|
|
  The COFI Board and staff are looking forward to March. First, many of us will be in Victoria on March 8, 2004 for a "forestry day" at the Legislature. We have several working sessions planned with Ministers, MLAs and senior staff as we continue to work pro-actively with government on the Forestry Revitalization Plan. Second, our Annual General Meeting scheduled for March 30, 2004 will give all members an opportunity to review our first year as the "new" COFI and to establish our Executive for 2004/05. Finally, we are looking forward to the Annual PWC Forestry Conference the next day on March 31, 2004 at the Hyatt. This year COFI is pleased to be both an active participant and a co-sponsor. We look forward to seeing you there. On February 17, 2004, Finance Minister Gary Collins, delivered the provincial budget for 2004/05. I attended the budget speech in the Legislature and was pleased to see that his budget has a small surplus within a competitive tax framework. Last but not least, I would like to welcome John Brink of Brink Forest Products as a new COFI member for 2004. I have known John for a number of years and know he will make a valuable contribution.  John Allan |
||||||||||||||||||
|
 The BC Cabinet has passed the Regulations required to bring the bulk of the Forest and Range Practices Act "into force" as of January 31, 2004, along with 10 associated Regulations. The key focus of the new Act and Regulations is the shift from a very prescriptive and inflexible approach that relied on regulating methods - detailed "how to's" - with little strategic direction, to an approach focused on the end results - what must be achieved - as determined by government objectives. The new Act and Regulations provide the opportunity for innovations in resource management techniques that previously were not possible or at best heavily constrained. As well there is more opportunity for professional resource managers to use their expertise to assist in this innovation. A period of up to 2 years will be used to ensure an orderly transition from the old to the new laws for new operations. These new laws are a positive contribution to the revitalization of the forest industry in BC. Consistent with the government's balanced objectives for forest resources in the Province, the new rules will allow for more flexibility and entrepreneurial approaches to forest resource management that will be cost effective for the industry and the public. The challenge now is to take this opportunity and work with the government and communities in the real world application of these new laws to ensure that collectively we all receive the benefits intended by these changes - innovative, balanced and sustainable management of BC's forest resources through effective and efficient programs and plans. To augment the training provided by the Ministry of Forests, COFI is in the process of developing a training package on the Forest and Range Practices Act and its associated Regulations to ensure that our members are in the best state of readiness to understand and work with the new laws. The COFI training, focused at member needs, will address planning, practice requirements as well as compliance and enforcement. We anticipate developing a "generic" Forest Stewardship Plan with content on how to develop "results and strategies". We expect our training activities to begin in April. For more information contact Peter Affleck, Vice President Forestry by e-mail: affleck@cofi.org or by phone: (604) 891-1212 or visit the MoF FRPA website: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/code/ |
||||||||||||||||||
|
 COFI and Forintek, with financial support from the Government of Canada and several Provincial Governments, have been working with Chinese fire experts for the last 3 years to help them re-write their building regulations to better regulate the fire-safe use of wood products in buildings. To facilitate this process, COFI invited a Mission of five Chinese fire experts to visit Canada from February 6 to 16 to gain a better understanding of the fire protection and prevention system in Canada. The Mission visited Whistler and Vancouver Feb 8 & 9 to see fire protection features in wood-frame multi-family residences and some larger heavy-timber buildings. They were also introduced to fire protection engineers experienced in designing buildings with significant use of wood products. The Mission then moved to Ottawa to learn more about the Codes and Standards in effect in Canada. They visited the fire research programs at Forintek, National Research Council and Carleton University; viewed a demonstration spatial separation fire test for them in Almonte (NRC); and, visited CMHC to learn about mortgage and fire insurance issues related to wood-frame construction. The Mission finished up in Toronto, representing a large metropolitan area approaching the size of some Chinese cities. There the group focussed on the enforcement, prevention and suppression of fires in wood buildings through site tours and presentations from fire experts. For more information contact Paul Newman, Director, Market Access & Trade by e-mail: newman@cofi.org or by phone: (604) 891-1215 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
 More changes are slated for the interior lumber industry as Riverside Forest Products Ltd. announced that it would acquire Lignum Ltd. in a deal worth about $100 million in cash and shares. Both companies are COFI members. Riverside, Canada's largest plywood producer, will acquire Lignum's lumber distribution operations, with 20 locations in Canada and the US, in addition to Lignum's sawmill in Williams Lake. The merged company will have a capacity of over 1 billion board feet of lumber, an AAC of 3 million cubic metres and employ 3,500 people directly or as contractors. "The acquisition of Lignum Ltd. will enhance our product mix and provide us with increased opportunities to meet the needs of the marketplace", said Gordon Steele, Riverside's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are combining two great companies with similar cultures and values to strengthen our position in the forest industry." As part of the agreement, Jake Kerr, current Chairman and CEO of Lignum, will join Riverside's Board as Vice Chairman, and direct the company's marketing efforts. He will continue to be active within the BC industry on the trade dispute with the United States. Conrad Pinette, Lignum's President and COO, will become Executive Vice President of Riverside. For more information see: Riverside: http://www.riverside.bc.ca/ Lignum: http://www.lignum.com/ |
||||||||||||||||||
 Louisiana-Pacific Corporation announced that construction of its oriented strand board (OSB) mill, jointly owned with Slocan Forest Products, will begin this summer and will be completed in 12 to 18 months. The world class mill will produce 800 million square feet (3/8" basis) of OSB, from aspen and cottonwood, to serve building markets in Canada and the Western US. William Hebert was appointed President of the joint venture. For more information see: Louisiana Pacific website: http://www.lpcorp.com/ |
 Chris Lear, Forest Education Manager, Northern Operations, made a presentation on career awareness and post-secondary recruitment to a gathering of forest educators including representatives from post secondary institutions, from across western Canada at the January 16-18, ForestEdWest Conference held in Banff Alberta. As well as reviewing many of the factors which are contributing to declining enrollments at post-secondary forestry schools, the presentation provided an introduction to Project Natural Resource Management (PNRM) as a key element in increasing high school students' awareness of forestry related careers. As part of COFI's northern operations forest education program, PNRM offers strong academic students and their teachers two days of intensive hands-on workshops with a host of professionals drawn from industry, government and post secondary institutions. Working together with these professionals gives students the insight they need to better choose their future career paths. For more information contact Chris Lear, Forest Education Manager, COFI Northern Operations by e-mail: lear@cofi.org or by phone (250) 564-5136 |
For more information contact David Litchfield, Director, Japan Operations by e-mail: litchfield@cofi.org or by phone 813-5401-0531 |
The tour provided COFI staff the opportunity to meet with northern mayors, councils, chamber of commerce and region district representatives to highlight the new COFI structure, review some of the major issues facing the forest industry such as the Softwood Lumber Dispute, Forest Policy Changes and the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic as well as discuss forestry issues specific to each community. In addition to meeting community leaders, the tour provided an opportunity to visit member company operations in Fort Nelson, Fort St. John and Chetwynd to familiarize members with COFI's new structure and the northern operations' forest education program and budget for 2004. One of the forest education highlights of the tour was visiting Toad River School located some 200 km north west of Fort Nelson on the Alaska Highway and meeting the teachers (2) and students (24) in this the most northern school serviced by our education program. Another highlight was hosting an appreciation luncheon in Fort Nelson for the teachers and students who worked together with COFI and Slocan Polarboard to produce our new teaching resource video "The Making of OSB". In recognition of their work, Chris Lear presented the teachers, students and Slocan Polarboard each with a plaque. In addition, Chris presented Dianna Samchuck, Superintendent of School, and Scott Stephenson, Fort Nelson Secondary School media teacher, with a $500 scholarship cheque for students in the high school media production course. |
|
 Everyone’s attention will be focused on Washington, D.C. on February 25, 2004 as the NAFTA Panel on "Injury" holds a further hearing on the decision of International Trade Commission in the Spring 2001 that Canadian Lumber exports represented a "threat" of injury going forward. If Canada wins this appeal then the subsidy and dumping cases will effectively collapse and the litigation will end. Meanwhile, Canada’s Trade Minister, the Honorable Jim Peterson, continues to work hard to develop a Canadian counter proposal to the December 6, 2003 Department of Commerce proposal for settlement. The three main outstanding issues are: lack of a clear path to free trade; the percentage allocation of deposits; and, the quota allocation amount between Canada and the U.S. Quota allocation issues within Canada are also problematic. For more information please see the following websites: BC Lumber Trade Council: www.bclumbertrade.com Government of Canada: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eicb/softwood/menu-en.asp Government of BC: www.for.gov.bc.ca/HET/softwood/index.htm |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 The long awaited Cabinet shuffle will certainly impact the forest sector. The Premier has clearly made a decision to add horsepower to the economic side of his government adding three Ministers of State with economic portfolios. We anticipate that this will have positive impacts on the needs of forestry in BC. While Forest Minister Mike de Jong retains his position he is getting help in the form of Skeena MLA Roger Harris as Minister of State for Forestry Operations. Roger is well known as the former Chair of the Northern Caucus and someone who through experience in the sector will be a welcomed additional voice able to speak to our issues around the Cabinet table. His forest sector career saw him working in a number of operational positions with MacMillan Bloedel and as a board member for Local 1-71 of the IWA. He then started his own phase logging contract business in the Charlottes. He is to focus on assuring that regional differences are reflected in the execution of new forest policy. Another MLA known to many in the interior industry has enjoyed a promotion. Pat Bell, Prince George North MLA, gets the nod as the Minister of State for Mining. Pat has been a welcomed advocate for our industry on many occasions and will add another knowledgeable voice dealing with resource issues at the Cabinet table. The new Minister of Sustainable Resource Management, another portfolio with many impacts on our sector, is George Abbott who we first met and worked with as the forest critic during the NDP regime. George has maintained his working relationships with many people in the industry and has a proven track record of wanting to work with our industry. Bill Barisoff, MLA for Penticton-Okanagan Valley, will also now have duties relating to forestry as the new Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection. While Minister of Revenue he did not interact with the industry to a great degree but we are confident that his track record for consultation will mean we will have a willing listener in this important portfolio. While there are other changes that will impact in varying ways on the forest industry those listed above are the most obvious. For more information see the province of BC website: http://www.gov.bc.ca |
||||||||||||||||||
