A New Era - Truck Loggers Association

Transcription

ILA’s 56TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW — May 8, 9 & 10 ]
www.tla.ca
[ INSIDE
Spring 2014
A New Era,
A New President
Great Bear Rainforest Agreement:
Creating Certainty on the Mid-Coast?
Forest Industry Adamant:
ABS Exemption Is Necessary
Union Negotiations:
Taking a Look at All the Angles
Spring 2014 Truck LoggerBC 1
880 LOGGER
For extreme duty shovel logging, consider the Tigercat 880. It is purpose designed and built from the ground up to
address the specific requirements of coastal logging applications.
With high horsepower, efficient hydraulics and Tigercat’s unique energy recovery swing system, performance and
fuel efficiency are unmatched in the industry.
The 880 is an operator’s dream with clear sightlines, smooth,
precise, responsive controls and well thought out component
layout for quick and painless maintenance routines.
Contact your Tigercat dealer today to find out more about the
efficiency and performance of the 880 logger.
Shovel. Process. Load.
Corporate Head Office Burnaby BC, 604-291-6021
Campbell River, BC
250-287-8878
Kamloops, BC
250-374-4406
Penticton, BC
250-492-3939
Vernon, BC
250-545-4424
Cranbrook, BC
250-426-6205
Langley, BC
604-607-8555
Prince George, BC
250-562-8171
Williams Lake, BC
250-392-7101
Fort St. John, BC
250-785-6105
Nanaimo, BC
250-758-5288
Quesnel, BC
250-992-7256
Whitehorse, YT
867-668-2127
www.parkerpacific.com
2 Truck LoggerBC Spring
2014
519.753.2000
[email protected]
www.tigercat.com
www.facebook.com/Tigercat
CONTENTS
SPRING 2014 Volume 37 Number 1 www.tla.ca
30
Columns & Departments
7
8
TLA President’s Message
Preparing for the New Era
Don Banasky
TLA Executive Director’s Message
Wanted: 6,500 Able-Bodied People
Dwight Yochim
10 Interior Logging Association’s Message
ABS Brakes: Continuing the Fight
Wayne Lintott
13 Central Interior Logging Association’s Message
Busy Winter, Busier Spring
Scott Hamilton
14 North West Loggers Association’s Message
The Two Sides of Natural Resource Development
Bill Sauer
16 Business Matters
Gambling in the Forest Industry: The Kenny Rogers’ Principle
James Byrne
18 Safety Report
Forest Industry Adamant: ABS Exemption is Necessary
Jean Sorensen
20 Market Report
The Super-Cycle is Approaching: But When? And to What Effect?
Kelly McCloskey
34
38
27 56th Annual Conference of the Interior Logging
Association: Associations Working Together
Minister Steve Thomson
Cover
34 A New Era, A New President
Hans Peter Meyer
Features
22 Great Bear Rainforest Agreement:
Ian McNeill
30 Forestry’s Back: Re-tool. Re-Capitalize. Re-Hire.
Kelly McCloskey
38 Mill Closures and Timber Swaps:
What Does It Mean for BC’s Interior?
Robin Brunet
43 Good Things Come In Threes:
Training, Partnerships and Spotted Owl
Friendly Logging
Brenda Martin
48 Union Negotiations: Taking A Look At All Angles
Sandra Bishop
54 Reducing WorkSafeBC Premiums Starts with You
Cover photo: Hans Peter Meyer
Dwight Yochim
A&A TRADING LTD.
Forestry Management and Marketing
Interior Logging Association
2013 – 2014 Board of Directors
Chairman Reid Hedlund
Don Banasky
First Vice Chairman Randy Spence
Jacqui Beban
Bill Markvoort Second Vice Chairman Len Gudeit
Past Chairman Ed Smith
Dwight Yochim
Directors Terry Brown
Ted Beutler
Lee Callow
Dave McNaught
Dennis Cook
Lukas Olsen
John Drayton
Clint Parcher
Randy Durante
Mike Richardson
Matt Edmondson
Barry Simpson
Frank Etchart
Doug Sladey
Scott Horovatin
Matt Wealick
Jeff Kineshanko
Associate Directors George Lambert
Hedley Larson
Tim Lloyd
Bill McDonald
Brian Mulvihill
Burns Thiessen
Ed Petersen
General Manager Wayne Lintott
Editorial Board Jacqui Beban
Administration Nancy Hesketh
James Byrne
Jim Girvan
Scott Hamilton
Wayne Lintott
3204 - 39th Avenue
Brenda Martin
Vernon, BC V1T 3C8
Bill Sauer
President
Vice President
Past President
Executive Director
Industrial Directors
Proven 25 year track record of maximizing timber values
9
Professional Foresters
Development capital at attractive rates
Strong customer base in domestic and export markets
Accurate market price forecasting
Detailed planning and budgeting process to
ensure performance
VANCOUVER
1210 - 1111 Melville Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V6
T: 604-684-2107 F: 604-689-0977
E: [email protected]
The Truck Loggers Association
2014 Executive & Directors
Tel: 250.503.2199 Fax: 250.503.2250
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.interiorlogging.org
SECHELT
5083 Bay Road, Sechelt, BC V0N 3A2
T: 604-740-0603 F: 604-689-0977
CAMPBELL RIVER
207 - 1100 Island Highway, Campbell River, BC V9W 8C6
T: 250-287-0143
SPRING 2014 / VOLUME 37 / NUMBER 1
Heading down an unhealthy path?
Editor Brenda Martin
Contributing Writers Don Banasky
Sandra Bishop
Robin Brunet
James Byrne
Scott Hamilton
Wayne Lintott
Kelly McCloskey
It’s not too late to change direction.
The road to better health
We care about
the health of your
employees. That’s
why we’ve introduced
a new health
resource site called
My Good Health.
Full of valuable
health information,
it will help your
employees get on the
road to better health.
For editorial information, please contact the Truck Loggers Association:
Tel: 604.684.4291
Email: [email protected]
For advertising, please contact Advertising In Print:
Tel: 604.681.1811
Truck LoggerBC magazine is published four times a year by the Truck
Loggers Association, with content and support from the Interior
Logging Association, the Central Interior Logging Association and
the North West Loggers Association. Its editorial content seeks to
reflect issues facing the industry and to provide readers with current
information on B.C.’s forest industry. All rights reserved.
Advertising Sales & Design Layout office:
Advertising In Print
200 - 896 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2P6
Tel: 604.681.1811. Fax: 604.681.0456
Publication Mailing Agreement No. 40010419.
For subscriptions, contact [email protected] or 604.684.4291.
Send change of address notices
and covers of undeliverable copies to:
0385.007 03/11
4 Truck LoggerBC Spring 2014
CUPE 1816
Ian McNeill
Hans Peter Meyer
Bill Sauer
Jean Sorensen
Steve Thomson
Dwight Yochim
The Truck Loggers Association
Suite 725-815 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6C 1B4 E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 604.684.4291
Fax: 604.684.7134
Website: www.tla.ca
from the Editorial Board DESK...
W
elcome to the spring 2014 issue of Truck LoggerBC!
It’s hard to believe the 2014 TLA convention has
come and gone. It was great having it back in Vancouver and I
hope everyone enjoyed themselves!
In this issue, we cover a lot of topics. Here’s three I’d like to
highlight. We address the negative impacts of ABS brakes on
logging truck safety and the need for a full exemption from
BC’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement agency.
James Byrne talks about his “Kenny Rogers’ Principle” and the
difficulties faced when companies that can’t make ends meet
go bankrupt while owing suppliers significant amounts of
money. Dwight Yochim explains how the forest industry can
get injured workers back to work quicker and can keep WorkSafeBC premiums down based on a WorkSafeBC presentation
given at the convention.
We also have some interesting feature articles. One discusses the new Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, how it will
impact logging on the mid-coast and if it will provide stability
to our members. Another has three good news forestry stories wrapped up in one cutblock—industry partnerships, First
Nations training and spotted owl friendly logging. This is the
kind of story we need to tell as an industry. Then, as the Coast
Master Agreement is set to expire June 14, 2014, we also re-
view some of the recent settlements in BC. Can the coast afford the same agreements and can the licensees, contractors or
employees afford a strike?
Here are some important dates to remember so please mark
your calendars!
• Interior Logging Conference May 8,9,10 in Vernon
• TLA Golf Tournament June 13 at Crown Isle in Courtenay
I would like to congratulate Don Banasky on his new role as
TLA President. Have a read through our special feature on Don
to learn more about the new TLA President. I would also like
to welcome our two new TLA board members, Mike Richardson and Ted Beutler. Both of them bring excellent knowledge,
experience, and commitment to our industry and association.
We look forward to having you both on the board.
As always, we hope you enjoy our magazine and find it informative. If you have any feedback or comments, please contact
Brenda Martin, Director of Communications, at 604.684.4291
Ext 2 or [email protected].
Jacqui Beban,
Nootka Sound Timber Co. Ltd
Editorial Board Chair
The TLA Welcomes Two New Members to the Board of Directors
T
ed Beutler, the owner of
Aggressive Timber Falling,
joined The Truck Loggers Association as a board member at
the TLA annual general meeting in January.
“Forestry has traditionally
been a primary employer in
Nanaimo,” said Beutler. “It provides quality, high caliber jobs with wages families can
build a life on. Nanaimo has diversified its economy over
the years but forestry is still a prominent employer.”
Beutler is always on the look-out for certified, professional fallers, but “they are continually more difficult to
find” he says. “One area I’d like to focus on with the TLA
is recruitment and training. If there is one common denominator across the industry, it’s the thousands of employees we need to attract and train in the next 10 years
to replace the existing forestry workforce.”
“We’re glad to have Ted join our Board of Directors,”
said Dwight Yochim, TLA Executive Director. “Ted’s interest in training and recruitment is very timely. We’ve
just completed our labour market analysis and we’ll need
5000-7000 new coastal forest workers in the next decade.”
M
ike Richardson, managing
partner in Tsibass Construction, joined The Truck Loggers Association as a board member at the TLA AGM in January.
“Campbell River is the Forestry Capital of the World. You
look at the logging trucks going
by and you know the work has
been steady,” said Richardson. “Inland Kenworth, Fountain Tire and Kal Tire have all recently re-invested in
their Campbell River operations and each of these companies is dependent on the forest industry.”
“Mike brings a special set of skills to the table with
him,” said Dwight Yochim. “His experience working
with First Nations forestry companies and his knowledge of the industry in general make him a real asset to
the TLA’s Board of Directors.”
Richardson will be sitting on the TLA’s Aboriginal Affairs committee because of his work with First Nations
before joining Tsibass. Richardson worked with Iisaak
Forest Resources for 20 months to build their business
capacity and with Taan Forest to get their forest licence
off the ground in Haida Gwaii.
FELL MORE
INDUSTRY LEADING
LIFT CAPACITY
STRONGEST SWING DRIVE
SYSTEM AVAILABLE
CAT© 541 SERIES 2
FELLER BUNCHER
HEAVY-DUTY CAT
UNDERCARRIAGE
CAT© C9 306 HP
TIER 3 ENGINE
The Cat 541 Series 2 Feller Buncher features smoother hydraulic
performance, better fuel economy, a more comfortable operator station
and better visibility. The safe walk ways allow for easy access to all
components, while the simple two pump system with fewer hydraulic
lines and best-in-class high draw bar final drives ensure maximum
productivity.
To learn more about this machine or any of the Cat forestry product line,
contact your Finning sales rep today.
Don Banasky
TLA President’s MESSAGE
preparing for the new era
I
believe our industry is ready for
change on many levels. The theme
of the 71st Truck Loggers Association
Convention & Trade Show was all about
a “new era” in the business of logging.
I see that new era unfolding every day.
Here are five areas of change I will focus
on during my term as President.
However, before I begin, I want to
acknowledge a great change that has
already happened. I’m happy to welcome Jacqui Beban as the first female
Vice-President in TLA history. Jacqui, a
partner in Nootka Sound Timber, brings
a lot of experience and passion to the
executive. She’s part of the team that will
help the TLA thrive in this new era of
opportunity.
Changing Relationships
Relationship building within the logging industry is critical for movement
on key industry issues. I want to acknowledge Immediate Past President,
Bill Markvoort, and TLA Executive
Director, Dwight Yochim, for spurring
discussions with other industry associations in 2013 and forming the Council of
Forest Contractors of British Columbia.
This new council has already yielded results and we continue to form alliances
on mutual issues that will help us move
forward on major industry policies and
initiatives.
Changing Safety
As those of you who were at the convention know, I’m passionate about safety.
A fresh angle on safety was discussed at
the BC Forest Safety Council workshop,
“Safety: Human Factors—Keeping Your
Head In The Game,” held during the TLA
convention. The workshop focused on
giving employees the skills and resources
to get the chaos out of their personal
and working lives and focus on the job
at hand. Minimizing personal chaos and
developing better communication skills
are very cost effective ways to improve
on-the-ground safety and, as a result,
your bottom line. For more information
about this program, contact Peter Sprout
at [email protected].
Changing Our Lobby
The TLA lobby effort is always changing as we hear from our members about
what is affecting their businesses. As
things stand now, I plan to focus on the
following during my term as president:
• Better financial protection for our
members through developing a
funding mechanism for the Forest
Service Providers Protection Act.
• Recruitment and training for the
5000-7000 forestry workers needed
on BC’s coast by 2022. Dwight goes
into much more detail on this in
his Executive Director’s Message on
page 8.
• Partnership building with First
Nations communities that are
joining the forest industry. The
Forestry 101 and Forestry 102
workshops held at our convention
were overwhelmingly successful.
These workshops explained to First
Nations and community leaders the
risks and opportunities in acquiring
a licence to harvest and the practical steps needed to make a forestry
operation successful. Audio recordings and PowerPoint presentations
are available at www.tla.ca.
• Balanced and scientific application of the Species at Risk Act in
light of the Federal court decision
in February to ensure minimized
economic impact on BC coastal
communities.
• Fair negotiating standards and
reasonable rates for forest contractors. While we had reports of things
improving last fall, it appears some
contractors are still experiencing
unfair negotiation tactics.
Changing Our Image
Get involved. Let’s re-brand this industry. I don’t need to tell you that our
industry has a public perception issue.
The TLA is working to increase our pro-
file with government, stakeholders and
the public by getting the positive stories
of our industry to media, schools and
households. Whether you’re actively
involved in a TLA committee or not, I
challenge you to help spread the news
about this industry—your industry. The
good news is that we have lots of positive information to share.
Changing Faces
I’m encouraged to see more contractors
getting involved in the TLA board and
in committee work. I applaud you for
doing so. The TLA is a great place to
learn and a great place to impact policies
that affect the future of our businesses. I
encourage all of you to get involved. If
you’re not sure where your skills would
be most useful, contact me and we can
talk about it. While new faces are critical, we also have “strength in our roots.”
Our past presidents represent a wealth
of knowledge and keeping them engaged gives our industry an extremely
powerful resource.
As I step into my term as TLA
President, I feel lucky. I’m inheriting a
great team in the TLA board, committees and staff. I’m also inheriting many
positives. Our workplaces are much
safer than they’ve ever been and we’re
building a culture of safe practices. Our
industry is a place where workers can
learn valuable technical skills. Our industry pays well and is becoming more
stable than ever. Ours is an industry to
take pride in: the forest industry is the
only renewable and sustainable resource
industry. In short, as we move into this
“new era” we represent a noble industry
we can take pride in.
Finally, let me steal from Bill
Markvoort’s introductory President’s
Message when I say: “Let’s have a great
year. Call me if you have something you
want to discuss.”
Don Banasky, President, TLA
Tel: 250-714-6670
Dwight Yochim
TLA Executive Director’s MESSAGE
Wanted:
6,500 Able-Bodied People
O
ne of the biggest issues facing
almost every industry in BC is
a labour shortage. The TLA is hard at
work finding solutions for BC’s coastal
logging industry.
Now that the BC Forest Sector Labour
Market & Training Needs Analysis is
complete, we have started building a
strategy. In early March, licensees and
contractors from the coastal industry
met to bring their thoughts and issues
to the table. As the meeting progressed,
it was clear that an industry wide communication strategy was needed to not
only attract people to our industry but
to show coastal communities just how
sustainable forestry really is. We need
to make sure people know forestry is
a fantastic industry to work in and the
rewards go beyond just a pay cheque.
One idea that came out of the meeting
was industry coordinated recruitment
through a BC coastal jobs website where
we can promote the different types of
careers there are in forestry as well as
where to get the training. If the industry
works together, we can promote jobs
and education opportunities through
this one-stop-shop. It would give the
industry an easily promotable portal to
share with school counsellors, job centres and the public in general.
Another issue discussed was whether
the industry could attract enough people locally or whether we needed to look
more broadly to the rest of BC, Canada
or even internationally. The preference
was still to attract, train and employ
people from local coastal communities
including First Nations. Ours isn’t the
only industry facing a labour shortage
though and there will be fierce competition for workers. However, if we focus
on hiring locally, we offer the ability to
stay on the coast rather than travel to a
job far away from family.
In mid-March, we held another
strategy-building meeting, this time
with post-secondary institutions. The
goal was to share with education providers what industry needs from them.
It was a positive meeting and some good
information came out of it. One idea
generated was getting a woodlot license
where the woodlot would be strictly for
training forest engineers, road builders and loggers. Another idea was the
concept of a logging contractor whose
sole role was to train. They would have
a different rate and be focused purely on
training various positions on a logging
crew rather than purely on production.
With these meetings behind us, there
is still a great amount of work to do to
build a strategy. But we are holding feet
to the fire and while the strategy isn’t due
to be released until April, work has already begun on its implementation with
the formation of an industry steering
committee. We know time is of the essence. There is much work to do in order
to attract and train our new workforce.
Any time I travel around and talk to
members, I’m reminded of the importance of this work. Members tell me
they are as busy as they want to be and
can’t take on any more work. Some are
already indicating they are short staffed.
The TLA is also working with the rest of
industry to try and maximize the AAC
on the coast and, if we are successful,
that means more work for loggers. That
is opportunity knocking for those looking for work. Are we ready to answer the
door? At this point, I’d have to say no.
But we’re working hard at it.
I know almost everyone knows these
numbers, but I’ll say them again anyway.
The BC Forest Sector Labour Market &
Training Needs Analysis report, now
available on our website, shows that
by 2022 we will need approximately
6,500 new employees. That means each
year between now and 2022 we need
to attract and train more than 800 new
coastal loggers. No small task. 95 per
cent of this is replacement of retiring
baby boomers and the other 5 per cent
is growth. However, I think the growth
projection, especially on the coast, is
low.
Where do we need these people? In
every single part of the coastal forest
industry, from fallers to logging truck
drivers. We are already seeing shortages
in forest engineers (RPFs and RFTs) as
well as log scalers and machine operators. We will soon be desperately short
of many other positions and will see a
negative impact on logging operations if
something isn’t done about it soon.
We need to work together as an industry and you have a role to play. Do you
know of someone who would be suitable
for a career in forestry? Are you talking
up the industry when you have the opportunity? Would you encourage your
sons or daughters to consider a forestry
career? Do you have an opening in your
own company and are you willing to
train someone new to do the job?
I have enjoyed a career in forestry for
three decades now and it has taken me
all over the US, to Europe and Russia. It
has been a rewarding and exciting career
and as a result I have encouraged my
own daughter to consider the industry.
She is currently enrolled in the scaling
program at North Island College. Come
June she may be knocking on your door
as one of BC’s newly minted licensed
scalers. I hope we can continue to attract more youth to our industry so as
we baby-boomers continue to exit the
industry we can leave it in the hands of
others we have trained and mentored.
Dwight Yochim, RPF, Executive Director, TLA
Tel: 604.684.4291 Ext 1.
In Full SwIng.
As the world’s largest independent John Deere Construction & Forestry dealer,
Brandt knows that forestry means business. We have the best service support in
the industry, and our strength starts with our equipment – like the John Deere
2154D Forestry Swing Machine. With greater reach and lift for more control, and a
hydraulic system designed to provide maximum attachment performance and
speed – it’s a harvesting package that’s tough to beat. And with 27 branches
located across Canada, Brandt’s uncompromising commitment to after-sales
support is tough to match. That’s Powerful Value. Delivered.
REBATES!
Brandt is celebrating $1billion in
annual revenue and we’re thanking
our customers by offering special
rebates throughout the year.
Visit thanksabillion.ca for details.
brandt.ca 1-888-2BRANDT
Wayne Lintott
Interior Logging Association’s MESSAGE
ABS Brakes:
Continuing the Fight
O
nce again Vernon will host this
year’s ILA Annual Conference
and Trade Show on May 8, 9 and 10.
The theme for our 56th conference is
“Associations Working Together.”
We’re holding some excellent informational sessions on Friday and Saturday. Come learn about the industry and
network with other forest contractors.
Here’s what we’ll be talking about:
• Bullying & Harassment in the
Work Place
Presenter: Lisa Houle, Industry
Specialist (Forestry), WorkSafeBC
• Friday Luncheon
Guest Speaker: Minister Steve
Thomson, Ministry of Forests,
Lands and Natural Resource
Operations
• Prime Contractor –
Roles & Responsibilities
Presenters: Gerard Messier, Training and Development Manager,
BC Forest Safety Council; Bjarne
Nielsen, Senior Regional Officer,
WorkSafeBC
Photo: ILA
• Incident Investigation –
Essential Skills
Presenter: Gerard Messier, Training and Development Manager, BC
Forest Safety Council
• Surviving the Next Recession
Moderator: Jim Girvan, RPF, MBA,
MDT Ltd.
• Environmental Spill Kit Training
& Regulations
Presenter: Robert Graziotto, Sales
Manager, Western Equipment Ltd.
This year 63 companies will set up inside display booths at our trade show
in the Vernon Curling & Athletic Club
for viewing on Friday and Saturday. The
trade show is open to all attending and
the general public. There is no charge to
attend the trade show—everyone is welcome!
Other highlights this year include the
Western Night Dinner & Dance featuring Lee Dinwoodie and his band, the
Canadian Women in Timber’s silent
auction as well as the ILA annual gen-
eral meeting. I’d also like to take this
opportunity to thank our co-sponsors
and suppliers for helping and supporting this year’s conference. The conference couldn’t happen without you!
Moving on to another important
topic, there is an article about ABS
brakes, driver safety and our continued
lobby effort on page 18 of this issue of
the magazine. A further article will be
published in the next issue of the Canadian Forest Industries magazine. Both
articles speak directly to our concerns
regarding ABS brakes on logging trucks
in British Columbia. The ILA, CILA
and BC Forest Safety Council and local forest contractors met with CVSE
and ABS manufacturers in February at
Inwood Logging Shop in Quesnel. All
concerns where addressed at the meeting and we are awaiting a final summary report from CVSE. We have also
been in contact with Transport Canada
but they continue to insist that this is
a provincial exemption concern not a
Transport Canada one.
If you have any concerns or comments on
ABS brakes, please give
me a call at 250.503.2199
or email me at wayne@
interiorlogging.org.
We look forward to
seeing you all at the
56th ILA Conference
and Trade Show so
mark your calendar and
join us for the three-day
event. For more information, check out the
registration form on
page 28 and 29 of this
magazine, call the ILA
at 250.503.2199 or visit
our website at www.interiorlogging.org.
THE
WAY
WE
WORK:
no.
1
MOMENTUM IS
EVERYTHING.
BUSINESS BANKING IS ABOUT A SHARED PERSPECTIVE.
Being headquartered in the West has its advantages. We know your
business environment better, understand local markets and make timely decisions.
More importantly, we can work closely with you to find solutions perfectly suited to
your business banking needs. Learn more at theworkingbank.ca.
Insurance policies
are not all the same
Your TLA equipment and liability programs
have been customized exclusively for TLA
members.
The program offers:
• The most comprehensive coverage
available
• The most competitive rating available
• Enhancements only available to
members
To learn more about your exclusive TLA
membership, contact us today.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc. (JLT Canada) is part of the Jardine Lloyd Thompson
Group plc (JLT), one of the world’s largest providers of insurance, reinsurance and
employee benefits related advice, brokerage and associated services.
JLT is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and owns offices in 39 territories with some
9000 employees. Supported by the JLT International Network, it offers risk management
and
benefit Spring
solutions
12 employee
Truck LoggerBC
2014 in 135 countries.
Peter Pringle
Managing Director
Direct
250 413 2712
Cellular 250 361 5702
[email protected]
Steve Hicks
Senior Vice President
Direct
250 413 2723
Cellular 250 588 1410
[email protected]
Jardine Lloyd Thompson
Canada Inc.
Suite 350
4396 West Saanich Road
Victoria, BC V8Z 3E9
Phone 250 388 4416
Toll Free 888 216 8018
Fax
250 388 9926
www.jltcanada.com
Scott Hamilton
Central Interior Logging Association’s MESSAGE
Busy Winter, Busier Spring
I
t’s been a busy winter season for
CILA loggers, truckers and suppliers as the demand for lumber and
other forest products continues to
strengthen in the United States.
One of our biggest challenges is
fending off efforts by other resource
industries, most notably oil, gas and
mining, to lure skilled machine operators away from logging and log hauling. Based on the Forest Products
Association of Canada (FPAC) Vision
2020 report, we will need to renew the
national forestry workforce with at
least 60,000 new recruits including
women, Aboriginals and immigrants
by 2020. Mining alone believes they
need 16,000 in northern BC during
the same period.
The focus moving forward must be
retention and attraction. Some contractors have come up with innovative
ways to keep their best operators. But
there’s no escaping the fact that the
higher wage scale in other industries
is a big attractor. Mining, oil and gas
need to work with forestry and vice
versa as we are all drawing from a similar labour pool and if we continue in
our current direction no one will win!
We educate, coach, advise our kids
about the important role teamwork
plays in success—our industries can
and must do the same.
Finding ways to retain good workers
should be the first line of defense in
keeping businesses running smoothly
for two reasons. First, your current
workers are a known commodity—
you know their strengths and they
know your machines and operation.
Second, recruiting takes time and can
be costly, and too often a contractor
finds his new replacement operator
doesn’t have the same skill level as the
one who left. So take a look at what
you are offering your staff, discuss
benefit options, physical fitness
options, pension ideas, scheduling
issues and keep an open mind. Taking
10 minutes a week to think about your
employees is well worth it when compared to the 20 to 40 hours it will take
to replace them—if you even can.
The CILA has also focused a lot of
attention on identifying training needs
that include actual industry experience.
These strong training programs have
been developed through the CILA over
the last three years. Our focus has been
on physical training programs while
developing the learning materials
around machinery and introductory
material for immigrants to ensure a positive work environment.
Our training program, FIRST Logger,
has worked very well; although it is
baby steps when compared to the huge
logging industry labour requirement! It
is important to note that all the students
who attended the program have found
work in the logging industry.
• 46 students were successfully
trained as heavy equipment operators (HEO)
• 30 students completed the class 1
driver program
• Six HEO students are currently in
training
• Five students are currently in the
class 1 driver program
The interest in the FIRST Logger
program has not slowed down at all—
in fact, we’re receiving more and more
calls each day.
Our call to the logging industry is to
tell your local MLA and or MP that
this type of program works and push
them to support continued funding.
The federal budget has indicated support. It is now keeping the program up
and running in a usable manner that
should be our goal.
For our logging members, keeping a
steady flow of logs going to mills is
another challenge. There are environmental issues (snow and timber size) as well as
ever changing maintenance requirements
(ABS brakes and trailer configurations)
that challenge loggers daily.
Unusually deep snow has hit productivity by as much as 30 per cent for
some contractors and cranked fuel
costs up by 15 to 20 per cent. Several
mills have deep snow allowances and
rate adjustments imbedded in their
logging contracts, but some still do
not. It’s an area of rate structure that
must be addressed. Ever smaller piece
size also cuts heavily into productivity,
costing fuel and time to get more of
these smaller logs to roadside and
onto trucks.
Sticking with truck issues, we
remain involved in the antilock braking system debate. This quite honestly
is a safety issue. Studies have supported that vacuum pods do not hold
up in the rough terrain logging trucks
operate in. Industry is now involved
and reviewing their products plus the
CVSE (Commercial Vehicle Safety and
Enforcement) is aware and involved.
You can read more about this situation
on page 18.
Through the winter, we’ve had a
steady flow of calls and conversations
from members about these and other
issues. As the weather warms, CILA
staff will be out to meet members. We
have such a broad variety of membership from logging operations to service industry (banking, accounting,
insurance etc.). Over the next two
months, we will be meeting our members one-on-one to systematically
identify and catalogue their top issues
and suggestions, and use these
thoughts to refine the services the
CILA offers.
Editorial Note:
Just before we went to print, on March 17,
MaryAnne Arcand, Executive Director of the
CILA, passed away. She was a force to be
reckoned with and made significant contributions to the forest industry both in Prince
George and provincially. She will be greatly
missed. On behalf of BC’s forestry community, our condolences to MaryAnne’s family,
friends and colleagues. We will keep her in
our thoughts and prayers. A full obituary for
MaryAnne will be printed in the summer
issue of Truck LoggerBC.
Bill Sauer
North West Loggers Association’s MESSAGE
The Two Sides of Natural
Resource Development
B
C is on the cusp of inviting all
manner of national and international investment in its pursuit to
develop its resource sector, including
wood products and LNG. We British
Columbians naturally applaud this
opportunity for long-term family-sustaining jobs, a revenue stream to support those services we deem mandatory,
and enhancement of our infrastructure.
However, as we have seen recently in the
forest sector, we need to ensure that
potential investors have both the intention and the ability to pay out the contracts they undertake with our citizens.
China is poised to pour substantial
money into Canada’s forestry sector,
with a series of companies seeking ways
to transform BC’s forests into products,
fuel and profit. Premier Christy Clark
has signed agreements that will allow
more lumber and wood products to flow
to China. BC First Nations are developing plans to use Chinese money and
markets to vastly expand their own forestry operations. The Lax Kw’alaams
First Nation is already in discussions
with private Chinese investors toward
building a pellet plant and sawmill here
in Terrace. As mentioned in previous
articles, approximately half the fibre in
the Pacific Northwest is too poor to
manufacture lumber. However, it can be
used to make pellets and a pellet plant
would make a sawmill a viable option.
In November 2013, a delegation from
Terrace City Council and the Kitselas
First Nation embarked on a trip to
China to woo Chinese investors. The
delegation visited the port city of Qinhuangdao, located on the north coast of
China. A memorandum of understanding was signed to sell a portion of the
2,400 acre Skeena Industrial Development Park located just south of Terrace
and within the Kitselas traditional lands.
The MOU is an initial step in exploring
a promising economic partnership. The
vision for the future is to have long-term
sustainable jobs using the natural
resources that are abundant in the area.
In 2011 another Chinese company,
Roc Holdings, purchased the West Fraser
Sawmill along with their associated timber licences that had been sitting idle
since 2007. Roc Holdings is a
family-owned company that owns more
than a dozen businesses in China,
ranging from concrete and steel
manufacturing to real estate. The glasshalf-empty-people looked at this offshore
purchase as another way the Asian market would access more of our trees to ship
overseas. These Chinese investors have
proven the pessimists wrong by initially
investing over 6 million dollars in retooling the sawmill with future expenditures
planned. Restarting the mill has created
over 50 new mill jobs, roughly 40 additional jobs in the harvest sector as well as
spinoff jobs within the community.
lars. In some instances all three levels of
government are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and stumpage.
Are there solutions to the annual litany of Canadians left holding the financial bag and not getting paid for work
done or services provided? The newly
formed Forestry Service Providers Protection Act has a compensation fund for
non-payment of harvesting services
performed after February 1, 2013. There
are some short comings—two of which
are the inability of sub-contractors to
access the fund and the lack of ongoing
funding. This Act, however, does not
exonerate the businessperson from
doing their due diligence by completing
a background check and financial history of the company with whom they
are considering a contract, not always
an easy task when dealing with foreign
corporations. Should foreign compa-
China is poised to pour substantial
money into Canada’s forestry sector.
Sometimes,
though,
Canadians
undertaking a contract with foreign
interests encounter financial hazards.
Along with the legitimate investors that
come to a community to enhance,
enrich and provide employment, come
those proverbial “suitcase loggers.”
These so-called entrepreneurs come into
the area, bid on timber sales, talk a good
story, make promises and convince a
logging contractor to go to work for
them. In order to legitimize their operations, they usually hire a local person to
be their superintendent or foreman. In
order to secure the timber sales, they
overbid the sale increasing the stumpage
payable to the government. Peter is used
to pay Paul and requests to extend payment terms are made. Eventually the
entire house of cards tumbles down,
with contractors and suppliers left holding the bag and owed thousands of dol-
nies doing business on Canadian soil be
mandated to provide financial surety in
some form to ensure that they satisfy
their portion of any contracts? This
lack of payment has already impacted
some members of the North West Loggers Association and we believe this
issue is therefore worthy of more discussion between other associations and
our government.
While we gladly invite investment to
our province, we need to ensure that the
profitability that foreign companies
envision are not made on the backs of
our fellow British Columbians.
James Byrne
Business Matters
Gambling in the Forest Industry:
The Kenny Rogers’ Principle
F
or many forestry businesses, there
is often no better advice than that
coined by Kenny Rogers in 1978: “You
got to know when to hold’em, know
when to fold’em, know when to walk
away and know when to run.” While
there has been much talk of significant
recovery in BC’s forest industry, some
companies are making decisions based
on potential economic success, a gamble
that has significant implications for
communities and the industry.
However, in business nothing is ever
certain and, in most cases, business
owners make calculated gambles. Various factors are pointing to recovery, but
that does not mean that it will happen,
and more specifically it does not mean
that success is certain for all businesses.
You, as a business owner, still need to
execute and pull everything together to
actually realize the opportunity and
turn your calculated gamble into profit.
Most forest business owners are good
at pulling everything together and producing a profit. But a few are not so good,
and their gambling losses are piling up.
Amongst all the positive economic
factors there have still been recent examples of forest industry businesses going
into creditor protection or just closing
the doors. Within the industry, we are
seeing some businesses stretching themselves because they have the expectation
that they will soon realize economic success. My opinion is that they are thinking, or worse, being told, that they are so
close to turning things around that they
need to just keep going. But success does
not always arrive and when the company
can no longer just keep going, a wake of
damage is left behind.
When a business stretches beyond its
means, management is trading on a
“hope” of success. Unfortunately, these
reckless few will leave local communities to figure out how to deal with unpaid
bills and wages.
The forest contracting sector within
BC is largely made up of locally-owned
and operated companies with close ties
to the community. Forestry companies
typically inject considerable dollars into
the community in the form of wages and
payments to local service-based companies. As a result, community businesses
want to support forestry companies as
they represent a good portion of their
business and are usually well run. However, there is a compounding negative
effect that results from supporting any
business that is unable to pay their bills.
Community businesses become unsecured creditors, so are at risk of losing
the most.
By expanding their financing base to
suppliers, forestry companies that are
gambling are now operating at a lower
cash requirement than their peers and
potentially attaining work based on the
belief that their operations are profitable
and sustainable. This starts a cycle—
they get the work, need more financing
from suppliers in order to complete it
and further extend themselves when
cash flow is still an issue. And they are
still only hoping that they will turn
things around.
The question becomes, why are local
businesses granting credit to distressed
companies? Why is anyone granting
credit? Because we’re Canadian and want
to help? Because we know the family that
owns the business and want to try and be
reasonable? There are a number of factors and there is no easy answer.
It is also apparent that companies that
are not meeting their obligations are
impacting the ability of other businesses
to realize a sustainable logging rate with
the major licence holders. Market rates
are potentially reduced from what is truly
sustainable, and we must also ask if operations are potentially compromised from
a safety perspective in an effort to make
low logging rates work. These are serious
comments. However, if rates are not supporting all the direct costs of the logging,
how are the associated safety requirements being properly satisfied by those
offering the lowest rate time after time?
The situation becomes even more
depressing and controversial when these
companies enter into financial protection
and the unsecured creditors and employees are left with 10 cents on the dollar.
Businesses and families are left to figure
things out in extremely difficult circumstances. Outstanding costs for suppliers
must be either be written off to stay competitive, or are potentially passed on to
other consumers.
There is no easy answer to these questions. Businesses are complex, financial
requirements are significant, and risks
are very high. But increasing demand
for forestry resources is not an indication that the risks businesses face are
being lowered. In fact, for businesses
not properly prepared and not properly
informed about their financial status,
the losses are actually getting larger and
larger.
Again, to steal a line from Kenny Rogers, “If you’re gonna play the game, boy,
ya gotta learn to play it right.”
James Byrne, BASC, MBA, CA, is MNP’s
Forestry Services Practice Leader for BC.
Tel: 250.753.8251
Email: [email protected].
Did you know?
When there is an injury at work, an employer must file that information with
WorkSafeBC within 3 days. Currently the forestry industry takes 21 days on
average. Prompt claim filing means the best outcomes for the injured
worker and the company, saving industry tens of millions of dollars in
costs. Safety is good business.
Learn more at www.bcforestsafe.org
Jean Sorensen
SAFETY REPORT
Forest Industry Adamant:
ABS Exemption Is Necessary
W
ayne Lintott, General Manager
of the Interior Logging
Association, is hoping that a recent
meeting between government and forest
industry representatives will lead to a
full exemption from anti-braking systems (ABS) on logging trucks travelling
both on and off highway roads.
Forest industry members met with
BC Ministry of Transportation and
Infrastructure staff and several ABS
representatives to discuss the growing
safety issues that federally legislated
ABS on logging trucks were causing
drivers. “ABS may help keep trucks on
the pavement but it doesn’t work in the
bush,” said Lintott.
A survey conducted by Seamus Parker
of FPInnovations of log haulers found
that 84 per cent of respondents felt the
ABS systems did not operate properly in
log hauling applications. The difficulties
are related to mud, dirt, ice and snow
plugging ABS sensors on the wheel while
the cables holding sensors in place are
subject to corrosion and other damage
in the bush environment. False warning
lights are common, but more serious
were incidents reported by drivers where
ABS interfered with the ability to engage
normal braking. Drivers have also reported incidents where the ABS valve has
blocked air to the service brake.
BC’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and
Enforcement (CVSE) agency has relaxed
the federal ABS rule and given a partial
exemption to ABS and automatic slack
adjuster compliance for trucks that
operate 55 per cent off-highway (based
on the greater time or distance between
inspections). The year-long exemption
that an owner can obtain and renew, applies to vehicles with a GVWR greater
than 10,000 pounds if manufactured on
or after April 1, 2000.
“We want a full exemption by the
CVSE—an exemption for all log haulers that transverse both industrial and
highway roads,” said Lintott.
Lloyd Inwood of Inwood Trucking
began questioning the effectiveness of
ABS on off-highway trucks eight years
ago and today would like to see a government exemption similar to what was
given federally to the heavy-hauling
(low bed) trucking sector and is also in
effect in the US as well.
“ABS is not a bad thing when it is
used in the conditions and the truck
configurations it was designed for,” said
Inwood. He’s not against the system but
questions its broad application moving
from general vehicle application into
specialized applications such a log hauling. “ABS has come out as one system
that fits all of North America,” he said.
BC log haulers experience ABS failure
on trailers as they are constantly connecting and disconnecting log trailers
in a dirty environment, allowing the
air system to be exposed to outside elements, such as dirt and mud, which adds
to the wear and tear. Also lending itself
to a malfunction in the trailer is the
TUG & BARGE
The HUB International Forestry Practice features specialized experience
and technical expertise in the ﬁeld. With our vast global resources and
solid local relationships - including underwriting authority for all lines of
coverage - the HUB International ofﬁces across BC are well-equipped to
handle forestry industry risks of all sizes.
G oo
ood Serv
d Company. Good People. G
ice.
T. 604.269.1941 E. [email protected]
www.westcoasttug.ca
single relay valve controlling multiple
axles, compared to one valve per axle as
seen on trailers prior to the introduction
of ABS. As Inwood points outs, many of
the configurations for implementation
on trailers have not been fully tested out
in BC forest industry conditions.
Users such as Inwood, who has had
several “close call” incidents, said that
when the system is redesigned it needs
to take into consideration both the
operating environment and the needs
of the equipment user. The merits that
make it useful for trucks that travel only
on a highway work against log haulers
who routinely traverse gravel and snowcovered roads and steep slopes.
“We know it doesn’t stop us faster on
gravel,” said Inwood. A June 1999 National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) study found that ABS increased
stopping distances on loose gravel by an
average of 22 per cent. ABS also doesn’t
reduce stopping in snow.
Dustin Meierhofer, Transportation and
Northern Safety Director for the BC Forest
Safety Council who attended the meeting,
said those manufacturers attending made
it clear that ABS was intended for “regular
day-to-day use and not industrial off road
use” and that was resulting in more “wear
and tear in daily use and required a lot of
servicing” for log haulers.
“When you have a safety system that
is seeing chronic failure it impacts safety
performance and the industry confidence in that system is eroded,” he said.
“What we collectively came away with
based on the conversation at the meeting was there is an issue with reliability.”
FPInnovations transportation researcher Seamus Parker said manufacturers at the meeting acknowledged
ABS was moving outside the scope of
its use. An FPInnovations review of the
design conducted over several decades
identified problems that could emerge
in rigorous bush application. Parker
said ABS manufacturers were “at least
open to trying to address the issue” and
FPInnovations has applied for funding
from WorkSafeBC to examine what and
where problems are occurring and determine some solutions in 2014. A pilot
project implementing some remedy
could occur in 2015.
Meritor WABCO, one of the ABS
manufacturers attending the meeting, is
also looking for solutions, said Michael
G. Lambie, the company’s marketing
manager, adding the manufacturer realizes the systems are being used outside
their original intent. “But, that doesn’t
mean we are going to fall down and not
help the industry.” He said engineers
attending the meeting are looking at different configurations.
CVSE’s Samuel Lam, PEng, and senior
vehicle engineer who attended the meeting called it “productive” but referred
further comment to a government
spokesperson. A media statement issued
by the Ministry of Transportation and
Infrastructure said: “The meeting last
week was good opportunity for trailer
manufacturers, industry representatives
and ministry experts to share information on braking systems for trailers. It
will take some time to review all the
information gathered at the meeting.
In the meantime, there are no proposed
changes planned.”
“Our problem is serious for us,” said
Lintott. “We need to focus on the safety
side of this issue. It is unsafe for the
truck driver not to know what braking
system is on and if it will work.”
Summit Trailer is your dealer for
BWS EZ-2-Load.
We also service and supply the
logging industry with all
SI Scale needs and logging
headache racks in both
aluminum and steel.
Authorized dealer in BC for:
1160 Commercial Way
Penticton, BC
t: 250.492.5445
www.summittrailer.ca
Kelly McCloskey
Market REPORT
The Super-Cycle is Approaching
But When? And To What Effect?
The premise underpinning the renewal theme of the 71st TLA convention—as contractors look to re-tool,
re-capitalize and re-hire—assumes stronger markets are ahead. Although there is no agreement on specific
timing, indicators that change is imminent are there—log shortages, increased housing development and
demand for logs. If we look to the stock market as a predictor, in the last year alone, Western Forest Products,
Mercer Pulp and Canfor are all up 50-60 per cent. But reality is often much more complex than that—so what
do our industry prognosticators, seers, and futurists say? Such was the way moderator Murray Hall, opened
his panel at this year’s convention. What follows is a summary of the presentations.
The Lumber Perspective
by David Elstone, Equity Research
Agreeing that the super-cycle is indeed
coming, David Elstone noted that it is
“no secret,” given the US housing recovery and awareness that there is going to
be a shortfall in Canadian lumber production. In fact, he notes that European
producers are already looking outward
for new markets and although they
haven’t infiltrated the US just yet, they
are moving rapidly into China and Japan.
Commenting on the many factors
that affect demand, Elstone notes that
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
there will be no super-cycle without
continued recovery in US housing
starts, which although rising, are still
half their 2005 peak. Fortunately, the
Chinese market has stood in the place
of absent US demand and it will continue to be important going forward.
Referencing lumber supply, Elstone
points to the mountain pine beetle epidemic and the availability of suitable
fibre. He notes that there isn’t a shortage
of fibre, but a lack of suitable timber
available for making lumber.
Service To All Makes
Kenwood 2-Way Radios
Protec Answering Service
24-hour Man Checks
Iridium Satellite Phones
Talkie Tooter Service
Satellite Powder Mag Alarms
Telus Cellular
Nortel Office Phones
Alarms Sales & Service
1-877-977-9207
www.nicomm.com
PH: 250-287-9207
[email protected]
1690 Island Highway, Campbell River
MEMBER OF
24/7
SERVICES
AVAILABLE
According to Elstone, the impact on
the BC coast lumber sector is less clear
because of the diversity of species logged
and their structural and non-structural
uses. Certainly, lumber species used in
framing will benefit in terms of prices
and volumes. Cedar is not as clear but
margins will improve as demand rises.
With respect to log supply, Elstone feels
the coast has the capacity for up to a billion board feet uplift but the question
remains, are there enough logs available
in the AAC, and what would be the cost
to access those logs? In sum, he expects
working to
MAXIMIZE
the value of
your timber, logs & lumber
LOG MARKETING
ADMINISTRATION
FINANCING
FORESTRY
AREA REPRESENTATIVES
Larry Spencer
Terry Basso RPF
Wayne Ouellette
Rod Powell
Paul McWilliams
Port Alberni
Campbell River
Chilliwack
Sechelt
Prince Rupert
FORESTRY & TIMBER DEVELOPMENT
Bill Markvoort, R.P.F.
John Iacoviello, R.P.F.
250.720.6263
250.203.3414
604.813.1430
604.220.0581
250.627.8733
LOG SALES
Jim Probyn
Everett Romain
Suite 350 - 601 Sixth Avenue., New Westminster, BC V3L 3C1
Telephone: 604.526.8545
coast lumber production to rise, but not
to past levels.
The Pulp and Paper Perspective
by Michel Valois, Vision Marketing
Michel Valois struggled to find a positive theme in his presentation. He points
out that instead of opening new mills,
BC has seen more closures over the last
20 years. Coastal mills are under pressure due to electrical price increases
and falling paper demand. At the same
time, the US is ahead of Canada in conversions of newsprint mills to packaging and tissue facilities.
Although the weaker Canadian dollar
has given a renewed advantage, Valois
said the changes are as much economic
as they are secular, people’s habits are
changing. In North America, domestic
demand for newsprint dropped by
almost 400 thousand tons last year and
will fall by another 400 to 500 thousand
tons over the next four years.
Increased standard of living in Asia
has resulted in huge demand for fibre
and tissue products. Competition is
going to come from South America,
where bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp
(BEKP) can be grown at unprecedented
rates. Projects underway in Brazil will
add 17 million tons of BEKP capacity to
the supply side by 2023.
To stay in the game, Canada has either
got to shape up or get shipped out, said
Valois. Your exit strategy is to either move
into value-added goods like dissolving pulp
or fluff, or close. It’s simple economics —
we have to strive for the low cost position.
The Log Market
by Al Deggan, Island Timberlands
Al Deggan started his presentation by
noting that logs aren’t dissimilar from
lumber and pulp and paper in terms of
market dynamic and market trends, but
what’s new is that they have become an
important and necessary component of
marketing forest products on the BC
coast. Without log exports, the coastal
industry—and the jobs and social values associated with them—would be
much diminished.
To understand how international log
markets work and why producers
respond the way they do, Deggan refer-
MARINE LIN K
TRANSPORTATION
Full Service Marine Transportation Specialists
enced four factors, noting that they are
often at odds with each other. First,
transportation and shipping costs,
which are being managed by employing
larger vessels and fewer ports of call.
Second, the strengthening US and Chinese currencies, which have created a
bigger spread between domestic and
international log prices. Third, the regulatory environment, notably the Russian
log export tax which has decreased their
exports by 60 per cent. Fourth, market
supply and demand, noting that there’s
a lot of wood in the world today and
with rising prices, supply is growing.
Deggan concludes by stating that the
BC coast represents only 10 per cent of
the softwood log exports so we’re not
drivers of the fluctuations noted above.
However, care must be taken as decisions by government (local and otherwise) can create or destroy log values in
an instant. As such, understanding
these factors and how best to respond to
them, is critical.
Buy the 2014-2015
Equipment Rental Rate Guide
BLU E BOOK
TODAY!
The Blue Book provides official
market rental rates for road building
and heavy construction equipment.
Published in partnership with the Ministry of
Transportation, Ministry of Forests, and the B.C.
Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association.
Used daily by thousands of professionals
in the construction and forestry business!
Order online at: www.roadbuilders.bc.ca
Creative, cost-effective, and efficient problem solving
in Marine Transportation.
[email protected]
www.marinelink.ca
B.C. R o a d B u i l d e r s a n d
Hea v y C onstructi on Association
# 3 0 7 – 8 6 7 8 Gree nall Avenue
Burnaby, B.C. V 5 J 3M 6
T: 604-436-0220 F: 604-436-2627
Photo: Moresby Consulting Ltd.
Great Bear Rainforest Agreement:
By Ian McNeill
I
t took two years of intensive
negotiations, but forest companies and environmentalists have
finally agreed on a formula for both
protecting habitat and harvesting
trees in the Great Bear Rainforest.
The “Final Joint Solutions Project Agreement on Implementation
of Ecosystem Based Management
in the Great Bear Rainforest” was
completed on January 28. It is, however, less an agreement than a set of
recommendations that still have to
be reviewed and approved by both
government and as many as 27 First
Nations communities living in the
affected territories. If approved,
it would lead to the protection of
70 per cent of the land base in a
6.4-million-hectare region on the
mainland coast. Both industry and
environmentalists appear pleased
with the results of the negotiations.
“There were two goals,” says Valerie Langer, Director of BC Forest
Campaigns for ForestEthics, one of
the non-governmental organizations
that participated in the negotiations
under the umbrella Rainforest Solutions Project. “One was maximizing
conservation while at the same time
minimizing the impact on timber
supply. I feel we hit on the most efficient way of doing that.”
She adds that ForestEthics and
other NGOs never sought to eliminate logging altogether. “There was
always an assumption that there would
be forestry, but we wanted to ensure
that it was done within a sustainable
framework that met both conservation
science goals and industry needs.” She
adds that the final set of recommendations represent a major milestone for
both industry and environmentalists.
“We got two parties that are usually at
war with each other to agree on an approach that’s fair to the forest industry
and fair to the forest,” she says. “We accomplished what a lot of people said 10
years ago we’d never be able to do.”
Ric Slaco, Vice-President and Chief
Forester for Interfor, who also served as
chair of the Coast Forest Conservation
Initiative, the industry group that hammered out the recommendations, said
that the “long and complex process”
that led to the recommendations will
lead to greater certainty for industry,
both in terms of harvesting and marketing into international markets where
the customer base is acutely sensitive to
concerns about wood origin and harvesting methods.
While the sense of relief is evident,
Slaco cautions and says it’s too soon to
start popping champagne corks. “It’s
important to remember that the Coast
Forest Conservation Initiative group
representing industry and the NGOs
are stakeholders that have provided a
set of recommendations to the decision makers, who in this case include
both the government and First Nations.
There will be a government-to-government process of assessment and
then they will decide what to put
into law in terms of land-use orders
or other instruments that government has at its disposal.” At the same
time, he says he remains optimistic.
“We certainly believe that both
government and First Nations want
to make this work,” he says.
Minister of Forests, Lands and
Natural Resource Operations Steve
Thomson says the recommendations have been received “very positively” by government and offered
his congratulations to the companies and NGOs “for their efforts and
finding solutions.” He added that
although a detailed appraisal of the
recommendations is still forthcoming, he hasn’t seen anything that
raises concerns.
“Nothing has come forward that
looks like a deal breaker,” he said,
adding that the work of reviewing
the recommendations with respect to
their financial and legislative implications as well as impact on other resource users, particularly with respect
to First Nations, is well underway.
“Some of these conversations were
started in anticipation of the report,
and we’re looking to complete the
process in a timely and efficient manner,” he said. “It’s in everybody’s interests to get this implemented because
it benefits communities and global
Photo: TLA Staff
“If it creates certainty there that’s great. I’m all for it because it’s extremely important to maintain
a working forest,” says Bill Markvoort of Probyn Log Ltd.
economies; my sense is that we are going
to be able to work through it all.”
If the recommendations do get approved in more or less their present form
he says the impact will be profoundly
positive on those who rely on forestry to
make a living at all levels on the north
coast. “I think it’s going to provide certainty for the operators and allow for
a level of activity in the region that is
going to support viable operations,” he
said. “That certainty and a harvest level
that is viable means that jobs in both
coastal and First Nations’ communities
are going to be maintained.”
Although numerous stakeholders are
looking forward to having the review
process completed as expeditiously as
possible, Art Sterrit, Executive Director
of Coastal First Nations, which represents
eight bands affected by the deal, says it’s
going to take some time for First Nations’
communities to digest the report.
“The recommendations have come
over here, but before we can speak out
they have to go to our technical people,”
he explained. “They will then turn them
over to the communities, who will then
determine how it impacts them, and
then it will work its way back to us, and
then we will be at the point where we
can make comments about whether or
not these guys have done something our
communities find acceptable or not.”
On the surface of it he says he hasn’t
seen any “major surprises” in the recommendations, “but there could be
problems in some communities, so we
don’t have a lot to say before that.” He
pointed to a number of issues relevant
to First Nations. Some have forest licenses themselves and they want to ensure that there isn’t anything in the recommendations that might deny them
the right to exercise those licences. The
First Nations’ review process will also
ensure that there isn’t anything in the
recommendations that results in tenure
being “scooped up” that a First Nation
might want.
And forestry rights and opportunities
are only part of it, he adds, pointing out
that conservation issues and preservation of habitat in which First Nations
can conduct traditional hunting and
gathering activities are just as relevant.
“We’ve talked about some people not
wanting their options limited with respect to activating tenure. On the other
side, we have some First Nations that
want more protection and we’re not sure
that has been put into this agreement
because a lot of that needs to be determined at the community level.”
While he says he’s confident First Nations can finish the work, doing so is going to take time. “Maybe we can get a
wrap by fall,” said Sterrit.
First Nations aren’t the only ones who
have lots of work to do following the
publication of the recommendations
says Western Forest Product’s Chief
Forester Shannon Janzen. “We’ve spent
a lot of time working on the framework
from an operational perspective, but in
the event the recommendations are accepted then the real work really starts,”
she says. Forestry companies not only
have to figure out how to maximize opportunities on a limited land base, but
how to do it equitably.
“Any agreement conducted at a high
level always has implementation translations. That’s a challenge and it’s a process
that can take a few years,” she says. “This
will be a collaborative exercise among
a group that are traditionally competitors.” However, she’s confident that industry leaders can work collaboratively
to find solutions, so long as everyone
going in maintains a baseline principle
of fairness.
“There are models for how to do this,
including industry working groups with
defined terms of reference,” she says.
“It’s going to be up to that group to have
the foresight and ability to apply the
principles to maximize access for the
entire industry.”
Despite the hard work ahead Janzen
says she’s pleased with the recommendations. “I think we landed in the right
spot, a spot that balances the unique
nature of the central coast land-use
plan and the objectives that were set
out in 2003, and we still have an opportunity for a viable industry that supports both communities and contractors, providing benefits to First Nations
and the province.”
Bill Markvoort of Probyn Log and
Past President of the TLA says that while
the recommendations are a highly technical document, “we’re under the assumption that this is a good thing.” The
recommendations appear to strike an
appropriate balance between the needs
of industry, environmentalists, and First
Nations, and that has always been the
goal of TLA policy.
“If it creates certainty there that’s
great. I’m all for it because it’s extremely
important to maintain a working forest,”
he says. However he adds that until the
recommendations do get transformed
into policy it will continue to be a nail
biter for some smaller companies that
were not part of the negotiating process,
including his own, which maintains a
harvesting division on the coast, Triumph Timber. “The issue for us is that
our one and only quota of 100,000 m3 is
on the north coast, and we cannot trade
it for security in another area. We’re going to live and die by what happens on
the coast, and if we are impacted in a
negative way then we’re in trouble.”
Nevertheless, like so many operators
that have lived through the difficulties
both domestic and international that
have bedeviled the industry in recent
years he remains optimistic. “We’re
gearing up,” he says.
TALL ORDERS
TAKEN DAILY.
NO ONE SERVES YOU BETTER
IN THESE PARTS.
Work with North America’s finest
forestry equipment and count on the
parts you need, when you need them.
No matter where you are. Sure, it’s a
tall order. But it’s one we’re equipped to
handle like never before.
The full line of service parts and
maintenance items for Pierce and
Denharco forestry products are available
to you without borders, without
customs, without delay. Guaranteed.
Talk to us today. For our Parts
Department call 800.824.3637.
We’re ready to live up to your high
expectations.
www.PIERCEPACIfIC.COM 800.760.3270
PORTLAND, OREGON EDMONTON, ALBERTA JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
56TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE
INTERIOR LOGGING ASSOCIATION:
ASSOCIATIONS
WORKING TOGETHER
By Minister Thomson
I
feel honoured to be writing in backto-back issues of Truck LoggerBC—
the previous issue in advance of the 71st
annual TLA convention—and this issue
in advance of the ILA’s 56th annual conference to be held in May.
I’m pleased to report that the economic outlook continues to be strong.
For 2013, the value of BC’s forest product exports increased to $11.6 billion
a 53 per cent increase from 2009; and
employment increased to 58,200 direct
jobs—a 13 per cent increase from 2009,
which was the worst year of the recent
global economic downturn.
While the short-term outlook continues to be positive, I know a major issue
of concern in the Interior is mid-term
timber supply. Ministry staff forecast
that harvest levels in the Interior will decline up to 20 per cent when compared
to pre-beetle cut levels.
Since 2001, this government has invested $917 million in mitigating the
economic and environmental impacts
of the mountain pine beetle infestation.
Most recently, in 2012, the MLA Special
Committee on Timber Supply conducted
public meetings in 15 communities and
reviewed over 650 written submissions
on the topic of mid-term timber supply.
In the end, they produced an unanimous
report with recommendations to enhance mid-term timber supply.
In fall 2012, I was proud to release,
Beyond the Beetle: A Mid-Term Timber
Supply Action Plan, which provided government’s response to the Special Committee’s recommendations. We decided
to implement all the recommendations.
Since the release of that latest action
plan, I’ve also announced a 10-year and
$80 million forest inventory strategic
plan. Under the inventory plan, ministry staff will be inventorying 35 million
hectares of mountain pine beetle impacted forests and other priority areas.
The action plan also commits to completing Type 4 silviculture strategies by
the end of March 31, 2014 covering over
23 million hectares of the Interior. These
strategies, which are collaboratively
developed by licensees across a timber
supply area, provide direction on timber harvesting schedules, landscape tree
species diversity and integration with
other forest management plans. They
will better inform decisions ministry
staff make on investments through the
Land Based Investment Strategy.
Other key components of the action
plan include new forest licences that
have been introduced to encourage utilization of low grade timber and provide jobs. BC’s wood pellet industry has
grown from 1.2 million tonnes in 2010
to 1.95 million tonnes in 2012. Both the
European Union and Asia like wood
pellets since they are viewed as an environmentally friendly heating source.
I look forward to the public engagement process on increasing the diversity of area-based tenures in British
Columbia. As many of you might be
aware, about 20 per cent of BC’s timber
harvesting land base is harvested under
area-based tenure, with 40 per cent harvested under long-term volume-based
tenures, 20 per cent harvested under
short-term volume-based tenures and
20 per cent harvested by timber sales
licences auctioned by BC Timber Sales.
Over the last year, there’s been speculation about what area-based management is or is not. Area-based management is not about privatization of public
forests. Area-based management is providing one licence holder with exclusive
timber harvesting rights, but not rights
to other resources. Whether a forest
licensee has an area-based licence or
volume-based licence, they must follow
the same laws and regulations with regard to environmental stewardship and
public rights and access.
The special committee’s recommendation 5.1 specifically mentions that
conversion to more area-based tenures
should give consideration to public
benefits, a licensee’s past performance,
commitment to sustainable forest management, and community and First Nations’ support.
What are the criteria that should be
considered? Ministry staff have come up
with an extensive list. I encourage you to
review the discussion paper and list of
criteria and provide your thoughts. The
discussion paper will be available online
at engage.gov.bc.ca/foresttenures.
British Columbia’s forests are a public
resource, and government sets the rules
and regulations based on public interest. I note that the theme for the Interior
Logging Association’s convention this
year is “Associations Working Together.”
I agree that we all need to continue to
work together to ensure that British Columbia’s forests are managed well now
and in the future.
Best wishes for a successful convention!
2014 Co-sponsors:
Alkam Holdings Ltd.
Axis Insurance Managers 2005 Ltd.
BC Forest Safety Council
Baron Insurance Broker Group
Brandt Tractor
Brutus Truck Bodies
Canadian Western Bank
Capri Insurance Services
Cookson Motors Ltd.
Cummins Western Canada
Dynamic Capital
Finning (Canada)
Fountain Tire
GE Capital
Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd.
Great West Equipment
Gudeit Bros. Contracting Ltd.
HUB International Barton Insurance
Inland Kenworth
Kal Tire
Kineshanko Logging Ltd.
Logging & Sawmilling Journal
Mercer (Canada) Limited
Morfco Supplies Ltd.
Nor-Mar Industries Ltd.
Parker Pacific
R.J. Schunter Contracting Ltd.
R. James Western Star Freightliner
Ritchie Bros.
SMS Equipment
Southstar Equipment
Sovereign General Insurance Company
Stamer Logging Ltd.
Supply Post Newspaper
Wajax Equipment
Waratah Forestry Canada
Western Financial Group
Weyerhaeuser Canada
Woodland Equipment Inc.
WorkSafeBC
56th Annual Conference and
Trade Show
Associations
Working Together
May 8th, 9th & 10th, 2014
Vernon, BC
HOST HOTEL:
Best Western Vernon Lodge
3914 - 32nd Street
Vernon, BC, V1T 1P1
Tel: 250-545-3385
[email protected]
EVENTS:
- Inside Displays
- Job Training & Career Fair
Vernon Curling & Athletic Club
For registration and further information,
contact the ILA office.
Tel: 1-250-503-2199 or
E-mail: [email protected]
Agenda & Events Pricing
Ticket Registration Form
THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2014
ILA DIRECTOR’S MEETING
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Best Western Vernon Lodge (Room #130)
Event Description
MEET & GREET
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
ILA AGM
$45.00
Qty.
BREAKFAST
7:30 am – 9:30 am
INSIDE DISPLAYS
9:30 am – 4:30 pm
N/C
ILA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
9:30 am – 11:00 am
N/C
Subtotal
Meet & Greet
________ x
$45.00
________
Breakfast
________ x
$20.00
________
N/C
________
Friday Luncheon
FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2014
$20.00
Price:
WESTERN NIGHT
DINNER & DANCE
with Lee Dinwoodie & Band _______
SEMINAR
________
(Ticket Required, Limited Seating)
“Surviving the Next Recession”
x
$45.00
________
$45.00
________
N/C
Order Sub-total:
________
________
5% GST (BN 107510125):
________
Total:
________
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Company Name: _________________________________
SEMINAR
N/C
10:30 am -11:30 am Best Western Vernon Lodge
1) “Bullying & Harassment in the Work Place”
Presenter: Lisa Houle, Industry Specialist (Forestry); WorkSafeBC
Contact: ________________________________________
FRIDAY LUNCHEON
$45.00
11:30 am -1:30 pm
Guest Speaker: HONOURABLE STEVE THOMSON, Minister of Forests,
Lands and Natural Resource Operations
Tel: ___________________________________________
SEMINARS
N/C
2) “Prime Contractor – Roles & Responsibilities”
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Best Western Vernon Lodge
Presenters: Gerard Messier, Training & Program Development Manager;
Bjarne Nielsen, Senior Regional Officer; WorkSafeBC
3) “Incident Investigation - Essential Skills”
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Best Western Vernon Lodge
Presenter: Gerard Messier, Training & Program Development Manager;
WESTERN NIGHT DINNER & DANCE
$45.00
WITH LEE DINWOODIE & BAND
6:00 pm to 12:00 am Best Western Vernon Lodge
SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014
INSIDE DISPLAYS
N/C
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
SEMINAR
N/C
4)”Surviving the Next Recession”
9:00 am – 10:30 am Vernon Recreation Center Auditorium
Having made it through the global recession, five veterans of the
logging sector will discuss in an interactive format, the keys to success in
the logging sector & what is needed to ensure survival when the next
recession hits.
Moderator: Jim Girvan, RPF MBA MDT Ltd.
5)”Environmental Spill Kit Training & Regulations”
N/C
11:00 am -12:00 pm
Presenter: Robert Graziotto, Sales Manager; Western Equipment Ltd.
Address: ________________________________________
City, Prov, P/C: __________________________________
Method of Payment: Cheque / Visa / Matercard (circle one)
Credit Card No. __________________________________
Expiry Date: ____________________________________
Card Holder: ____________________________________
Signature: ______________________________________
Email Address for Receipt:_________________________
Exhibitor Application
Space Requested & Costs:
10’ X 10’ Inside Display Booth
$800.00* X
_________ $ _________________
5% GST (BN 107510125) $ _________________
Total $ _________________
Name Tags: (please print neatly)
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
.
*Includes 2 Complimentary “Western Night Dinner & Dance” Event tickets.
All photos: Brian Dennehy Photography
The Logger’s Banquet & Ball was a great success-185 guests danced the night away!
New TLA President, Don Banaksy, talks to Premier Clark
about the challenges facing BC’s coastal forest contractors.
This year’s sessions were a big draw. You can listen to them
online at our website, www.tla.ca/convention.
FORESTRY’S BACK:
RE-TOOL. RE-CAPITALIZE. RE-HIRE.
By Kelly McCloskey
The 71st annual TLA Convention returned to Vancouver this year after four years in Victoria. The conference
theme—The Business of Logging: A New Era—was about renewal, as improved markets means contractors
are looking to re-tool, re-capitalize and re-hire. Although profit margins remain thin, knowledge on how best
to renew their businesses has never been more important.
T
he convention and trade show
attracted more than 1500 delegates, a true sign of market recovery!
After a day of education, members and
guests focused on the sector’s rebounding markets and the issues associated
with recovery. This included panels on
the pending “Super-Cycle,” how logging
veterans survived the global recession,
key challenges going forward and strategies needed to ensure success.
Premier Clark and Minister Thomson
Set the Stage
A sold out crowd of 360 participants,
including 15 MLAs, were on hand for
the Premier’s Luncheon—the confer-
ence’s foremost event. Speaking strongly
and proudly of the role the forest sector
plays in the success of the province, the
Premier emphasized the importance of
renewal in the forest sector, “getting to
yes” on resource development and “balanced budgets” by government. Forest
industry priorities noted include opening new markets, skills training and
worker safety.
Minister Steve Thomson highlighted
his going-forward priorities, including
Phase II of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS)
review, resuming the discussion over
area-based management and reducing
red tape to help the sector recover. He
noted his Ministry’s achievements over
the past year such as meeting the target
increase in BCTS sales (of 500,000 m3),
promoting market expansion in China
and Japan and focusing on upgrading
the province’s forest inventory.
The Super Cycle Approaches
Murray Hall (Murray Hall Consulting)
moderated the first panel on global lumber, pulp & paper and log markets and
the pending super-cycle as it applies to
the coastal forest sector. In introducing
the topic, Murray noted that “although
the stock market suggests it’s coming—
as evidenced in the rising value of BC’s
public forest companies—many wonder
where it is, what it’s going to look like
Minister Steve Thomson congratulates the TLA’s seventeen scholarship recipients who, in total, received
$22,500 from the TLA Forestry Education Fund.
We had over 1100 people attend Suppliers’ Night
this year. A phenomenal turnout!
Our most popular session! Jim Girvan asked five veterans of BC’s logging sector
about the keys to their success as they adapted to this new era of logging.
and when it will arrive.”
Speaking to the lumber market was
David Elstone (ERA Forest Products
Research). Michel Valois (Valois Vision Marketing) covered the pulp and
paper market and Al Deggan (Island
Timberlands) addressed the always controversial (and complex) manufactured
log market. Most agree that a period of
higher prices is imminent but it won’t be
realized until economic recovery in the
US housing market occurs.
Unfortunately, that isn’t expected until
2015. The lower Canadian dollar helps
exporters, particularly for solid wood
products, but pulp and paper needs lower
costs to compete, otherwise bleached eu-
This year TLA members raised $74,695 for
TLA Forest Education Fund. Thank You!
calyptus kraft pulp will dominate. Market
diversification was also noted as being
important but log exports are and will
continue to be an important economic
component. Governments must take
care not to diminish log values as it could
have serious implications to jobs and the
social values associated with them.
Survivors in the Logging Sector
Five veterans of the BC logging sector
responded to questions from Jim Girvan (MDT Management Decision and
Technology Ltd.) about how they survived the global recession and what new
entrants need to do to succeed in the
future. The industry experts included
Mike Hamilton, Rob Wood, Ted Arkell,
Bob Lee and Len Gudeit.
All five agreed that good relations with
their banks/financial backers, a strong
balance sheet and a good business plan
were key. Survival points included good
machine maintenance, knowing their
costs well, providing their workers with
steady employment and keeping them
safe. There was also agreement that the
SAFE Companies program was worthwhile although onerous and important
to streamline. BC Timber Sales were not
viewed as a growth opportunity given
the uncertainties involved and lack of
continuity.
Looking forward, all five felt that
contractor rates will have to increase to
ensure they can reinvest. Several noted
that they wouldn’t have survived if they
weren’t well capitalized and as such,
they’re already thinking about the next
downturn. Almost all agreed that if
they were 35 they “would do it all again”
and their advice to new entrants included “be savvy, optimize your company
size (big is not necessarily better), stay
hands-on and be good negotiators.”
The Challenges Facing Contractors
Jonathan Lok (Strategic Natural Resource Consultants Inc.) moderated a
panel on the challenges facing contractors today, noting the importance of adaptation and innovation. Don Banasky
(Copcan Contracting Ltd.) spoke about
the importance of linking safety and
production to achieve profits—a state
of play he stressed again and again. He
also noted the importance of re-branding safety to keep it fresh, the need for
contractors to be “risk managers” and
the importance of speaking up and encouraging others to ask questions when
something “doesn’t quite feel right.”
Dwight Yochim (Truck Loggers Asso-
ciation) spoke about the Labour Market
Initiative which estimates a requirement
of 6,500 coastal forest workers by 2020.
Training programs are needed with industry standards, adequate funding and
industry/government cooperation. Yochim noted that “the number of jobs is
exciting but daunting, particularly given
the accompanying need for training,
however it’s also a great opportunity for
people living in BC’s rural communities
to find good paying jobs without having
to leave their families.”
Ross Stryvoke (Forest Industrial Relations) spoke of the pending labour negotiations, noting that the Interior settlements suggest a potential cost increase
of 16.8% over five years. His advice for
contractors was to have good communication with their employees and be prepared to explain the consequences of a
costly settlement.
The Business of Logging
Justin Rigsby (Alm-Wood Contracting)
moderated the final panel on the business
of logging. David Durante (Caterpillar
Financial Services) spoke on the importance of recapitalization, having a strong
balance sheet and good communication
Your Custom Truck Body
Building Specialist
Tough Dependable Custom
682 Okanagan Ave. E, Penticton, BC
Toll Free: 1-866-344-6480
www.brutusbodies.com
with lenders. Ron Forster (RBC) spoke
on financing new logging ventures and
the opportunity to use a combination
of conventional loans with non-conventional means (e.g., strategic partnerships,
suppliers, work-in-progress, etc.). Gord
Hubley (MNP) spoke on rates of returns
and the responsibility of the licensee to
make sure both parties are making a
profit. He noted that, “if contractors are
living off depreciation, their businesses
will fail.” Paul Krismer (WorkSafeBC)
spoke on how to reduce costs by avoiding the “psychology of disability” (e.g.,
by getting injured workers back into the
workplace ASAP). Finally, Harry Nelson
(UBC Faculty of Forestry) spoke to the
importance of addressing the impacts
of industry consolidation and restoring
conditions that encourage investment in
equipment and the workforce.
Overall the convention left delegates
with a renewed optimism and excitement about the future of the forest sector on BC’s Coast. Although it was great
to be back in Vancouver, members are
already looking forward to the 72nd
Convention and Trade Show in Victoria
in 2015.
Thank You To Our Generous Sponsors!
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
Our 2014
Ladies Event Sponsors
• BenWest Logging Ltd.
• Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe
Resort & Spa
Our 2014
Convention Contributors
• Pilldolla Creek
Contracting Ltd.
• BenWest Logging Ltd.
• Probyn Log Ltd.
• ForesTech Equipment Ltd.
• Elle Canada
• Purdys Chocolatier
• Harbour Tours Hotel & Suites
• Shoppers Drug Mart
• Holt Renfrew
• Sladey Timber Ltd.
• Hudson’s Bay
• T-Mar Industries Ltd.
• J.A. McKay Trucking Ltd.
• Victoria Marriott
Inner Harbour
• Orica Canada Inc.
• Westin Bayshore
• Pilldolla Creek Contracting Ltd.
• Johnstone’s Benefits
• Kajohl Management Ltd.
• Luby Pezel
• Mike Hamilton Logging Ltd.
• Nootka Sound Timber Co. Ltd.
• Welch Group
• RBC Royal Bank
• MAC Cosmetics Canada
Annual Sponsors
Premier Sponsor
Diamond Sponsor
Strategic Sponsor
Strategic Sponsor
All photos: Hans Peter Meyer
A New Era, A New President
By Hans Peter Meyer
T
here’s a culture shift taking place
in the forest industry. It’s about
safety, recruitment and training, and
communicating. Don Banasky, the new
TLA President, is seen by many as having the skills to lead the industry as it
makes this culture shift.
Banasky knows the business end of a
choker and he’s acknowledged as among
the best at running processing equipment. But he also knows people. He’s negotiated contracts, managed crews and
jobs as a contractor, and he’s become
a leader in his committee work for the
TLA. He’s keen to learn and he’s an active communicator. And he’s got a vision
for change.
What are the challenges?
Outgoing TLA President Bill Markvoort
says that two issues will dominate Banasky’s two-year term: safety, and workforce recruitment and training. TLA
Executive Director, Dwight Yochim,
says one of the immediate challenges is
finding the 5000-7000 trained workers
needed on the coast in the next decade.
Kelly Arkell at Dyer Logging in Sayward
says building a better relationship between licensees and contractors is critical for the industry and coastal communities.
Banasky is enthusiastic about getting
to these issues. That’s how he tackles life.
When he started in the woods he was
told his entry-level position was permanent—there’d be no room for advancement for at least five years. He replied
that he’d be in the hiring seat within five
years. It took 10.
In those years he’d worked all the positions on the rigging crew, from chokerman to hooktender. He next stepped
into the equipment operator’s seat, running mechanical harvesting equipment.
His expertise led him to training others
in the—then—relatively new technology. From there it was a short step to
launching Banasky Logging Consultants
Ltd., contracting out his operating and
training services. With lifetime friends
John and Dave Gregson, and their father
Bryan, he formed a new business venture: FallTech Logging Ltd. Banasky acknowledges the senior Gregson for the
important role he played in Banasky’s
development as a businessman and supervisor, particularly his emphasis on
integrity and honesty.
Banasky sold his share of FallTech to
the Gregsons in 2011. He continues to
work with the Gregson Group (FallTech
and CopCan) as Operations Manager.
Where does the TLA board fit into his
business plan? He likes a steep learning
curve. TLA committee work was an opportunity for fast-track learning about
things that are important to him as a
forest industry businessman: policy and
regulation.
Priorities as TLA President
Banasky says his first priorities are
completing the Forest Service Providers Protection Act and seeing the annual
allowable cut (AAC) reach its full potential. The current FSPPA is inadequate,
he says, but completion is an important
step towards a proper lien act. A lien act
will help re-capitalize the industry. “This
is important for us in growing our companies and preparing ourselves to deal
with the super-cycle and increases in
the AAC.” It won’t be easy. “We’re going
to have to hold government’s feet to the
fire,” he says.
Next on Banasky’s agenda are safety
and workforce issues. “I’d like to see a
large influx of capable people into this
industry. “And,” he adds, “I’d like to see
the TLA have the biggest hand in steering the industry to zero fatalities.”
“Don understands that safety is key to
attracting new people to the industry,”
says Reynold Hert, CEO of the BC Forest Safety Council. Operating safely also
makes good business sense in Banasky’s
books. Getting that message across has
been one of his strengths. It’s why he was
invited to speak to loggers in England
and New Zealand. They wanted to know
what BC loggers are doing to operate
more safely and more effectively.
While a safe industry is key to attracting new workers, there are other positive factors at play that Banasky says will
help get new people into the industry.
The trickle of experienced workers he’s
seeing return to the woods are ready
to give up on the oil patch in favour of
working closer to home and family. Then
there’s the value of working in a sustainable industry, one that has done much
to clean up its practices and has much to
be proud of. “There’s a huge opportunity
for youth on the coast to be engaged in
meaningful work,” Banasky says. But he
wonders, “How do we train them?”
The TLA is currently working with
industry groups, with people in the
training sector and with government on
this issue. Banasky’s knowledge of training and of the on-the-ground needs of
contractors means that he’s pushing for
an approach with significant net results
and without significant cost to contractors. As he leaves the president’s seat,
Bill Markvoort is very positive about
the work to date by the Yochim-Banasky
team on this issue.
A family with a future in timber
Banasky grew up in the Nanaimo region. His grandfather and his uncles
were part of the region’s forest industry
and he has a deep affection for the Nanaimo hinterland. It’s where he enjoys
spending time with his wife, Krista, and
daughters Shaelen (11) and Paige (9).
Banasky’s enthusiasm for the future of
the forest industry is evident in how he
engages his children, on occasion bringing them out to working sites on the
weekends. There he’s given them a first-
hand opportunity to see what it’s like
to be in the cab of a machine with him.
They’re thrilled to pull the levers and get
a handle on what it’s like to work in today’s forest industry.
Is this a future he’d wish for his kids?
“Absolutely,” he says. “We’re going to
need a lot of young men and women to
fill the boots of those who have built the
Banasky’s knowledge of training
and of the on-the-ground needs of
contractors means that he’s pushing for an approach to safety with
significant net results and without
significant cost to contractors.
Photo: Brian Dennehy Photography
TLA 2014 Board of Directors
Back Row, Left to Right: George Lambert, T-Mar Industries; Ted Beutler, Aggressive Timber Falling; Mike Richardson, Tsibass Construction Ltd.; Howie
McKamey, Pilldolla Creek Contracting Ltd.; Lukas Olsen, Westcoast Tug & Barge; Dave McNaught, Seaspray Log Scaling Ltd.; Clint Parcher, Coastland
Wood Industries; Brian Mulvihill, Finning Canada
Front Row, Left to Right: Barry Simpson, Ashlaur Trading Ltd.; Tim Lloyd, ForesTech Equipment Ltd.; Ed Petersen, Petersen Safety Group; Bill Markvoort,
Probyn Log Ltd.; Don Banasky, CopCan Contracting Ltd.; Jacqui Beban, Nootka Sound Timber; Doug Sladey, Sladey Timber Ltd.; Dwight Yochim, Truck
Loggers Association; Matt Wealick, Ch-ihl-kway-uhk Forestry Ltd. (not in photo)
Photo: Hans Peter Meyer
8’6’ thru 10’6”
Maximize
Payload
Banasky knows the business end of a choker and he’s acknowledged as among the best at
running processing equipment. But he also knows people. He’s negotiated contracts, managed
crews and jobs as a contractor, and he’s become a leader in his committee work for the TLA.
coastal forest industry. This is a good
place to be. The work is interesting, it
pays well, and it’s the only resource industry in BC that’s sustainable. I’m hoping that Shaelen and Paige see the opportunity we’re creating for them.”
No time to be quiet
Banasky is part of moving things forward in the forest industry. He’s seeing
positive changes in the safety record,
in current training initiatives, in the
trickle of trained workers returning to
the coastal industry. He’s emphatic that
to attract more capable people the forest
industry needs to be a proactive communicator. “We need to put out a constant positive buzz about what is happening in this industry. Especially about
safety, about stability, about the good
environmental stories we have to tell.
We need to be letting people know there
are good paying jobs close to home in a
healthy and safe environment.” Banasky
isn’t content to just say the words. He
lives them, engaging people wherever
they’re talking about the forest industry,
whether in a coffee shop or on Twitter.
This is another part of Banasky’s vision for his term: that the TLA become
proactive in its messaging. Whether that
means putting out small news clips via
television, video, radio or print media,
or whether it’s through various forms of
social media, Banasky believes the industry must start telling its story. From
where he sits, this story is increasingly a
good news story. It’s one that people in
BC’s coastal communities need to hear.
To spend time with Don Banasky is to
understand the man’s appetite for challenges. “Don’s courageous,” says Reynold Hert. “He’s got the personal conviction to stand up and speak his mind on
the issues.” As TLA president he’ll have
plenty of opportunity to address issues
important to contractors in the industry.
“We need more people like Don Banasky in the forest industry,” says Bryan
Gregson. “I think he’s got what it will
take to bring it forward, to give it the
kind of respect and position it had 30
years ago in this province.”
As Bill Markvoort has noted, Banasky
looks to be a “perfect fit” for what’s facing the TLA and the industry in the next
few years.
• High Strength
Swedish Steel
• One piece or folding
stakes
• Bolted Band Clamps
allow any frame rail
width
• Durable factory
Powder Coated paint
• Factory order option
with Magnum Trailer
Prince George, BC
Call 877.563.8899 or
250.563.8899
www.prolenc.com
Photo: TLA Staff
Mill Closures and Timber Swaps:
What Does It Mean For BC’s Interior?
By Robin Brunet
A
t first blush, it would be understandable if the closure of two
mills and a swap of timber rights between two forestry giants would cause
trade associations to take up arms.
But such is the rapidly-changing face
of the forestry sector in the Interior that
the impending closure of Canfor Corp.’s
Quesnel sawmill and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.’s Houston mill is causing
more shoulders to be shrugged than
blood pressure to be raised. “Purely in
terms of business survival I can understand why this is happening,” says MaryAnne Arcand, CEO of the Central Interior Logging Association.
The usually feisty Arcand even goes so
far to say of the estimated 209 and 225
people put out of work in Quesnel and
Houston respectively, “I have concerns
about what happened, but I’m not wor-
It’s common knowledge that contractors
working for a variety of smaller companies have
higher rates than if they’re forced to put all their
eggs in one basket.
ried about the long-term well-being of
the workers, or of the 20-30 contractors
directly affected by the deal.”
The timber rights exchange was announced last October by Canfor and
JACQUI BEBAN VP Logging
C 250.951.1410
F 778.441.1191
T 778.441.1190
E [email protected]
#204 – 321 Wallace Street Nanaimo, BC V9R 5B6
West Fraser. Don Kayne, Canfor’s President and CEO, wrote in an open letter
that “Closing a profitable sawmill is very
difficult, but there’s simply not enough
fibre remaining in the Quesnel area to
support all of the mills in the community.” The closure of the Canfor mill in
Quesnel is set for March; West Fraser has
notified its employees that the Houston
mill will officially close its doors May 9.
Kayne says alternatives were considered over an 18-month period, including harvesting areas currently constrained for environmental reasons or
bringing in wood from longer distances.
However, “these would only have delayed the inevitable.” On the other hand,
“the additional fibre we’ve been able to
secure in the exchange agreement with
West Fraser enhances the fibre requirements for our Houston facility.”
Under the deal, Canfor is trading the
rights to cut 435,821 cubic metres of
timber in the Quesnel and Lakes Timber Supply Areas, while West Fraser
swapped Canfor 324,500 cubic metres
in the Morice TSA. The swap means
both companies will now have ample
fibre near their surviving mills.
For West Fraser, the deal will allow for
the rebuilding of sawmills in 100 Mile
House and Smithers, to go along with
the recent rebuild of its Chetwynd sawmill and modernization of its Williams
Lake planer mill.
There are other arguments in favour
of the swap: Minister Steve Thomson
has gone on record stating that it’s crucial on an international level. “The diversified market we’ve built in Asia has
given the industry a foundation for recovery; these are companies positioning
to compete in the global market.” Thomson believes this is an important time
for both companies.
Predictably, reaction to equipment
operators, millwrights, electricians,
welders and other workers losing their
jobs was swift. United Steelworkers Local 1-424 President Frank Everitt told
reporters that while closures were not
unexpected, everyone thought they
would be several years down the road:
“As a community they’re certainly going
to be reeling from this.”
Houston Mayor Bill Holmberg worried that the impact on his town would
be huge. “There are 225 direct employees
of the mill and then you take the spinoff
of that,” he told the press in reference to
logging contractors and truckers. “Do
the math: it’s not going to be good.”
Bill Nagel, Executive Director, Policy
& Regulation for the Central Interior
Logging Association, says, “If I were
running Canfor or West Fraser, I would
have probably handled things exactly
the same way.”
Amid concerns over job losses and
community strife, Nagel points out that
Log Purchasing and Sales
CLAYTON NEUWIRTH
8392 South Island Hwy. • Fanny Bay, BC • V0R 1W0
Phone: (250) 335-2969 • Cell: (250) 898-7036 • Fax: (250) 335-1425
“in Quesnel, the prospect of on-going
work would have been extremely iffy
even if this hadn’t happened. Contractors were already looking for different
employment before the announcement
was made. And while operations at the
mills in Houston were steadier, the diameter of timber being harvested was
decreasing, with 2x3 and 2x4 pine being
common—really borderline merchandisable timber.”
Nagel thinks some worries about the
swap raised behind closed doors, such
as West Fraser not requiring contractors to be SAFE Companies certified,
are non-issues. “That’s true of West
Fraser, but the fact is the overwhelming majority of reliable contractors in
business are SAFE Companies certified
anyway,” he explains.
At least as far as Russell Taylor and his
colleagues at the International WOOD
Markets Group Inc. are concerned, the
closures are consistent with predictions
they made four years ago. Also, in the
November 4, 2013 edition of Wood
Markets, they view the Canfor and West
Fraser play as a small sign of bigger
things to come. “There are now 12 sawmills that have closed since our March
2010 prediction of 16 sawmill closures.
And we see additional sawmills closing,
especially in Cariboo region of the province where a sawlog shortage is becoming most acute.
“Given the obvious motivations of
try where contractors have historically
gotten the short end of the stick. “When
the federal Competition Bureau phoned
me in January, I told them that being the
biggest players in the region, Canfor and
West Fraser, can pretty much set prices,”
he says.
Two weeks after that, Nagel was approached by the Competition Bureau’s
Usually the feds only examine downstream
elements. But this time they’re looking upstream
at supplier prices.
companies like Canfor and West Fraser
to ensure that there are adequate sawlog supplies sufficient to operate their
remaining mills at capacity through initiatives like strategic mill closures and
timber tenure swaps, this trend suggests
that our 2018 forecast of 16 sawmill closures may be conservative.”
Despite understanding the motivations of Canfor and West Fraser, Nagel
admits he is concerned about the overall
ramification of monopolies in an indus-
provincial counterpart. “And I essentially said the same thing,” he recalls.
“It’s common knowledge that contractors working for a variety of smaller
companies have higher rates than if
they’re forced to put all their eggs in
one basket.”
Nagel notes that Ottawa has since
been in touch with regional contractors. “I find that heartening. Usually
the feds only examine downstream elements such as the prices established
Interior Heavy Equipment
Operator School
NORTHERN BC’S ONLY AUTHORIZED
FLYGT DISTRIBC’S
BUTOR
& REPAIR
DEPOT.
NORTHERN
ONLY
AUTHORIZED
Sales,
Service,
Rentals
and Parts
FLYGT DISTRI
BUTOR
& REPAIR
DEPOT.
Sales, Service, Rentals and Parts
1733 S. Lyon Street
PrinceS.George,
BC V2N 1T3
1733
Lyon Street
Prince George, BC V2N 1T3
Tel: (250) 561-1884
Fax:(250)
(250)561-1884
561-1830
Tel:
E-mail:
[email protected]
Fax:
(250)
561-1830
www.northlandswater.ca
E-mail:
[email protected]
www.northlandswater.ca
NO SIMULATORS
START WEEKLY. YEAR ROUND.
NEVER SHARE MACHINES
GET TRAINED. GET WORKING.
ENDORSED BY INDUSTRY
 FREE Site Tours
 Job Boards
 Funding Options
Facebook.com/IHESCHOOL
Call Toll Free: 1-866-399-3853
for lumber on the international market.
But this time they’re looking upstream
at supplier prices.”
Arcand too has reservations about the
swap—not so much its impact locally,
which she thinks is negligible, but because of its potential to be repeated in
other regions of the province. “I worry
about the susceptibility of other areas to
be on the receiving end of similar deals.
Especially places like Williams Lake and
Fort St. John, which are far less equipped
than we are to handle the situation.”
As for the jobs lost in her neck of the
woods, Arcand says, “It reminds me of
when Tembec Chetwynd shut down last
year and the CBC complained about 250
jobs disappearing overnight. The mayor immediately responded, “That’s no
problem: they’ve all found new work.’
And such is the case here, where there’s
so much demand for people in the resource sectors that displaced workers
get snapped in a hurry.”
Arcand goes on to say that “as we
speak, in February, Canfor is already
relocating people to the Kootenays, the
government is in here helping workers
transition to new jobs, and the Babine
mill is preparing to reopen and needs
manpower.” Of the displaced contractors she remarks, “Some are already
preparing to retire and others will go to
other industries. The fact is you can get
new work within 24 hours up here.”
There’s another benefit to this embarrassment of employment riches in the
Interior. “For contractors who aren’t
retiring or planning to go to other industries, it fortifies their negotiating
power with the forestry giants,” says Nagel. “Even though companies like Canfor may have a monopoly, they are also
acutely aware that the mining, hydroelectric and other resource sectors are
clamouring for fallers and road-builders. It won’t be so easy to dismiss their
demands at the negotiating table.”
And that seems to be the case so far
with negotiations currently underway,
the particulars of which Arcand cannot yet elaborate on. “We’ve been helping to ensure that our members are
well-armed with facts and numbers go-
ing into these meetings, and the initial
outcomes are very good—in fact, better
than we’ve seen in decades. Different
conflict resolution models are in place,
and evergreen tenures are 10 years instead of five with incremental increases.
Our goal over the next six months is to
make sure the outcomes of other negotiations are just as good.”
While the press fulminates over lost
jobs and analysts anticipate further
swaps by forestry giants, Arcand views
the Canfor/West Fraser deal philosophically. “It’s part of the catalyst of change
in our industry that began some time
ago. For decades, the big companies
have driven down log prices on the
backs of contractors and other people,
but the tide is changing. With diverse
work opportunities comes power, and
although there are still huge challenges
ahead, at least the big guys won’t be able
to play their divide and conquer strategies with us anymore, regardless of how
many more mills close.”
Advisors to BC’s Forest industry
our legal services include:
85 more units in stock at
www.internationalmachinery.com
Specializing in quality used heavy spec trucks.
Now offering truck & trailer painting & sandblasting.
•contractor logging disputes
with licence holders
•Forest practices code issues
•contract and business sale
and purchase
•rate issues and amount of
work issues
•mediation and arbitration
•corporate structuring and
financing
•contract negotiations
•regulatory compliance
For more information, contact
Stephen ross
[email protected]
604.643.1205
added experience. added clarity. added value.
Miller Thomson LLP
millerthomson.com
1-888-416-1509
va n c o u v e r
c algary
k i t c h e n e r - w at e r l o o
ed m o nto n
guelph
s a s k at o o n
to ro nto
regina
markham
lo n do n
montréal
MT_Truck Logger Magazine Ad_v5.indd 1
3/9/2011 3:21:03 PM
MEMBERSHIP
RENEWAL 2014
TLA membership renewal invoices are coming on May 1.
equipment insurance you must renew your TLA membership each year.
Have A Voice…With Government and Other Key Stakeholders
The TLA advocates on our members’ behalf so that our collective voice informs policy makers
As a member of the TLA your organization will be able to provide your employees and their
Build…Your Networks and Business
The TLA provides a forum for members to meet and build business relationships with other
contractors, business owners, forestry associations and policy makers and politicians.
Compete…With Better Knowledge, Support and Industry Information
TLA members receive industry support and draw on the experience and knowledge of our
Be Informed…With Up-To-Date News and Information
TLA members receive timely information and updates on TLA activities, government policy
changes, and other industry related information via Truck LoggerBC magazine, member-only
online communications and a members-only section of the website.
Not a member yet? Consider joining us today.
Find out more at www.tla.ca/membership.
All Photos: Brenda Martin
Good Things Come
In Threes:
Training,
Partnerships
and SPOTTED OWL
FRIENDLY Logging
By Brenda Martin
Craig John is one of the Lil’wat people working for Southview Forest Services. Before coming back to Mount Currie,
he was working at Southview’s Pitt Lake camp.
B
etween training, partnerships
and spotted-owl-friendly logging,
there’s a lot of good news forestry going
on the Lil’wat First Nation territory near
Mount Currie, just past Pemberton.
Lil’wat First Nation has developed tenure within their traditional territory and
now has three different types—a nonreplaceable forest license, two woodlots and a regular forest license making
up an annual allowable cut (AAC) of
65,000 m3. Klay Tindall, Forest Operations Manager for Lil’wat Forestry Ventures LP, said the final goal is have all of
the different licences amalgamated into
one First Nations woodland licence—
an area-based, long-term forest tenure
unique to First Nations’ interest in the
land and resources.
With an AAC of that size, the
Lil’wat Nation has invested time and
energy into forestry training for its
band members. First they contracted
the College of the Rockies to come to
Mount Currie and put on their Forest-
ry Boot Camp course. The course takes
15 days and participants end up with
a broad range of forestry skills. Tracey
Whiting, Continuing Education Manager at College of the Rockies, said the
Lil’wat First Nation was able to have
the course tailored to their students’
needs as part of the contract. Here are
the skills the Lil’wat requested for their
Forestry Boot Camp course.
• Teambuilding
• Forestry Vehicle Safety Awareness
• Occupational First Aid Level 1
• Transportation Endorsement
• Basic Chainsaw Safety &
Operations
• ATV Training
• Introduction to Resource
Management
• Back Country Safety & Travel
• Field Communication &
Data Collection
• Introduction to Layout and
Site Assessment
• Introduction to Current
Forest Management
• Priorities (Pine Beetle &
Fire Ecology)
• Species Identification
• GPS & Mapping
• Introduction to Wildlife
Management
• Bear Aware
• WHMIS
• S100A
• Overview of Endangered Species
• Introduction to Silviculture
• Networking opportunity with
local forest contractors
and businesses
“The course teaches students a broad
set of skills,” says Tindall, “so you can get
a diverse workforce out of it.”
The Lil’wat First Nation also trained
eight fallers this past year through the
BC Forest Safety Council’s New Faller
The orange dots on the trees let the loggers know which trees to leave standing. As a managed
future habitat area, the logging operation must leave 40 of the 80 largest trees per hectare.
Training program. The program is run
by BC Forest Safety Council and administrated by the College of the Rockies. It
ensures new fallers entering the workforce are properly trained and prepared
to work in a safe, productive manner.
It includes 30 days closely supervised
field and classroom training followed
by up to 180 days of falling activity under close supervision, before taking the
faller certification exam.
But after training, people need onthe-job experience. That’s where a partnership between the Lil’Wat Forestry
Ventures LP, Southview Forest Services
and Ashlaur Trading comes into play.
Of the 12 cutblocks that Lil’wat Forestry
Ventures has harvested since last spring,
five were harvested by Southview Forest Services. As part of the agreement,
Southview has taken some Lil’wat First
Nations members onto their crew to
continue their training. Howie McKamey, a partner in Southview Forest Services, said, “We had six Lil’wat people
working on our Gates Lake crew. Four
fallers, one guy on rigging and one
guy on bridges. The total crew would
have been 10 people—then 12 when we
brought the yarder in.” The partnership
has been a positive one in McKamey’s
view. “The Mount Currie group is really
progressive,” said McKamey, “There are
lots of people available to work and they
want to work.”
Craig John is one of the Lil’wat people
working for Southview. Before coming
back to Mount Currie, he was working
at Southview’s Pitt Lake camp. Now he’s
working locally, he can go home to his
family each night which he appreciates.
He started out as a bucker and now he’s
a rigger—setting out the guylines to stabilize the yarder. Asked what he likes
about forestry, John says he likes working as a team with the other guys and
the fact that the work is outdoors and
physically demanding. “I started young
making firewood with my dad and my
uncles,” said John. He considered forestry again after a friend of his got onto
a rigging crew and got his ticket. “It was
a way to move on from construction
work,” said John.
The logs harvested as part of this partnership are hauled down to the Squamish dry land sort run by West-Barr
Contracting where they are scaled and
sorted for sale. Barry Simpson of Ashlaur Trading explains that it’s a more
complicated sort than your average.
“We have fifty-six different sorts going
on here,” said Simpson, “which is a lot
more than usual. We’re sorting for multiple domestic consumer products—
peeler logs, custom cut, high-grade,
shop quality, pulp mill, cedar mill—as
well as selling multiple sorts to Korea,
China and Japan.”
And this is where the story takes another turn. Following revisions to the
1997 Spotted Owl Management Plan,
the amount of area under formal owl
management increased without unduly restricting timber availability. The
new plan was approved in early 2013
through the Government Actions Regulation (GAR). Better distribution and
concentration of long-term owl habitat
areas in higher quality habitat resulted
in the designation of a “managed future
habitat area” near Gates Lake, not far
from the Lil’wat community of Mount
Currie. The general wildlife measures
for the area supports restricted harvesting opportunities that are intended to
enhance spotted owl habitat and Lil’wat
took the lead to pursue this opportunity. However, since objectives in Lil’wat’s
forest stewardship plan (FSP) referred
to the now out-of-date 1997 owl plan, in order for logging plans to come to
fruition for the 2012 season their FSP
needed an amendment.
“To legally enable this operation for
the upcoming season we had to resolve
Lil’wat’s application to amend their forest stewardship plan, making it consistent with the latest spotted owl plan, as
well as amending an overlapping old
growth management area,” said Frank
DeGagne, Land & Resource Specialist
for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and
Natural Resource Operations. “Even
with a full review by tenures staff and
a site visit, we were able to process the
application to a favorable decision quite
quickly—under two months—which
enabled Lil’wat to do some logging in
support of local training while also enhancing owl habitat.”
The Gates Lake cut block is now a
managed future habitat area within a
broader spotted owl wildlife habitat
area. The debris management objectives require that loggers process the
wood where it falls rather than hauling
all the debris out to the roadside. Where
this isn’t possible, they redistribute the
debris created at the roadside back to
PROTECT
YOUR VISION
Exclusive safety eyewear & eyecare provider
for Truck Loggers Association
Visit an IRIS location or contact us at [email protected]
for more information about your benefits.
®™ Trademarks of AIR MILES International Trading B.V. Used under license by LoyaltyOne, Inc. and IRIS The Visual Group.
the forest floor. The idea is to leave a
covering of branches and needles that
small mammals and rodents—regular
owl prey—would be drawn to make
their homes in. The logging operation
is also obligated is to leave 40 of the
80 largest trees per hectare standing
so owls can use them to sit in as they
hunt their prey. “The idea is that these
stands may become suitable owl habitat again, and used by owls, sooner in
the future (i.e. 80 years from now) than
had the stand been clear-cut harvested
by conventional methods (i.e. 120 years
from now),” said Ian Blackburn, Spotted Owl Recovery Coordinator for the
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural
Resource Operations.
This harvesting is part of a bigger plan
for spotted owl in the Gates Lake area.
“There are also habitat enhancements
within wildlife habitat areas designated
as long-term owl habitat areas in the
Gates area,” said Blackburn. “In these
areas we only take about 33 per cent of
the timber volume out and retain approximately 250 large diameter trees
per hectare.” The Gates Lake area also
has spotted owl habitat areas that are set
aside as preserved habitat as well as several old growth management areas.
Forestry is coming together on a lot
of fronts here. The training of a new,
local workforce just as the industry is
coming to terms with the labour crisis ahead of us. A mutually beneficial
partnership between established forest
contractors—Southview Forest Services and Ashlaur Trading—with a newer
First Nations forestry business— Lil’wat
Forestry Ventures. And work between
the Lil’wat First Nation, the Ministry for Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and the Ministry of
Environment to preserve and enhance
spotted owl habitat while enabling the
Lil’wat First Nation to do some logging
near their community in support of local training. Good news stories like this
are happening every day in our coastal
forest industry. We need to start telling
more of them.
Craig John started out as a bucker and now he’s a rigger—setting out the guylines to stabilize
the yarder. Asked what he likes about forestry, John says he likes working as a team with the
other guys and the fact that the work is outdoors and physically demanding.
Woodland Supplies, proud
distributors of Oregon
products throughout
Western Canada. Contact us
for a dealer near you.
1-800-663-4510
www.woodlandsupplies.ca
Enderby Rentals 601 Hubert Avenue Enderby, British Columbia V0E 1V0 1-250-838-7328 - www.enderbyrentals.ca
Visit us at the ILA Conference in Vernon May 9 & Spring
10th
2014 2014
Truck LoggerBC
47
Photo: TLA Staff
UNION NEGOTIATIONS:
TAKING A LOOK AT ALL THE ANGLES
By Sandra Bishop
S
pringtime. Renewal is in the
air and the coastal forest industry is about to begin bargaining
with the United Steelworkers to
negotiate a new collective agreement for forestry workers on the
coast. But like the seasons—things
have changed.
For 60 years, up until the last
labour agreement in 2007, labour
negotiations on the coast were accomplished on an industry-wide
basis. Companies belonged to Forest Industrial Relations (FIR), an
employers’ association that used to
negotiate an industry-wide Master Agreement with the IWA (and
later, the United Steelworkers) on
behalf of its member companies.
These member companies shared
in the cost of negotiations and
could have input into bargaining.
If a strike occurred, all the companies
shared in the strike. For more than half
a century this negotiating model led to
the standardization of wage rates and
terms and conditions of employment
throughout the industry.
However, in 2007 that model changed
when some of the larger forestry companies on the coast decided to leave
FIR and negotiate individual company
agreements with the union. The union
didn’t change its pattern though and today continues to approach negotiations
with a view to establishing an industrywide agreement with some larger companies while negotiating separately with
FIR and other companies.
Recently, Canfor reached a new deal
with the United Steelworkers Union
after five months of negotiations. This
collective agreement then became the
template for six other Interior mills,
which like their forerunner have reached
a five-year labour agreement. The deal
provides significant wage increases for
all workers, an average increase of 13 per
cent and cash payments of $3,400 over
the five-year term. It provides additional
pay of $2.50 per hour for tradespeople,
along with improvements to health and
welfare benefits.
For the coast, it’s important to note
that the Interior deal setting an industry-wide pattern has become a trademark of these union agreements. This
has coastal logging contractors and
forestry companies sharpening their
pencils because most of the coastal forest industry collective agreements come
up for renewal on June 14, 2014 when
bargaining will begin in earnest. The
Labour Relations Code’s bridging provision ensures the current agreement
remains in place while parties attempt to renew the agreement
even beyond the expiry date.
Western Forest Products leads
the negotiations on the coast and
FIR will bargain on behalf of its
member companies while a few
other companies, the so-called ‘Me
Toos’, prefer not to bargain at all
and instead agree in advance to the
terms of one of the agreements that
are negotiated by the others.
Despite the significant difference
in forestry operations on the coast
compared to the Interior, the precedent set by these Interior labour
agreements has some coastal companies worrying about the future.
Coastal companies have higher
operating costs, but will the union
recognize these costs when negotiating agreements in the region?
On the manufacturing side, coastal
mills employ more workers per
thousand board foot than Interior
manufacturers because of the variety of species harvested and the
qualities and size of logs on the coast.
And while the agreement in the Interior
is mill based, the new agreement on the
coast will impact both timberlands and
mill costs because a significant amount
of logging on the coast is done by unionized contractors, and (as in the mills)
there are more workers needed for harvesting operations on the coast.
Western Forest Products President
and CEO Don Demens is confident
“that we can reach an agreement with
our employees that works for everyone
and recognizes the differences between
the BC coast and the Interior.”
Economically, forestry has started to
turn around in British Columbia after
more than a decade of struggle. However, logging contractors have been in
survival mode for so long, many have
used up their reserves just trying to keep
afloat through the downturn, one that
saw many contractors go out of business
altogether. One large TLA contractor
worries that if the Interior’s agreement
becomes a template for negotiations on
the coast, by adding costs to an already
high cost producer, the remaining contractors won’t have the ability or perhaps
even the will, in some cases, to carry on.
“Times have been really tough for us
for the last four years, in particular,” the
contractor explains. “A lot of contractors
have been living off their reserves, not
fixing their equipment and they need
any money they’re able to make now to
be invested back into their businesses,
into their equipment, into their infrastructure or they’re not going to be able
to stay in business.”
FIR’s Ross Stryvoke admits there is no
crystal ball when it comes to labour negotiations, but emphasizes that preparation is important and should take place
long before bargaining begins. “Companies need to realistically consider their
needs and how they might achieve them.
They should also anticipate the union’s
demands and how to address them. All
of this should be put into a cost and effect model which can help companies
keep track of what the settlement will
cost in terms of the labour rate per hour
and how operating flexibility is affected.”
Photo: TLA Staff
However, logging contractors have been in survival mode for so long, many
have used up their reserves just trying to keep afloat through the downturn.
He agrees that the union tends to set
patterns with the larger companies and
then use this as its ‘template’ for the others. It’s difficult to get the union to agree
to change the template for a company,
“but it can be done if you have compelling arguments and are persistent.”
Negotiations are a very dynamic process; every negotiation is different and is
affected by factors such as a company’s
financial situation, markets, union politics, changes in bargaining committee
members and so on. Stryvoke counsels
contractors to maintain a lot of flexibility
and to keep abreast of union demands.
One TLA contractor we spoke with
has noticed a marked change in leadership and attitude within their local
union. “There’s less flexibility now. In
the past we’d be able to vary the terms
with our crew so we’d have agreements
that worked for us and our crew and the
union would accept them. This flexibility gave us the ability to work with our
crew to have a mutually agreeable arrangement apart from the Coast Master
Agreement. Generally speaking, that’s
no longer possible. The outcome is not
necessarily what is best for the company
or the employees.”
FIR advises contractors that while
As every company knows trying to
you’re not allowed to negotiate directly
forecast labour relations is always difwith your employees you can and should
ficult, but the more a company knows
keep them informed. “It is important for
about the negotiating process, its rights
your employees to have knowledge of
and obligations, the better prepared it is.
your company’s plans and its financial
A strike is a last resort. “It can be
conditions,” explains Stryvoke.
much easier to get into a strike than it
Contractors point to their long-time
is to end one,” warns Stryvoke. “Generroots within BC communities that have
ally, both sides end up losing in either a
built versatile relationships with the
strike or lockout.”
people who work for them, relationAnother TLA contractor says their
ships that reach from the company ownemployees suffered through the downers right down through management.
turn too and believes a strike would perSome of these contractors are concerned
manently cripple the industry. “They’re
that the “big company mentality” which
just getting some of their bills caught up,
drive labour negotiations have created
their overdrafts taken care of and they’re
a “real disconnect between the union’s
starting to invest in their communities,
goals and what their employee memyou know—buying homes. For them to
bers, who work for smaller contractors,
go on strike would not be positive for
want and need to survive.”
anyone. We never recover from a strike.
The Labour Relations Code requires
What’s more, our customers are just not
companies to bargain in good faith—
going to be there when we decide to
“this means recognizing the union as
start delivering wood again.”
the legitimate legal representative of
As the old adage goes, we reap what
your employees and doing everything
we sow, so it’s crucial for the coastal inreasonably possible
reachGundy
a collective
CIBCtoWood
3/17/08dustry—companies,
1:27 PM Page 1the union and emagreement with them. You must be paployees—to work together to negotiate a
tient,” says Stryvoke, “honestly explore
fair agreement.
the other side’s demands and have a reasonable debate.”
Specializing
Are you GRAPPLING with your
DEBT? Relief is only a call away.
Contact us for a free
consultation. We provide
flexible appointments available
in many locations, including
the Kootenays, the Okanagan,
North Thompson, the Central
Interior, and areas in the
North.
KPMG will assist you with
collection agencies, protection of your assets, creditors
threatening legal action, income tax/GST owing, a proposal to
creditors, and a debt repayment strategy.
For more information, call us toll free at 1-800-665-1003 or:
Cecil Cheveldave, CMA, CIRP, Trustee
250-314-5965
Jim Gilchrist, CA, CIRP, Trustee
250-979-7163
Anthony Tillman, CA, CIRP, Trustee
604-646-6332
KPMG Inc., Trustee in Bankruptcy
200 - 3200 Richter Street
Kelowna, BC V1W 5K9
777 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K3
in conservative
investments
•
•
•
•
•
Mutual Funds
Bonds
Blue Chip Stock
Managed Money
Income Trusts
Dave Wheeldon, B.Sc.ED, M.A.ED.
INVESTMENT ADVISOR
Tel: (250) 703-5382
Fax: (250) 338-2320
Toll Free: 1 (888) 672-0922
[email protected]
www.davewheeldon.com
CIBC Wood Gundy is a division of CIBC World Markets Inc., a subsidiary
of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Member CIPF.
© 2013 KPMG LLP, a Canadian limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. 4151
At Your Service
!"##$%&'()#*+("#,-.($"#*./&0,(1-(,"%$(/%22%3*.,444
GHIJ(!KHL!M(NOPM(;LNQRM
GHIJ(!KHL!M(NOPM(;LNQRM
BestWesternVernonLodge
& Conference Centre
567895:&/(;,<(=-+&#&<(>!((:?@4?8?455A?((74A@@4BB5488::((C-+&#&.#/'-D+E1"#,-.$43#F
New/Used/Exchange Hydraulic Excavator Parts
Over 350 Hitachi/John Deere excavators parted out ZX120 to EX3500
Office: 604-530-5758
Fax: 604-530-3554
Toll Free: 888-530-5444
www.langleyexcavator.com
TEL: 250-969-4222
SOLUTIONS.
INNOVATION.
EXPERTISE.
1-888-finning | finning.ca
(346-6464)
Providing safe, top quality
falling & bucking services
that exceed our customer's expectations
since 1996.
T: 250-596-9488
[email protected] www.sibolamountainfalling.com
WWW.WDMOORE.CA
At Your Service
Jardine Lloyd Thompson
Canada Inc.
As the primary equipment and liability insurance
provider to the TLA, JLT are the ones to call
for all your business and commercial
insurance questions and inquiries
Peter Pringle
Steve Hicks
Direct 250 413 2712
Direct 250 413 2723
www.jltcanada.com
KEEP YOUR COMPANY NAME
10.0
9.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Call today to reserve
2.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------your space in the
0.0
FRONT AND CENTRE IN TRUCK LOGGERBC
Summer 2014
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
-
Number of short-term disability
claims per 100 person years worked
Injury rate
issue of TRUCK LOGGERBC
Issue close date: May 30th
WorkSafeBC avg injury
rate
Ad material
deadline: June 6th
Rate group injury rate
(Continued from page 54)
120.0
100.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------80.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------60.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rate group claim duration
Keeping rates down
Krismer also showed how industry has
the power to influence the art of setting
actuarial rates for insurance pools in a
way that could put a lot of money back in
industry’s pockets.
Using a rate group that includes integrated forest companies, tree fallers,
logging road construction, and others
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
0.0
1999
20.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1998
Days lost per claim in the injury year
and subsequent years
Both charts: Source: WorkSafeBC
Total claim duration
WorkSafeBC avg claim duration
(blue lines), Krismer compared industry
performance to the rest of BC average
(red lines). He said that 51,000 days of
wage-loss was paid out to forest industry workers in 2012, which was “a lot of
people and a lot of days off work.” As a
result, forestry is one of the most expensive insurance pools to fund in BC.
ADVERTISING IN PRINT
200 - 896 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2P6
Tel: 604-681-1811
Fax: 604-681-0456
Here’s how premiums are calculated:
Base rate (for the entire industry) +
an experience rating adjustment (for
a particular firm) = the net rate.
It works much like ICBC’s safe drivers’ discount. If you’ve gone many years
without an accident, you get a big discount. If you’ve had a bunch of accidents, you pay progressively larger surcharges. Another influencing factor is
the rate of return that WorkSafeBC gets
on its investment portfolio. “The good
returns we got in the early 2000s and late
1990s are just not expected to continue,”
said Krismer. So, forestry may expect
rates to continue to rise.
WorkSafeBC has one of the most assertive experience rating programs in
North America. Under the program, a
firm can get up to a 50 per cent discount
or 100 per cent surcharge — a four times
difference between the maximum discount versus the maximum surcharge.
This means a significant competitive
advantage for firms with great safety records. Such firms could see a rate of $5
per $100 of payroll; while firms with a
poor safety track record could pay a surcharge of $20 per $100 of payroll.
Reducing WorkSafeBC
Premiums StartS With You
By Dwight Yochim
Toll-free helpline
The BC Forest Safety Council has set up a
toll-free helpline (1-855-234-8360) and web
page (www.bcforestsafe.org/node/2514) to
inform companies of the opportunities to
file promptly and save money.
One of the most conservative studies
indicates that for every dollar in WorkSafeBC costs, there’s at least another
$3 in additional costs to that company
as a result of the injury. Less conservative studies indicate this cost could be
as high as $5 or even $11 in additional
costs, including lost productivity, down
time, retraining, broken equipment, loss
of experience, and rehiring costs.
Four ways to save money
Krismer said there were four key ways to
help save costs:
1.Have an effective health and safety
program — i.e., avoid injuries in the
first place.
(Continued to page 53)
Injury rate
10.0
9.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0.0
Rate group injury rate
WorkSafeBC avg injury rate
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
-
A dedicated team of experts
WorkSafeBC has set up a dedicated
forestry case management team in its
Nanaimo office to handle claims for
all of the coastal industry, to ensure
we have the knowledge and expertise
to talk industry’s language and understand its needs. You can reach them at
250.751.8000 or 1.800.663.7382.
The first goal: reduce the amount of
time it takes forest industry employers
to submit an injury report (Form 7).
“Currently, it takes the forest industry
21 days to get the injury report to WorkSafeBC. That’s way higher than the BC
average of seven days,” said Krismer.
“And keep in mind: the legal requirement is three days!”
2.Timely injury reporting — It’s critical that we get the medical community involved immediately following an injury. If you want to get
injured workers back to work faster
and reduce your claim costs, you
have to act right away — there’s a
very small window of opportunity.
3.Expert first aid — You need a good
first aid person, highly trained, competent, and confident, to make the
right call — right from the get-go.
Assessment and treatment at the
time of a serious injury can make
the world of difference, and ensure
an acutely improved recovery. And,
where minor injuries are involved,
it can prevent time-loss injuries altogether. And if there’s a referral to
a physician, it’s vital that you do the
following: ensure that the right forms
go with the worker, identify your firm
and what kind of disability management you have in place, and outline
what modified duties you’re able to
offer the injured worker.
4.Timely return to work and claim
management — WorkSafeBC’s business is working with you to help get
your workers back to work as soon
as they can, ideally in a modified way
so that they can fully recover while
at work.
This delay means WorkSafeBC is not
engaging with that injured worker right
away, Krismer said. It also means the
worker is not going to the front of the
line for specialist medical treatments;
and don’t forget that the longer that individual is off work, the less likely he or
she is to return to the job.
“So, the first part of the pilot is designed
to speed up that process — to get employers to report injuries to us much sooner.”
1998
orestry firms can save tens of
millions of dollars by having
effective health and safety programs;
expert first aid; and more timely injury reporting, return to work, and
claim management processes, outlined
WorkSafeBC’s Assistant Director of
Claims, Paul Krismer.
Here are some startling facts. After
three months on disability only 50 per
cent of workers return to work and after a
full calendar year, just 2 per cent are back
on the job — and this includes workers
who have suffered non-catastrophic injuries such as strains and sprains.
“People who are away from work for
too many weeks very quickly begin to
see themselves as disabled. That fundamental change in mind-set is even more
significant than the physiology of the injury,” Krismer said. “That’s why we have
to try to get injured workers back to
work as soon as possible. If we don’t, the
very unfortunate outcome will be that
they may never rejoin the workforce.”
Addressing a packed ballroom at the
2014 TLA convention, Krismer announced the beginning of a two-year pilot
project — in partnership with the TLA
and the BC Forest Safety Council — for
coastal logging operations to help the industry get workers back to work faster,
and reduce insurance and other costs.
Number of short-term disability
claims per 100 person years worked
F
FIGHt ENGINE Wear.
ARM YOURSELF WITH DURON.
DURONTM-E – the leading soot-fighting formula in the industry.
It seeks out soot particles and isolates them before they can join forces.
And if they can’t cluster, your engine is defended from damage.
Today’s operating conditions can produce and retain more soot than ever before.
But DURON-E, formulated with 99.9% pure base oils, is engineered to go above
and beyond the call of duty.
It’s proven to handle up to 2x more soot* while maintaining its viscosity; protecting
engines from wear, extending drain intervals, maintaining peak fuel economy, and
reducing maintenance costs for fleets – even in the heaviest soot conditions.
That keeps costs down over the long haul and extends the life of your engines.
Get the most from your fleet. Learn more at fightsoot.com
DURON. Fight Soot. Save Money.
*Based on MACK T-11 Enhanced Soot Control Test results. DURON-E Synthetic 10W-40 performed 2.2x better than CJ-4 requirement, while maintaining viscosity level.
Petro-Canada is a Suncor Energy business
Trademark of Suncor Energy Inc. Used under licence.
TM
Distributor Name: Coastal Mountain Fuels
Address: Lower Mainland & Vancouver Island
Phone: 1-800-798-FUEL (3835)
BEST 4X4 BY FAR
COMING SUMMER 2014
NEW 622C FOUR WHEEL DRIVE MTP
• Fourwheeldrivewithpowerful702/400ccfeedmotors,increased
feedspeed,andperfectlyweightedfora21tonexcavator
• WaratahShufflingfeatureforindependentlogdrivingandtolimittrim
wasteduringmultitreeprocessing(MTP)
• 360degreeContinuousRotationRotatorwithcleanerhoserouting
• Hightorque,highperformance3/4sawwithautomaticchaintensioning
• Fabricateddelimbarmsprovidecleandelimbingmultiorsinglestem
• NewC-Serieshighefficienthydraulicvalvedesignprovidesincreased
hydraulicflow,greaterspeeds,andhigherproductivity
• NewTimberRiteAutomationfeaturescompletewithnewmeasuring
anddiameterdesignprovidesoptimallengthanddiameterqualityin
bothmulti(MTP)andsingletreeprocessing
ContactyourdealerorWaratahCanadaat18009593799
Likeuson
www.waratah.net

A New Era - Truck Loggers Association

Transcription

Similar documents

Brochure - Bidwells

Traditional Times

SUSTAINABLE PACIFIC GROVE APRIL MEETING

$6,300 - Zwolle Tamale Fiesta

Parque Nacional Natural Cueva de Los Guacharos

Website: www.forru.org

pdf file, 3 MB - New Zealand Journal of Forestry

Some facts about Biggest Roulette Win In Vegas

Folie 1