Get On With It: One Man's Opinion
By Ben Meisner
The members of the OBAC charged with coming up with some plans for the future after the beetle epidemic, had better put their thinking caps back on if they have been listening to the Premier and his recent comments.
Premier Campbell says he is not ready to give up on them yet, but he does point to the outstanding efforts by the Cariboo group as a testament of what can be done.
If you add to that , Canfor’s comments that the beetle wood quality is breaking down quicker than originally thought and one gets the feeling that we in this region had better get our ship in order and get on with the program unless we are prepared to stand around and watch the fortunes of the region go down the tube.
From Initiatives PG right up to the Mayor’s office we have been hitching our wagon to some ideas that appear to have been hatched on Third Ave on a hot August day.
Training Olympians in PG is not going to get us through the next few decades and apart from suggesting that we are on an active campaign to attract foreign students to CNC and UNBC (which so far the record speaks for itself) we have done little about looking towards the future.
Campbell said it, "I want people to be telling us what they want to have in their areas, 15 years down the road, not next year" in other words, get your plans together.
So far, while the Cariboo gets its ducks in a row, we are still spending our fortunes on pie in the sky adventures.
Our population has remained static in recent years and while those people who rely on the city have a busting economy as a means of making a living would like you to think we are about to enter an era of unprecedented growth , so far its been all about talk.
As we all know, talk is cheap.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
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There is an interdependency here, however, that we must be sure we stay aware of. The fortune of PG is dependent on the fortunes of the communities surrounding us which rely on us as a supply centre for goods and services to industry as well as residents. By the same token, the province depends on communities such as PG being successful.
While each community is master of their house, we have to ensure that we support them to ensure they remain viable at the least and thrive and prosper at best. PG has a role to play in assisting the surrounding areas. By the same token, BC has a role to play in assisting communities such as PG.
In my view we are still too dependent in our thinking on extractive industries. In fact, we are too dependent in our thinking on the effect of the MPB. We may be blinded by that "glare" in not seeing that even without the MPB, the forest industry in Canada and even the world is undergoing a structural change which should see us taking a new look at what part we can play in the forestry of the future.
From where I sit, it looks to me that part of that will be a continuation of fewer jobs over time in the entire world-wide industry. Pockets may be able to stay with the same number of jobs or an increase, if they are built on a different forest product or service.
So, we need to diversify within the forest products/services industry and we need to diversify in the entire spectrum of industries. We also need the best help possible at as early a stage as possible so that there is as little spinning of wheels as possible.
If OBAC is floundering, and from what I can tell they are, then they need help. I would not sit around and wait much longer to allow them to show us that they are productive.
Some words from a Monday article in the Globe and Mail:
“Mill towns have sprung up and died for nearly as long as timber has been hauled out of Canadian woods. But the recent round of closings signals more than lumber barons moving from one stand of timber to the next. The shutdowns reflect a now-global industry going through what some say is the biggest change in a century or more.”
“That change is being driven by a truckload of factors, including new competition from lumber producers in places such as Uruguay, Chile and Brazil, shrinking newsprint demand and growing recognition of the role that forests play when it comes to climate and biodiversity.”
“Communities, government, labour, industry and aboriginal groups should be talking now about what their options are in five, 10 and 20 years, says UBC's Mr. Vertinsky. One concept he likes is industry clusters that would see research and development facilities grouped with, for example, new mills.”
“There's a woeful lack of research on big, strategic issues such as the impact of policy changes on rural communities, says Tom Maness, a professor at UBC's faculty of forestry and director of the industry-funded B.C. Forum on Forest Economics and Policy.”
It seems to me there is plenty of work there at the provincial and federal in addtion to the local level.
So, what is the province doing with respect to forest policy and what are the feds doing with respect to international trade?