Excuse me, Where's the Beef? One Man's Opinion
By Ben Meisner
The Forest companies and the communities that surround them, are now seeking government assistance from the Province and the Federal government.
Are we talking about British Columbia ? Of course not. It is Alberta and they have a much stronger voice in Ottawa than we do.
So where is that Beetle money, that pot of gold, that was to transform us from a forestry dependent region into something else? We do know that at least a portion so far has been spent on the Alberta, BC border trying to stop the spread of the pest, the project has had very limited results.
We do know that it was the people of the central part of the province that were supposed to be the major benefactors of that $1 billion dollar special fund. We do know that we have received just a few drops out of the water jug so far and the clock is ticking for our future.
So lets stand back and watch the events of the next few months, perhaps as long as year, and see if we suddenly become the poor cousins of the west.
We have watched what has happened in Mackenzie, so far there has been no rush by the feds to step in and offer some help to a community that faces major hardships should the Canfor Mill close.
You can't condemn the work that Agriculture Minister Pat Bell has done in trying to put together a new deal that would see the company, at the very least, set a time line for the "indefinite closure" and at best, keep it from shutting down at all. Bell however, cannot go it alone and that 1 billion dollars (Oh I’m sorry , 800 million or so now) seems to have eluded the folks in that region.
|So Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn, when will that cheque be in the mail?
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
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I think it has much more to do with:
1. the considerable downturn of the US dollar, the effects of which are felt throughout Canada in many ways. That effect may be around for some time if the spread stays as is. In the 1960's the C$ bought US$1.07 or so. We may have to wait till after the US elections to see the US dollar strengthening if whoever gets elected begins to steer in a different path than the present wisdom residing in the White House has managed to do.
2. the downturn in the US housing market, which was foreseen several years ago and people should have been able to prepare for.
3. the continuing tariff on Canadian lumber even after a new agreement which has been known for a year and also could have been predicted many years ago by woods industry savvy people who should understand the mentality of the US at a time when they are loosing manufacturing jobs to foreign countries one after another.
4. the continuing reliance on the US as the chief customer. Are we only competitive against US manufacturer’s? I gather it has mainly to do with the fact we both use the same system of building houses. Can we not manufacture products to compete globally rather than just in parts of North America?
It is too bad we are so dependent on jobs provided by what may turn out to be an industry that is really not that flexible at all. They have learned how to be more efficient at producing the same product. It might be getting close to the time when they may have to take a serious look at the product itself since it may not be sustainable at past levels of production.