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Thursday, November 15, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

You shall not pass Work continued Wednesday on the installation of a new downtown sewer line that crosses Queensway Street. The project has caused the temporary closure of the street.

B.C. forest companies cut production Nelson BENNETT Citizen news service

undreds of sawmill workers are being laid off in B.C., some of them permanently, despite recent record profits made by B.C. forestry companies, which continue to expand south of the border. The problem is not lumber prices or softwood lumber tariffs – although lumber prices have fallen in recent months – but rather high log prices and low supplies in British Columbia, a result of the Mountain pine beetle, which ate through roughly half of B.C.’s harvestable timber supply. All major forestry companies in B.C. have announced curtailments at their B.C. sawmills for the fourth quarter. In the case of West Fraser Timber Co., the curtailments are permanent. On Nov. 13, West Fraser announced it is permanently shutting down a third shift at two of its mills – one in Quesnel and the other in Fraser Lake. The company said the

decision affects 60 workers in Fraser Lake and 75 in Quesnel. Effective January, West Fraser will take about 300 million board feet out of production permanently by shutting down third shifts at two sawmills. That’s about 13 per cent of West Fraser’s production in B.C. “We think the majority of those folks are going to be able to land in other opportunities within our company in our other operations,” James Gorman, vice president of government and corporate relations for West Fraser Timber, told Business in Vancouver. “But at the end of the day, that’s still 135 positions that won’t exist in British Columbia in the forest industry going forward.” Meanwhile, Conifex Timber Inc., Tolko Industries, Canfor Corp. and Interfor Corp. have also announced temporary curtailments or reduced production at their sawmills in recent weeks. Tolko announced last month that it was laying off 100 workers at its Quesnel sawmill, and on Nov. 9 Conifex announced that it is temporarily curtailing its production

But at the end of the day, that’s still 135 positions that won’t exist in British Columbia in the forest industry going forward. — James Gorman West Fraser Timber at its Fort St. James sawmill for two weeks, which is affecting 180 to 200 workers. Last month, Interfor announced it would reduce production at all three of its B.C. interior mills, and on Nov. 1, Canfor announced it was curtailing production at all of its B.C. sawmills. All companies say the curtailments are due to a lack of quality log supply and high log prices. Meanwhile, Tolko recently announced it is taking a 50 per cent stake in a lumber-

mill in Mississippi, and Canfor announced Nov. 9 that it is buying a sawmill in South Carolina for $110 million. It’s part of a long-term exodus that has seen B.C. based forestry companies investing in American sawmills, which have access to more timber than in B.C., and a long-term decline in timber in B.C. Gorman said there is little the provincial government can do to address the longterm decline in B.C. timber supply. “We’ve got a well-documented timber supply shortage,” Gorman said. “And this is about mountain pine beetle. And it’s also about recent wildfire. “This isn’t about a government policy decision of either the previous government or this government. This is really about a naturally occurring phenomenon that has substantially depleted the timber supply resource and will over the medium-term.” North American lumber producers had, until recently, been posting record profits, due to a high demand and high prices in the U.S. But lumber prices have been falling for the last six months, Gorman said.

More homes on market in B.C. Concussions, mental health injuries Citizen news service A slow October for residential real estate sales across the province has led to an overall balanced market and a “much-needed” increase in available homes for sale, according to the latest monthly statistics from the B.C. Real Estate Association. In total, 6,405 homes traded hands on the MLS last month, which is 26.2 per cent lower than October last year. However, that total is a jump of 14.9 per cent compared with the even slower month of September 2018, as the market picked up some fall activity. Of the 12 B.C. real estate boards, only B.C. Northern – which takes in the entire northern two-thirds of the province including Prince George and the booming Kitimat – posted a year-over-year increase in home sales last month. The BCREA said that average home sale price across the province in October was $690,161. That is a decline of 4.1 per cent

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from October 2017, but a slight monthover-month increase of 0.6 per cent, or $4,412. Only three boards reported an annual price decline, but as one of them was Greater Vancouver, that pulled down the provincial average sale price. The BCREA maintained its stance that mortgage “stress testing” introduced this year was to blame for the slowdown in housing demand. “The B.C. housing market continued to grapple with tougher mortgage qualifications in October,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA’s chief economist. “However, more moderate consumer demand has led to a much-needed increase in the supply of homes for sale.” The total number of homes listed for sale as of the end of October was up nearly 30 per cent year over year to 36,195 units. The BCREA’s report said, “While the B.C. housing market exhibited balanced conditions overall in October, market conditions do vary between regions and by product type.” — see NORTHERN B.C., page 3

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fall under new claims cap: ICBC Rob SHAW Vancouver Sun Concussions and mental health problems caused by an automobile crash will be considered a “minor injury” and fall under the new $5,500 cap on pain and suffering, according to new rules set by the provincial government. Attorney General David Eby signed a cabinet order that declared sprains, strains, aches, cuts, bruises, minor whiplash (including forms called TMJ and WAD), concussions and mental health issues caused by vehicle crashes to be designated minor injuries under new caps that begin April 1, 2019. The inclusion of concussions and mental health has worried some lawyers and health care practitioners opposed to the cap, who say it can take a long time for symptoms of

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brain damage, depression or post-traumatic stress to show and that the long-lasting effects are not minor for those suffering. In response, the Insurance Corp. of B.C. said it has set special rules for concussions and mental health injuries. ICBC will consider them to become major injuries not limited to the $5,500 pain and suffering cap if they persist for more than four months, said the president and CEO, Nicolas Jimenez. “The advice we got from the medical community is they are trickier to diagnose and trickier to, quite frankly, treat, so we are better to proceed cautiously and put them on a short time frame,” Jimenez said. Other minor injuries – whiplash, sprains, etc. – will only be considered major if they are still problems after 12 months. — see ‘THERE’S, page 2

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