Progress peas in the Explorers Urban Garden on Thursday afternoon.
Planned outage to cost thousands, business owner says Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
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Logs are piled up at West Fraser Timber in Quesnel in 2009.
B.C. sawmills face closure Derrick PENNER Vancouver Sun Tolko Industries’ decision to close its Quest sawmill in Quesnel was greeted less with shock than resignation in certain circles with one report predicting the equivalent of 12 more will be shuttered in the next decade to cope with B.C.’s shrinking timber supply. “They were the next mill on our list,” said Russ Taylor, president of the consulting firm Wood Markets Group, that commissioned the analyst’s report that concluded with that grim assessment. Tolko CEO Brad Thorlakson cited a lack of “economic fibre to keep all our (B.C.) mills running efficiently” in making the decision, announced May 10, to close the Quesnel mill affecting 150 jobs and cut one of two shifts from its Kelowna mill eliminating another 90.
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Forestry remains a cornerstone of B.C.’s economy, accounting for 60,000 direct jobs, including one in every four people employed in manufacturing, with 140 mostly rural communities dependent on the industry, according to a recent assessment. Over the next decade, however, catching up with necessary reductions in B.C.’s timber harvests could put a 2,000 to 2,500-position dent in those employment figures, Taylor said. However, the massive mountain pine-beetle epidemic, a subsequent smaller spruce-beetle infestation and successive record years of forest fires have cumulatively compromised the province’s Interior forests, said industry analyst Jim Girvan, who wrote the report. Add to that requirements to set aside forest habitat for the protection of endangered mountain
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caribou, and Girvan said B.C.’s central regions will be left without enough timber for all sawmills operating in the region, where the province counted 51 as of 2017. “In the worst-case scenario, 13 mills will close,” said Girvan, who is a professional forester as well as a longtime industry consultant. “In the best-case scenario, 26 mills will reduce (one shift each). Either way, the impact on lumber production, residual chip production, the impact on employment is the same.” He expects the bite out of timber harvests will start taking hold between now and about 2025 into what the industry is referring to as the midterm timber supply, and estimates it will take 30-40 years before new growth in forests recover to levels that will allow an increase in harvests. — see ‘THE BEST, page 3
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A local business owner says a BC Hydro decision to carry out equipment upgrades during a time when his doors are usually open will cost him thousands of dollars in lost business. The utility has scheduled a planned outage for Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to noon from 1795 to 1915 Victoria St. to carry out equipment upgrades. Mike Godfrey of Budget Brake and Muffler estimated it will leave him $2,000 to $4,000 out of pocket in foregone revenue and contends it is work Hydro could be doing during the evening when most small businesses are closed. He said the only reason crews are not out at that time is so the utility can save a few hundred dollars on overtime. Instead, Godfrey said he was told he will need to bring in a backup generator if he wants power over the time a Hydro crew is doing the work. “I can’t plug a generator into my shop,” Godfrey said. “I’d be back-feeding the whole system and risking your guys’ safety. “I’m an automotive shop, how big a generator do you want me to get?” he added. “Do you want me to rent one for $1,000, $2,000 and have an electrician wire it in?” While doing the work during the daytime in a residential area is understandable, Godfrey said Hydro should take extra steps to avoid inconveniencing business districts. At least one other business will
be affected. “There won’t be any kind of transaction happening in my store, unfortunately,” said Total Pet manager Derian Sawatsky. Hydro spokesperson Ted Olynyk stressed notices of the outage were sent out ahead of time and that businesses should have a generator in place regardless. “Hospitals have a backup, emergency services will have a backup... if power is critical to you in your daily operation, then you need to consider a backup,” Olynyk said. Olynyk also said peak hours can vary from business to business, noting that restaurants are busiest in the evening. As to the matter of the cost of paying overtime, Olynyk said it would add up if Hydro agreed to Godfrey’s suggestion and it would translate into higher electricity rates. “You’d not just be dealing with one block of Prince George, the principle would carry throughout the province,” Olynyk said.
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I can’t plug a generator into my shop. I’d be back-feeding the whole system and risking your guys’ safety. — Mike Godfrey, Budget Brake and Muffler
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