This page contains annotated news stories and press releases with commentary about land reform and the democratic process in British Columbia. Our comments are shown in red.
Policy defended
May 08, 2008Forests Minister Rich Coleman continues to defend the B.C. government’s decision to end the requirement for forest companies to process Crown timber locally, as government and industry leaders grappled with the latest mill closures.
Pulp mills in Nanaimo and Mackenzie were ordered shut down this week, after an Indonesian company withdrew its offer to buy assets of owner Pope & Talbot, which is under bankruptcy protection. The decision means the layoff of nearly 500 pulp mill workers in Nanaimo and another 275 in Mackenzie, a northern community already hit by closure of its sawmills.
Asia Pulp and Paper was also negotiating to buy the Pope & Talbot sawmill in Fort St. James, which shut down last October.
Coleman said he and Premier Gordon Campbell assured union representatives that in addition to community development and worker training and transition, the province will ensure that health, police and fire protection services will continue in Mackenzie.
Despite high pulp prices, mills have seen a domino effect from the collapse of the U.S. lumber market, which has idled the sawmills that supply pulp fibre as a byproduct.
