Nothing they can do? Except pay for a new roof for BC place. Fund the olympic games. New skytrain routes for the GVRD. The Vancouver convention center. I'm not in favour of governments giving money to private business, but how about a friggin tax break or something. The Liberals are about one thing only. Vancouver.

Of course they can't do anything. NCP is in Prince George. Prince George is no where near the lower mainland. No hope beyond Hope in the "Heartlands" or I should say "Wastelands"

If my house were to burn down my insurance company wont write me a cheque for the amount that was insured. They make me rebuild on site. Why is there any doubt? Wont they have to rebuild?????? If thats not the case why hasnt there been alot more freak accident fires at mills in the area... hmmm Ft. St. James mills maybe????? I dunno they seem to be going bankrupt and a nice insurance settlement might have helped them out.

A business can't take tax breaks to the bank. What would happen if the NDP got elected on another lie, such as corporate greed was to blame for all the mosquitos? The people that have to put up the money, like Bad Jimmy and Bentley, want to see a good business case. Otherwise the money should just stay in their pockets for now.

I am wondering what OBAC has to say about this. I think we need some recommendations from them, then an action plan, some awareness raising, a seance or two, and some printed reports ......

Jimmy would like that ......

;-)

Nope, Canfor wants a new technology plywood mill, it should be Canfor that pays for it. Government has no place in private business. That leads to socialism. or worse yet another NDP government.

I should hope not Canfor has held the taxpayers ransom for years with threats of shutdowns unless the province chips in with subsidies,tax breaks,stumpage relief.Hopefully the province says no to yet again more corporate welfare to this provincial parasite. Exactly Wileycoyote, the insurance should be for replacement asset only.

The insurance company is a business. If it would cost them less to build in another location, then I am sure that they would provide the money to build in another location.

The building should be the easy part. The question will likely deal primarily with the machinery in the building, parts of which would be outdated by now and would be replaced with newer technology no matter where it is built. I expect that there are some guidelines for that, and even some contract language around that. In addition, I would expect that would be a matter for negotiation as well.

Once they come to an agreement on the sum, I would think that Canfor can simply take that settlement and not build, build in the same location with a different plant configuration or build elsewhere.

If not, then Canfor has a lot of insured assets which they may wish to look at going insurance shopping for.

;-)

HE speaks wrote..."Government has no place in private business. That leads to socialism. or worse yet another NDP government."

It's all part of the larger liberal/corporate plan for busting unions.
Make things bad enough for the people in our province and when they are hungry enough they will work for nothing.
Hows that for having no place in private business.

The gov doesn't have any place in private business, so why do they cater to big business and screw the people of the province. Such as, at one time timber licenses were tied to the companies providing jobs in local mills for them to have the rights to the logs in our forests.
The liberals cancelled that law shortly after being elected. Now raw log exports across the border are taking the peoples jobs with them.

Hows that for not having any place in private business?

Our gov is supposed to be there looking out for the people.
The liberals are there looking out for big business.
The NDP are there looking out for the people.

Canfor trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange - it is a publicly trading company. The government has no business in the private sector whatsoever. Whatever happens - happens. Let economics take care of the situation - subsidizing big corporations is not the answer.

RUEZ: "I'm not in favour of governments giving money to private business, but how about a friggin tax break or something. "

Typical anti-Liberal pro-NDP slight-of-hand rhetoric! Now you see it - now you don't!

It reminds me of Dave Barrett on a weekend ranting and raving against the greedy corporations - only to put on his business suit on a Monday morning to jet to Wall Street to arrange for more loan money for British Columbia - from the greedy banking corporations who lend money for profit!

A frigging tax break means GIVING them money eventually by allowing them to keep money (taxes) that they would have normally paid to the government - us, in the future!

Nothing the Liberals do is any good! If they do it, it's no good. If they don't do it, it's no good either!

Politics in Lotus Land!

Lost faith, Last time our government got into rescueing a company was Repap in Prince Rupert. How much did that cost us. 100 million dollars, and did that save the jobs, did that create any long term employment. No, the mill was down as soon as the money ran out. Wasn't that the NDP that was in power then.

I would rather have government run by business oriented people than a bunch of teachers and union leaders, that have no idea where and how the money world works.

You're right on about Repap (He Speaks) but I think the numbers were more like over $200 + million, and the same mentality cost us taxpayers well over $100 million with the mill down in Boston Bar several years back under the Union watch (NDP)!

As soon as the first $75 million ran out, they wanted $50 more, and when that ran out, and they were refused more, the mill simply shut down and the jobs we taxpayers were subsidizing for that year and a half or so went elsewhere anyway!!

As soon as one mill gets the idea there's free money to be had from the taxpayers every time they can cook up a good "excuse", every other mill in the Province gets their nose out of joint if they don't get a place at the trough too !! What's fair for one, has gotta be fair for all the others too!

It'll be a sad day in this Province when we as taxpayers have to start paying out every business that has loss through a fire. Better stock up on marshmalloes when that day arrives. There's gonna be a LOT of fires to toast them on.

NDP vs Lib's doesn't really matter here. Government certainly must play a part in some way or the other, it's how things are done in every province and town in Canada. The good old incentive game has always been apart why a company sets up here vs. there. I'm P/O'd how Rich and Pat just seem to blow the problem off.

If I was Canfor's insurance company I would really be taking a look at the saftey programs at other Canfor sites. The multi-million dollar fire at the pulpmill, now NCP. Tour most Canfor mills and you see a pretty crappy pride of ownership, messy yards, little dust control or paving. Makes you wonder how they maintained dust contol inside of NCP. Bet they see a big premium increase or a jump up from the million dollar deductable they now have.

It is my understanding that insurance companies are not in the business of paying out money. Just collecting it.

He speaks
Like I said above I agree the gov has no place in private business.
What difference does it make if it was the NDP or the Liberals that tried to help in the Repap fiasco?

You would rather have a gov run by business oriented people than a bunch of teachers and union leaders that you claim know nothing about how the money world works.

The Liberals or business oriented people as you would call them, know all the ins and outs of the money world and a good knowledge on how to manipulate all the rules and regulations and laws of the land to help them take care of themselves and their corporate buddies, all the way to the bank. IE; raw log exports, mills shutting down, fish farms etc.

So you can have it one way, from the Liberals where you don't directly see the screwing you are getting unless you get to sit in on all the backroom deals, or the other way from the NDP where you get to see the screwing you are getting as it happens.

Lostfaith; do we at least get a kiss?
metalman.

Depends on who you vote for metalman,LOL.

We need another party - one that doesn't make sex its main agenda.

Cheers! And Good Luck!

Government doesn't have a role to play in private business? Hmm. The govt is part of the economy. The policies and taxation set the stage for business. Our govt needs to act to assist our forest industry! Pat Bell needs to encourage manufacturing here. Policies need to be changed to keep our jobs here. Bell certainly can choose to be a willing partner to encourage business or not. All I have been seeing is double talk, imo.
The govt can assist the economy! Canfor also needs to choose to compromise too. There is always a solution that will benefit all concerned if the parties listen to each other, cooperate and actively seek it. But that would require setting aside ego...wonder if a politician is capable of that?

"-government hs no place in private business"

I totally agree, so they should stop doing geological surveys for the mining companys n the taxpayers dime. The government also should not subsidize a powerline for mines in northwestern BC. Hey guys you can't have it both ways. Let's get back to the true meaning of free enterprize. Sink or swim with no help from the taxpayers.

Obviously Canfor has concerns about the long-term viability of the plant, otherwise the decision to rebuild would be a no-brainer. The fact that they have to put "serious thought" into it, should be a huge warning sign to joe taxpayer that perhaps investing public funds in such a venuture would be a TERRIBLE investment.

IMHO, the fire just accelerated the timeline in which Canfor had to deal with the questions related to the ongoing operation of the mill.

Diplomat, if you think I'm pro NDP you are the worst judge of character I've ever seen. The only thing I hate more than the Liberal party is the NDP. What I am, is an NCP employee that would like his job back.

Well, by ranting against what the Liberals are doing and recommending that the company be given a tax break you are recommending NDP style solutions! Read the comments by others, too.

You are not in favour of the NDP and not in favour of the Liberals.

Tough spot to be in. B.C. is ruled by either one or the other - until something else comes along.

Now what do we do?

.
Who teaches the hate?

Who got into so many heads and installed a button with "NDP = ba-a-ad" on it?

And like this marketplace is so clever. Yeah, gosh, it's sorting out drug trafficking right now, eh? And it's just about got the pine beetle problem fixed. Ya think so?

Jeez, guys, no. We can't go on letting anybody empty our heads, install Hate Buttons, and leave us thinking that selling the house will create a reliable income while we live on the street.

lostfaith.. "The NDP are there looking out for the people."

HeeHee! Ya, good one! And the people should be looking out for the NDP.

The Liberals are there looking out for their corporate buddies and they don't care about the people.

The major forest products companies have been significant contributors to the Liberals in the past.

"Who got into so many heads and installed a button with "NDP = ba-a-ad" on it? "

Were you not around in the 90's? There's a reason that the NDP were voted down to non-party status and it wasn't because they were doing a great job.

The NCP plant was not a dimension lumber mill of which its owners seem to favour above all else.This likely explains what is in store if left to them to decide.

I believe it to be a question of whether we lead or we follow corporate ONLY decisions.
Is it in OUR best interests to see less diversity and lose one of the last remaining plywood plants.?

A lot of people inluding our governments forgot the social licence which these majors aquired their timber rights from.

In 2003 when then forest minister dejong held his news conferance to announce the end of where timber had to be processed and that in fact it didn't have to be manufactured at all in BC is a most amazing thing. NO consultation with the public on a very consequential decision.

Like "batman" he arrives and does his thing--and then jumps into the batmobile and flees without further explanation.
Until this infamous decision was delivered to us by "batman", we actually had a public say in who, what and how our local resources were manufactured.

These timber licences (with very few exceptions) OBLIGATED the operation of a specific type of processing facility which was to be continuously operated at a specific location--a local location, for the duration of the licence term. The social contract WAS a two way street. The public approval and granting of its natural resources through an evergreen tenure was in trade for the LOCAL benefits of stable employment and community security.
It wasn't perfect--but it WAS the deal made between the public and the corporation.
Since that very announcement I have wondered how this could have been done without any public say in the matter.
It is simple to understand why they didn't ask us because we the public would have said NO. They knew that the public wouldn't support this--but did it anyway.

The recent approach by our government is that they "should" be able to arbitrarily change these legal contracted licence requirements through inhouse behind closed door policy decisions.
This changes everything to a corporate led government for economic advantages to them--and to hell with us.
There should be no debate about NCP, it is either rebuilt and provided ongoing timber supply OR it be subject to public review of what happens to OUR PUBLICLY OWNED timber. This process is at least accountable to us and whether its owners will commit to what is acceptable to us.
I believe we still have a legal right to demand this be done this way.