Prince George Citizen October 5, 2018 by Prince George Citizen

Friday, October 5, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

Fall fun Hilda McNeill takes advantage of the sunny weather to do some yardwork as she rakes leaves on Thursday morning.

Northern B.C. sawmill workers in strike position Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca Some 1,600 workers at 13 northern B.C. sawmills will be in a strike position by Saturday morning – but won’t necessarily take to the picket lines at that time. Acting on a mandate given in August, the bargaining committee issued 72 hours strike notice on Wednesday after talks remained in a stalemate despite resorting to five days of mediation last week. Whether workers will act on the notice remained up in the air as of Thursday. “There could be strike action but at this time there is no strike action planned, I’d really like to get that out to the members,” said United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-2017 president Brian O’Rourke. At the request of Conifer, the employers’ bargaining agent, the sides turned to a mediator last

week but little if any progress was made. O’Rourke said the mediator has openings Oct. 12, 13 and 14. “We were hoping that by issuing our strike notice it may spur the employer to come back to the table and see if we could hammer out a fair deal for the employees,” O’Rourke said. But he added that appears doubtful because Interior Forest Labour Relations Association, which represents sawmill owners in the Southern Interior, will begin negotiations with their workers on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next week and three of its members also sit on the Conifer bargaining committee. O’Rourke said Conifer is seeking concessions despite the industry enjoying strong demand for its product thanks to a buoyant U.S. housing market. The benchmark price for 1,000 board-feet of top-quality west-

There could be strike action but at this time there is no strike action planned, I’d really like to get that out to the members. — Brian O’Rourke, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-2017 ern Canadian two-by-fours hit US$540 this past spring, according to the trade publication Madison’s Lumber Reporter, compared with US$315 at the start of 2017. As of Oct. 1, it stood at $396, down from $426 the week before, according to the publication.

“As far as wages, they’re not near where we would expect them to be given the high wave they’ve been riding this last year and a half, quarter after quarter reporting how much their net earnings are,” O’Rourke said. “It would only be fair to share it with the people that made them those earnings.” He said this is the closest it’s come to a disruption in the forest industry since 1986. According to a Sept. 19 posting on the local’s website, Conifer is offering annual wage increases ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 per cent over five years. Conifer also remains steadfast in seeking concessions, according to an Oct. 1 posting, including paying straight time to those working Tuesday-to-Saturday clean-up shifts, paying straight time for working statutory holidays rather than time off on alternate shifts,

extending the probationary period and increasing the employees’ costs for health and welfare benefits. Some 15 days of bargaining with Conifer have been concluded. The previous five-year contract ended on June 30. A Conifer representative has said the agency will not be talking to media before a contract has been ratified. The sides are negotiating on behalf of 13 sawmills: Canfor’s PG Sawmill and Isle Pierre operations as well as its sawmills in Houston and Fort St. John; Lakeland Mills in Prince George; Dunkley Lumber Ltd. south of Hixon; Conifex’s mills in Fort St. James and Mackenzie; Babine Forest Products in Burns Lake; Tolko’s Lakeview Lumber and Soda Creek mills in Williams Lake and Quest Wood in Quesnel; and West Fraser’s Williams Lake planer.

Flight from police nets Wednesday broke cold weather record charges for wanted man Vancouver Sun

Citizen staff A Prince George man wanted on outstanding warrants faces further charges after allegedly attempting to evade police. Jesse Juillette, 30, was apprehended last Friday night at a motel near Valemount, about eight hours after he was first seen at 2 p.m. in the 2700 block of Spruce Street in Prince George. When RCMP tried to pull over the car he was driving, Juillette took off, police said, and a pursuit was quickly called off in the name of public safety. Several minutes later, his car was seen heading east on First Avenue. By 5 p.m. RCMP had set up a road block on Highway 16 west of McBride. But not only did Juillette refuse to stop, he nearly ran over an RCMP officer, police said.

Today’s Weather Hi +6° Low -2°

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But RCMP received a tip he was at the motel and at 10 p.m. police converged on the spot. He was arrested by the Prince George RCMP street crew with help from the Valemount RCMP, McBride RCMP, police dog services, RCMP air services, and the North District RCMP emergency response team. Juillette was wanted in relation to a Sept. 15 robbery and assault in Prince George along with outstanding warrants out of Williams Lake related to a May 4 break and enter and allegation of dangerous driving. He also continues to face charges from a Jan. 23 armed robbery in Prince George. As a result of Friday’s incident, provincial Crown counsel has also approved eight more charges against Juillette and he remained in custody as of Thursday.

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Environment Canada says B.C. broke 39 cold-weather records Wednesday, including a 68-year-old record in Prince George, as an Arctic front swept across the province. Matt MacDonald, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says there were 14 daytime records broken, 18 overnight lows smashed and seven new records for the most snowfall on Oct. 3, including a whopping 59 centimetres of snow in Sparwood, east of Fernie. He says the front whipped down from the north and clashed with moisture from the Pacific Ocean. MacDonald said more records may be broken overnight, but it’s not likely to be as cold as Wednesday. The record-breaking temperature for cold in B.C. on Wednesday was Clinton, where -14.2 C was recorded, smashing the old mark of -5 set in 2012.

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NEWS 5

In Prince George, the mercury dipped to a record -12.1 C, breaking the old one of -9.4 set in 1950. It was a bone-chilling -11.6 C compared with the old record of -9.1 set in 2013, in the Puntzi Mountain region in the Central Interior. And the Mackenzie area set a record -8.5 C, breaking -5.5 set in 1990. Even Vancouver saw a record low, though the mercury didn’t go below zero. Environment Canada recorded 1.6 C at YVR on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 2.8 in 1937. Other areas that set cold-temperature records were Quesnel (-8.4 C,) Lytton (-1.2,) and Lillooet (-2.9.) MacDonald said most regions should return to near-seasonal temperatures over the next week, but the overnight lows will remain slightly cooler than normal. In Vancouver overnight lows are expected to be around 5 C, instead of a seasonal average of around eight.

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