Another one bites the dust.

A sad reality in todays market.

Not good for that community, don't be surprised if one or even two of our mills in Prince George is gone with in three years. Its gonna happen.

If the regional district really want to be smart about this, I would go to Canfor and say, Here is four sections of land, 2miles square. log it, and build a super saw mill on it. and save enough room to build a state of the art Pulpmill. My suggestion would be some where at the confluence of the Willow River and the Fraser River, near railways. Bus the workers in and out.

The world is changing. If we stick to old ideas, we will be extinct. If we want to prosper, the mega corporations have to prosper too. We as citizens of the north, should not be selling the land to the mega projects. We should be giving the land to them, and lets get people employed now.

Come on Gordo and Co, lets get the hwy 37 electrification project on fast track and get ready to start mining. This seems like our only shining star in the northwest.

"would go to Canfor and say, Here is four sections of land, 2miles square. log it, and build a super saw mill on it."

-Its called PG Sawmill.

I seen this coming for months now... the saw mills out west stopped shipping their wood chips to Eurocan by truck months ago some of them, and at some point it had to mean something drastic like this was in the works. Some of the stock piles out west are as big as the stock piles at some of our pulp mills. This will definately have an effect across the north in vary drastic ways in the not to distant future. Those mills out west will be sure to try and off load their chips to PG pulp mills now and that will factor heavily on Canfor's decisions to keep mills open in this area in the medium term I would have to logically conclude.

Take the suppliers and the supplied and this has a very wide spread effect on the entire northern economy, and it is a result as much as anything of the 'last man standing' strategy between forest companies that the forestry heads will never admit to because they all have their masters on Wall Street to answer to.

Pat Bell will have the distinction of seeing the closing down of more then half of the Northern forest industry by the time he leaves office. I can't see how they can have a forest industry now west of Fraser Lake with out a pulp mill out west... ideally one would locate a pulp mill in Houston for the west for logisticall reasons, but I don't think we are likely to see that with our monopoly capitalist government any time soon.

RIP Kitimat.

"ideally one would locate a pulp mill in Houston for the west for logisticall reasons, but I don't think we are likely to see that with our monopoly capitalist government any time soon."

LOL. There hasnt been a pulp mill built in BC under any government for what? 25 years? Those days are gone. You realize that the Liberals havent been in power that long right? Or maybe not...

Everyone knows there is a last man standing in the industry now, thats not insight.

This will have a big short term effect on the loggers in Prince George this winter.

Those stockpiles of chips will go directly to local pulp mills, lowering the demand for logs, less logs being shipped to town, less work for local loggers.

A bad news story that just keeps on giving bad news.

I was just reading how pleased the mayor was when it appeared Eurocan would lose their lawsuit to have their excessive municipal taxation reduced. For a few days the city had the prospect of continuing to milk the Eurocan cow, but it appears the cow just died. I wonder how much taxes a shutdown mil pays. When are resource communities going to get the message that when pulp/paper mills say they are in serious trouble, they are?

Did anyone read the article.

**One of the causes of the mill shutting down was the lack of a supply of low cost chips from sawmills in the region, and the high cost of whole log chipping.**

Once they close down, whatever chips that were available will go to Prince George Mills, and of course whole log chipping will stop.

Lumber mills in the area will continue to produce lumber and ship to the good old USA, and some logs will continue to be shipped to Prince Rupert for export to China/Japan.

The other point is the reduction in price for Linerboard and Kraft Paper. Plus the high Canadian dollar. There was also some mention of a court case to fight their high taxes from the City of Kitimat.

Anyone who thinks that you can tax the S..t out of business and people over an extended period of time with impunity, and not pay the consequences is just kidding themselves.

During this recession it is necessary to do all possible to keep business going and to cut all possible costs to Citizens. I have not seen any indication from any City or the Government that they are willing to do that. These fat cats have to get their spending in line. We are competing on the world stage, and the biggest problem we have to reducing costs, and red tape, is the bloody four levels of Government, that have a choke hold on business and people. Its absolutely crazy.

This shut down will have far reaching effects for every business from Kitimat to Prince George.

For those people who are hell bent to build the power line up Highway 37 to open up the mining. You might want to consider where the power for these mines will come from. I suspect that it will be generated at Kemano, and if there is a huge demand then Rio Tinto (Alcan) could reduce the production of aluminum ingots and generate power for BC Hydro. If this happens you could have further lay offs.

What is the present status of the new Aluminum Plant that was to be built at Kitimat??? Has anyone heard anything since Rio Tinto took over??? Even if the plant is built, once it is completed there will be a further loss of approx 400 jobs.

Kitimat is in serious trouble, along with Mackenzie, Tumbler Ridge.

Who's next??

Good points Palopu, although I would respectfully submit that if property taxes were the proverbial straw that broke the back of an operation the size of Eurocan, there were already more serious systemic issues lurking in the background. Taken as a single line item on their income statement for that operation, the amount of property taxes they pay would almost certainly be considered immaterial and not an item that would impact any meaningful strategic decisions on their part . . .

I would suggest that the difficulties facing operations like Eurocan has more to do with the global economy, demand for products, access to credit, the impact of timber resource supply and the state of the Canadian dollar. When it comes to income taxes, most any of these large companies will be in a position to receive significant refunds of tax due to the fact that they can carry back current year losses to offset taxes paid in previous profitable years. In those regards, the tax system is already structed to allow some "smoothing" of the tax load between good and bad years.

I agree NMG however in addition to the Municipal Taxes, they also have to pay the PST on all purchases. This will change when they download to PST to the average taxpayer, however taxes do have an effect on the operations of companies, especially when they are losing money.

In any event my point is, is that the four levels of Government tax to get revenue for various and sundry project, however if they stuck with the basics, and reduced staff, and taxes, there would be more money in the system, and operating costs could be reduced.

Governments should get the hell out of the real estate business, the construction business, the gambling business, the Olympic business, etc;

A good example::: A company in Ontario that produces Organic Turkeys has run into this problem.

The turkey marketing board requires that all turkeys must be kept in an enclosed building to ensure as best as possible that they will not become infected with the Avian Flu. In order to get your quota from the marketing board you have to show that you are complying with these rules.

The same Government that controls the turkey marketing board requires that in order for you to have your turkeys certified as organic, you have to show that they were raised in the open, and are basically free run.

There is the dilemma, and the only option for the organic producer, because he cannot get a quota, is to go broke.

Governments by their very nature are incompetent to a large degree, and should as much as possible stick to the basics.

If our Government wont change and make it easier for business to operate, and reduce taxes to the average citizen, then we will continue to go broke, and eventually all hell will break loose.

The news of Eurocan closing is a shocker for me. I had the impression the paper produced at that mill was in high demand due to the quality it produced.
Taxes are as NMG said not a big line item for a well managed business. I surmise that is where the majority of the problem lies. However, the economy, supply, operating costs etc, etc... are major challenges for any business today.
The consumer needs have also changed. Our insatiable appetite for plastic and paperless office environments has also put a strangle hold on demand.
I have recently boycotted plastic grocery bags by requesting paper bags at the checkouts. If we all did this in support of our pulp and paper workers, demand would spike. It probably won't save Eurocan but it should sustain those still standing.
We are supposedly moving to a greener way of life - paper bags retain the carbon and later, biodegrade. Paper products are easily recycled - unlike plastic which supports the petroleum industry.

Giterdun, mines can take decades to get rolling. If you ask me, the only thing that's going to get mined are the pockets of the investors.

I don't agree with bailouts but better them than the fat cat banks

Re: Bailouts. Rememeber Skeena Cellulose? How much did we pay for that one?

"What is the present status of the new Aluminum Plant that was to be built at Kitimat??? "

Rio Tinto/Alcan in Kitimat recently took delivery of approximately 100 million dollars worth of electrical equipment needed for the conversion of the old smelter to the new technology.

This equipment was ordered before the global meltdown and most of it is now on site at Kitimat.

The actual new plant construction may go ahead in the near future or it may be delayed until conditions are more favourable internationally.

Rio Tinto is a global megacorp and has the option to build new smelters elsewhere, anywhere, if needed.

This is very bad news, I am sad to hear this. The impact from a permanent closure of Eurocan will affect many people and businesses in B.C. most directly of course, those in Kitimat. This is diastrous news for our provincial economy, as Eurocan directly or indirectly sourced their maintenance and capital projects materials and labour from within B.C.
I hate to be the one to say it, but the demise of Eurocan can only strengthen Canfor's position in the global market.
metalman.

*****"The world is changing. If we stick to old ideas, we will be extinct. If we want to prosper, the mega corporations have to prosper too. We as citizens of the north, should not be selling the land to the mega projects. We should be giving the land to them, and lets get people employed now."**************************************

Yeah right on top of the tremendous tax breaks we give them, only to have them turn around and sue municipalities when they have to pay their taxes. Or have them move when they aren't making money for stockholders in some far off land, who do not spend their dollars in this area.

Corporate welfare needs to end, and we need to end the psychopathic behaviour we've allowed corporations to have for so long.

I'm not sure you understand what "Psychopathic" means .....

One of the penalties for refusing to paticipate in Politics is that you end up being Governed by your inferiors. **Plato**

We have incompetent Governments at four different levels in BC. Federal, Provincial, Regional, and Municipal. We have also allowed these Governments to download their responsibilities to Government owned entities such as BC Ferries, BC Transit, Airport Authorities, BC Hydo, etc; etc; etc;. We have also given these entities the power to assess rates, and therefore the right to tax us.

So in essence in a number of cases, we are being taxed without representation. Ie; BC Transit, Airport Authoritys, BC Ferries, ICBC. (Im sure there are many more)

This is an abidication of the responsibilities of our different levels of Government. All they do is sit on their collective asses, and tax us, and distribute the revenue and jobs to whomever they see fit.

Problem is most people in BC dont even know what is going on, let alone have any idea how to stop it.

Who the hell gave the Aiport Authority the right to tax me.

Who gave the Transit Authority the right.

Who gave the City the Authority to set up Iniative Prince George with a budget of $2.5 Million and have these bozos running around spending my tax dollar. Who voted for them/.

Who gave the Northern Trust Initiative Fund $500 Million dollars and allowed them to invest, and loan this money where ever the hell they please. Who voted for the people who run the Northern Trust.

The answer to all these questions is NOBODY VOTED FOR THEM.

This is just a miniscule part of the overall huge problems we have in this Country.

Three or four million a year in property taxes, over and above what you receive in services, is not insignificant even to a large company. More importantly it is an indicator of an attitude by too many that these mills are just cows to be milked. I live in another resource dependent community and the same attitude exists here. In todays economy these mills need to have their communities solidly behind them in every respect and that just isn't happening.
There is something fundamentally wrong if we can't have a prosperous forest industy in BC where we have the basics of wood, power and water in abundance. What is missing is support from all levels of government. Victoria showed more concern about the roof problems on BC place stadium than they did over the pine beetle. This mill shutdown wil not change that mindset.I don't know what it wil take for this government to realize that their single minded focus on the Vancouver mega projects is losing them any support they ever had in the "hinterlands". Some day when the forest industry is gone people may realize you cannot build a provincial economy based on nothing but tourism and real estate in Vancouver, but by then it will be too late.

The fact that West Fraser can surprise a community with such an announcement is a serious condemnation of both our provincial and federal governments.

The provincial decisions five or six years ago on forestry licenses and the freedom for forestry companies to chose where to operate has now come full circle and litaerally caused the shut-down of virtually all forest industry activity west of Prince George.

That the decision is a surprise to the Forestry minister or the employees is virtually unconscionable.

I have to disagree with our Mayor that Eorocan has been exemplary comunity citizens -- this has not been true for more than a decade. Eurocan has involved itself within the community in as limited a way as possible, as a company, although many of its loyal employees have contributed more than their share and will clearly also be left to pay the price.

Not to have publicly discussed their plans
demonstrates this decision was reached some time ago and was a well-guarded secret.