Wow. I bet that BC has never been hit this hard. And all within 4 business days. Wow.

This is without a doubt the worst time in the history of BC's forest industry. It is imperative that we toss Gordon Campbell and his band of inept ministers out are their collective large rear ends. For us to survive we need change. Our concerns go out to those workers affected and their families....forest industry workers have always been resilient and we will survive, but it is clear the govt of the day doesnt care. the auto industry wimpers and they are thrown money out the ying yang. We have been suffering for 2 years and get nothing.

This is without a doubt the worst time in the history of BC's forest industry. It is imperative that we toss Gordon Campbell and his band of inept ministers out are their collective large rear ends. For us to survive we need change. Our concerns go out to those workers affected and their families....forest industry workers have always been resilient and we will survive, but it is clear the govt of the day doesnt care. the auto industry wimpers and they are thrown money out the ying yang. We have been suffering for 2 years and get nothing.

If you think a provincial government regime change will fix the economy, I've got bad news for ya. Having the NDP in power isn't going to make the US start building houses again.

Quote .. "..It is imperative that we toss Gordon Campbell and his band of inept ministers out are their collective large rear ends. For us to survive we need change. Our concerns go out to those workers affected and their families..."

Had to laugh! He's just joking of course. Don't you think the families affected have had enough "change" already?

I agree singline, change in gov't won't help the world markets or the US housing.
If I remember correctly last time NDP was in power half the population was moving out of BC. Remember this - "will the last one to leave BC please turn off the lights"
The way things are going is sad but also scary. It's hard to see where it will end.

Argue about governments all you want, they are at the mercy of the markets as well. No one knows how to fix this because things change drasticly on a daily basis. In a bear market govt changes hold no or little value. Once the sign of a bull market emerges then things will pick up and policys can be changed to help it along.

Sometimes I wonder if the people that are so eager to absolve the government of any poor management, are unemployed or about to be.It is just amazing how fast we forget about the raise they voted for themselves,the bad decisions that cost billions of dollars,the raw log exports,the waste of hard earned TAX PAYER DOLLARS and the list goes on and on and on......Until we stand up to these liars... and I mean any government,because we all know they are the same,they tell us what we want to hear until elected then do what they want anyway...nothing is going to change.I think it is time to let these people know who is paying for their wages,while many of us are leaving B.C.,some of us still believe there is hope for this province,IF WE CAN ALL STAND TOGETHER FOR A COMMON GOAL.

A couple of years ago these mills were working three shifts and selling lumber into the US Market like it was going out of style. They were making good profits.

The problem is the market in the US was created by Freddie May, Fanny Mac., and the banks, and were what they call sub prime mortgages. In other words giving mortages to ;people who they knew down the road would not be able to make mortgage payments and would be forclosed. This is what happened and they now have millions of unsold and repossesed houses on the market.

The Canadian Companies, and the workers made hay while the sun was shining, to supply this market, and now it has busted.

We now have a situation where there is a glut on the market exacerbated by the downturn in the economy and the chances of this market turning around in the short term is ***NIL***.

Going to 2 and 3 shifts per day to supply this short term market created the illusion that things were great, and would get better, when in fact the market was created in the first ;place because the market was bad. Thats why they allowed these low interest, no payment on the principle for two years, mortgages.

We now have to pay the piper. The Liberal Government, or any Provincial Government in Canada is not responsible for this fiasco. It is the Banks and Mortgate companies, and the US Government was complicite in the whole scheme. George Bush and his cronies.

Have a nice day

Apart from Dr. Dooms useless and inaccurate comments I believe everyone is on the same page for a change on opinion 250

Right on, Palopu! The BC Liberals have also done good things for forestry in BC, introducing the Forest and Range Practices Act for one.

The knee-jerk reaction is to always blame government, but in this case it's a bigger picture. Neither the Liberals or the NDP will get the US to start building houses again.

why can we not have a government were the elected officals would have to listen to the people of their riding instead of having to toe the party line. These days of the internet it should be simple to be able to vote on line therebye giving your repersentative a clue as to how he would be expected to vote.

When the US economy sneezes, Canada's economy catches the cold.

Until Canada or any Province can come up with something that the world needs in terms of a trade commodity, Canada will always be dependant on the US for its economic well being.

"why can we not have a government were the elected officals would have to listen to the people of their riding "

As someone noted in another thread, you can't get five people to agree on what to have for lunch, let alone the idealism that government 'listen to the people'. Which people?

"why can we not have a government were the elected officals would have to listen to the people of their riding "

As someone noted in another thread, you can't get five people to agree on what to have for lunch, let alone the idealism that government 'listen to the people'. Which people?

Please do we need Carol James and her band of merry men to ride in on white horses to save the economy lets face it when the U.S. gets its head out of the sand then the rest of the world will follow, Now is not the time to place blame but we should all come together and help one another get through this mess....

Dmg- your joking of course- little any provinical governments can do- these are market forces not polictical issues. Also it will get a lot worse.

The entire economic system is crashing in slow motion, and will continue to do so for some time to come. If anybody could do anything to change it, they already would have. Desperate times are still to come.

Goldenbear
Actually I dont think my comments are useless or inaccurate. I have been in the forest industry for almost 30 years and have never seen the effect of poor forest management and a crashing market combine to destroy an industry like ours. Taking the TFL's from the communities was a huge mistake, not to mention Rich "my hands are tied" Coleman. Oh Yeah , before that Mike DeJong. I guess you have a point that it cant get worse than that. By the way is it useless to be concerned for workers families. Workers need to support the NDP. END OF STORY

Goldenbear
Actually I dont think my comments are useless or inaccurate. I have been in the forest industry for almost 30 years and have never seen the effect of poor forest management and a crashing market combine to destroy an industry like ours. Taking the TFL's from the communities was a huge mistake, not to mention Rich "my hands are tied" Coleman. Oh Yeah , before that Mike DeJong. I guess you have a point that it cant get worse than that. By the way is it useless to be concerned for workers families. Workers need to support the NDP. END OF STORY

Goldenbear
Actually I dont think my comments are useless or inaccurate. I have been in the forest industry for almost 30 years and have never seen the effect of poor forest management and a crashing market combine to destroy an industry like ours. Taking the TFL's from the communities was a huge mistake, not to mention Rich "my hands are tied" Coleman. Oh Yeah , before that Mike DeJong. I guess you have a point that it cant get worse than that. By the way is it useless to be concerned for workers families. Workers need to support the NDP. END OF STORY

Dr. Doom:

30 years in the industry and you think this is because of the Liberals? The current situation has nothing to do with the current government, past goverments, the forest tenure system, the mountain pine beetle epidemic, taking TFL's away from communities. It's all due to the financial meltdown in the US. Mills are shutting down everywhere, not just in BC.

Electing the NDP will not change anything. When lumber prices are at $150 fbm forest companies will not stay in business. Seeing how you think the NDP can fix the problem would you mind explaining how the NDP will fix the situation? Apparently Carol James can fix the world economy, but can't stop someone breaking into her car.


Should I now post this three times in a row to make my point or TYPE SOMETHING IN CAPITALS WTF

Thank you Goldenbear!!!

Dr Doom: Doomed is what we would be if we were to follow you down the NDP path. In times like this is not the time to rock the political boat and change direction of policy. Even the Federal Liberals figured that out. We need a strong government that can help us get threw these hard times. You many not agree on some of the Liberals policies and I will admit they are not perfect, but then who is?. I believe they are really our best bet for what is to come. The NDP has little to no success in increasing business or the BC economy in the past, and that is what we need to create jobs.

Goldenbear you hit the nail right on the head and like Poppa said thank you...

The decline in the forest industry started before the recent housing and market crashes. It started with some of the issues you stated and even in decent conditions logs were headed across the border,companies like timberwest who became log brokers and real estate developers instead of employing the thousands of workers on the island. The liberals allowed and encouraged this to happen. Shame. Sorry about posting 3 times, dont know what happened there, and I will not use upper case to express points anymore. I do believe the NDP forest plan will go along way to help our industry recover when the markets turn. Have you read it?

Dr.Doom: Do you actually believe everything that the NDP tells us.It does not matter which party it is,they will tell you what you want to hear to get elected.How many times do we let these people pull the wool over our eyes.We all need to take a stand and let the government know that we elect them on their promises,not deceit.By the way Government is supposed to be for the people by the people.....that seems to have been eliminated some where along the way to being brainwashed.

As previous posters have stated, it wouldnt matter who was in government, nothing can be done until the world economy begins to improve. It is important to keep pressuring your elected representative to make sure funding comes up to these areas. You look at the lower mainland media, the loss of all these jobs is buried in the back of the papers. The key is to make sure that whatever government is in power (Liberals, NDP,) remembers that Mackenzie, Williams Lake, etc is as important to the province as building a 10 lane bridge across the Fraser

darken
you are correct...no govt can help at this time..my point is that the liberals,when the industry was making money made poor irresponsible decisions regarding forest management and lets not forget the gutting of the WCB Act and the results that occured from that. I want a govt for the people by the people

dirtcheap
yes i do believe the NDP forestry plan.Forest critic Bob Simpson MLA Cariboo South is probaly the one person who understands what needs to be done. Have met him and listened to him...it makes sense

Bob Simpson understands nothing- he is an HR with no understanding of the forest industry- get under head out of the sand.

Ok,Dr.Doom It looks like Bob Simpson made a believer out of you quite easily, but did you get it on tape,because we all seem to forget what these liars tell us to get themselves elected.