And so the dominos begin to fall........first mackenzie......then winton global...what next?

Are you sure you want to know?

Yes, i want to know. Has the PG economy diversified enough to absorb the onslaught of the predicted demise of the forestry industry? ie: cn, airport, etc......

Now house prices will start to decline again!

78 people out of work. Why with Prince George's booming economy there must be 78 new jobs just waiting. Hopefully the families that are affected will not suffer any hardship as a result of unemployment. Way to go Gordon! What really is next?

Imorg. The PG economy hasnt diversified at all. The CN Container Stuffing Terminal while creating some jobs, will also eliminate some. One of the first acts of business for the Prince George Airport Authority was to eliminate 20 jobs. They havent done anything as yet to create some jobs. (Some short term construction jobs for Terminal Building and Parking Lot) Dont hold your breath for the Wide Body Cargo Jets to start arriving, as the Airport has not yet received any funding from the Federal or Provincial Governments, and even if they do and the expansion is built, the whole project is based over 20 years and is dependent on Major companies relocating here.

There will be further announcements in regards to lumber mills, (dont forget the one in the BCR Indusrial Park that just went broke) that will shut down, so brace yourself.

At the end of the day we will have a City with a large residential population located at the fringe of the City limits. (City limits is approx a 10 Mile radius from downtown Prince George) ie; Upper College Heights, University (Westgate), Hart Highlands, Fraser River Bench Lands, Aberdeen Glen, and the new subdivisions yet to be announced near the location of the new golf course. The Citys present subdivisions, ie; Millar Addition, Central Ft George, Quinson, etc; will start to decline much like south of 20th Avenue.

People are leaving the bowl for the upper reaches, and will shop at the Malls located in their areas and the inner City will suffer.

Have a nice day.

More depressing news that we didn't need.
I feel for the workers involved.
That's a lot of jobs no matter how you look at it!
Unfortunately it will get worse before it get better, but our worthless politicians will still get their fat raises and pensions for sure!
Makes you wonder how they can look at themselves in the mirror?
They need to start paying attention to something other than the lower mainland!
We all need to start making some serious noise!
Are you listening Gordo?

So how is the 78 jobs at Winton Global connected to Gordon Campbell? Winton Global says it is the high Canadian dollar, a slump in lumber consumption in the USA and an over supply of lumber. So are you calling Winton Global a liar?

I like to hold any politician accountable, but goofy claims like Antifreeze and REALIST certainly makes it harder for legitimate complaints to be taken seriously by anyone. Or maybe I missed the joke and Antifreeze and REALIST are just being silly on purpose.

I don't think expressing an opinion about 78 jobs lost could be consider an accusation for a lie. However, YamaDooPolCat, your reference to goofy claims is sad considering their are 78 families about to loose their lively hood. What makes you so sure that the name Gord always refers to our premier? Is that legitimate of just an assumption?

Actually, I don't think I am being silly at all!
The very fact that the Campbell government knew damn well this was coming and did nothing to prepare or assist the people of B.C. is a disgrace.
So where is the plan?
This started at the top of the economic ladder and that IS the government.
And they did know this would happen.
They pay people big bucks to research and deal with this stuff, and somebody dropped the ball here!
And if they didn't know this was coming, then they are not doing their jobs!
Or did they just decide to keep their mouths shut?
So what are we paying them for?
Has anyone noticed the low profile being kept by our fearless leaders on the subject of Pine Beetle devastation and the impact it is having or will have on our mills and the lumber market in general?
And where in fact IS Gordon Campbell?
They don't talk about what is happening up here and avoid the real issues.
They talk about the Container Port in Rupert,a container port in PG,potential mining projects,and blah,blah,blah.
None of that will provide the jobs that will be lost in the forest industry.
If you cut off the blood supply,which is in fact forestry here in the north,the cash cow will slowly die.
We are in BIG trouble throughout Northern Central B.C.and while our forest industry slides down the tube and people lose everything they have worked for,they do and say nothing!
They were elected to manage and protect the interests of the people they REPRESENT and I sure as hell don't see much of that happening.
I do see a lot of dollars being wasted on mega projects and monuments to themselves on the lower mainland!
And it isn't just forestry in trouble up here.
I also see a healthcare system that is failing us very badly as another example.
Anyone who fails to see the connection to the political scene in B.C.is not paying attention to the things that matter the most.
People and jobs, and quality of life.
In a couple of years,those same jobs will become very scarce here in the nothern reaches.
It's already started and it will get MUCH worse!
But do they care?
No,they got their 29 percent,they got their Olympics,they got their over priced Convention Center and on and on it goes.
And we are talking in billions here.
Reasonable people find reasonable solutions to problems, and they have done nothing to help find solutions of any kind.
Are they here offering financial aid or any kind of assistance to alternative industry options?
No.
Just more red tape.
We are on our own up here, and when it gets bad enough that they can no longer ignore what is happening the heart of B.C.,they will all belly up to the bar and try to portray themselves as the big heros!
When in actual fact,they are the problem!
A lot like Nero fiddling while Rome burns!
So if that is silly,then yes,I guess I am being silly.
Only time will tell.

Wow. PG will need help sooner rather than later....20 yrs down the road for the airport terminal is not plausible for today's impending economic crisis. I did read in the vancouver sun how they were using beetle wood to make ethanol fuel by converting older innefficient mills into processing plants. Could there be some kind of economic salvager there should mills here shut down?

Andy, while your post has validity the government over the past 5 years has done a good job maintaining and improving lifestyles for most. I look around PG and see more BMW, Lexus,Mercedes and higher end vehicles than I can ever recall, not to mention the number of high end homes being bought. During the same period of time the employment rate has fallen dramatically, during those growth cycles it is the responsibility of the individual to prepare themselves for the next downcycle. I think there maybe a huge opportunity over the next few years to take advantage of peoples 'financial irresposibility' during the 'good' times

zoom : by taking an opportunity to take advantage of people's financial irresponsibility" do you mean to buy their homes at auction prices once they realize they bit off more than they could chew? Your sounding a little vulturish to me....

That is exactly what I mean, someone would be helping them out by relieving them of their financial stress. Vulturish...maybe, but if there is money to be made in distressed market, company etc. someone who is more financially responsible should make some money.

hmmm guess i'll wait till home prices plummet to buy or cash in on some forclosures...

A wise man once said 'buy low, sell high'.Have some fun with it lmorg. Sorry for the political incorcectness on wise man

"The PG economy hasnt diversified at all. The CN Container Stuffing Terminal while creating some jobs, will also eliminate some. One of the first acts of business for the Prince George Airport Authority was to eliminate 20 jobs. They havent done anything as yet to create some jobs."

It seems to be a broken record........

Maybe we can flip it over to hear whether there is anything different on the other side.

"More depressing news that we didn't need.
I feel for the workers involved.
That's a lot of jobs no matter how you look at it!"

There are tons of jobs waiting in the service industry. Manufacturing is declining and going to the countries who have lower wages. Nothing new. The USA has lost over 3million manufacturing jobs since 2000. Yet unemployment is relatively low. Canada is not far behind.

Remember, the economy is flying away red hot accross North America and interest rates are threatening to rise to slow the access to cheap money. The DOW and TSX are down big time since the beginning of the week. Gasoline prices are following. Travellers will probably follow as well.

;-)

"The very fact that the Campbell government knew damn well this was coming and did nothing to prepare or assist the people of B.C. is a disgrace."

They knew that the USA would go for a nose dive because they knew that the USA would not be out of Iraq in a year and they knew that China would never buy USA products but would continue to undermine USA products and run up huge trade surpluses?

Did you not tell them that? And they did not listen? And do what? Print money to deflate the canuck buck? Peg the canuck buck at 80cents US? Buy up housing developers and land in the US ship lumber donw there and sell the houses for 20% less than competitors to keep the housing market booming? Nuke the pine beetles? Build gambling casinos and whore houses in every little town in BC and fly tourists over on the government jet? Build more Starbucks? Build Hybrid vehicles? Bid on the Winter Olympics?

Actually,I am not even talking about the US econmic downturn or the dollar.
Those things only compound an already fragile situation.
What I AM in fact talking about, is the impact of the Pine Beetle infestation on the economy in B.C.
Particularly here in northern/north central B.C and the Cariboo overall.
I am always amazed at how little people care about or understand what actually drive this province as a whole.
And it sure as hell isn't the lower mainland!
It is a lot of things combined, and if you take a major contributor such as the forest industry out of the picture,everything will suffer.
And it already is.

Stuart Lake Lumber in Fort St. James has also closed its doors

...and Pope & Talbot is just barely hanging on.One more minor bump in the system and they are down!
Everyone WAAAY over stocked with wood.
Going to be a bad summer for the truckers!

"I am always amazed at how little people care about or understand what actually drive this province as a whole.
And it sure as hell isn't the lower mainland!"

I too am always amazed at that. I am amazed that people do not realize that economies change over time and that the driver no longer is the fur industry, nor gold mining which were the primary reasons for this part of the country being opened up in the first place.

Forestry then followed as the key driver of opening up the province, other than in the Peace, and has been loosing its share of the economy for some time. It has certainly been loosing its share of job creation for a few decades.

Forestry will continue to be a player for some time, but its proportion of the provincial economy will start to decline even more in the future with up and down blips as it goes along.

We've had, and are still having, an up blip as a result of logging at a higher cut due to the pine beetle. That, in part, resulted in over supply and did not help the trade talks when we were glutting the market. Now other factors are at play as well - downturn in housing demand in the USA (still a large demand by all means), a C$ worth 30%+ more than 4 years ago, and now a goods inspection cost of $7.50 per railcar at the border.

So, keep that head in the sand and eventually suffocate from lack of air.

On the other side of the record we find the musings of Owl. Fancy phrases and catchwords, surrounded with philosophical meandering.\\

The decrease in house prices in Prince George has already started. Ask around and you will see that people are now having trouble selling. More and more for sale signs going up.

I agree that the fur trade is gone, and maybe the forest industrie is in its twilight years, however neither Owl, myself, nor anyone else has come up with what will be next. I suspect it will be a exodus to other areas of the Province, and Alberta.

You can starve to death trying to live on fancy phrases and gibberish.

Have a nice day.

A wise man once said 'buy low, sell high'.Have some fun with it lmorg.

This is an accurate reflection of today's society. Funny how the people with the money to "have some fun with it" are also the people that can influence the system one way or another.

It reminds me of a prominent New York stockbroker, who, on the afternoon of 9/11 suddenly proclaimed, amongst all the tragedy and pain, "Oh my god, gold must be up !" (thinking about all the reserves of gold that got buried in the rubble, as well as his significant gold purchases)

I'm surprised he didn't dress up in hardhat and orange vest and go help with the recovery effort, only to hide his intentions of checking the victim's pockets for money.

Another story was a woman who was involved in a single vehicle accident and needed medical assistance. The first man that stopped to help, raped her and left.

Don't we harbor some gems in our crowd.
These people think this is "having fun with it".

Hope somebody returns the favor, but remember, it's all in fun.