Wednesday, March 7, 2012
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Volume 92 - No. 10
Don’t forget on Saturday night you have to set your clocks ahead one hour!
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www.ldnews.net
REBECCA BILLARD District of Mackenzie municipal representatives dished up some advice to the Village of Burns Lake mayor and council during a special meeting of council recently. Mackenzie Mayor, Stephanie Killam, chief administrative officer, Mark Fercho, councillor Pat Crook and economic development officer Diane Smith arrived in Burns Lake to offer some suggestions on how their community coped with the temporary loss of a Canfor mill in June 2008. The sawmill was the last large forest products operation remaining in the town of 4,500 and more than 200 workers were laid off indefinitely as a result. This was also on the heels of two other sawmills owned by Abitibi-Bowater, a paper mill and a Pope and Talbot pulp mill closing in the area within a period of six months, putting more than 1,000 members of Mackenzie's workforce out of work. A total of
300 loggers were also affected by the industry closures. However in July 2009 as a result of growing demand from across the Pacific, Canfor reopened the Mackenzie mill To help, the District of Mackenzie offered the mill a tax reduction saving the company $100,000 a year. The province also lowered the price of fibre after finding anomalies in the inputs into its stumpage formulations. Jobs Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell said at the time, the reductions were in line with requirements of the Canada U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement. Then, in April 2010 it was announced that Netherlands based Paper Excellence B.V., a unit of Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group, was to spend up to $40 million to put the pulp mill back into production, restoring more than 200 direct jobs at the mill and employment for more than 300 people in logging and other support services. The pulp mill was officially reopened on Aug. 17, 2010. During the meeting Mayor Luke Strimbold summarized the local recovery projects and initiatives that are underway in Burns Lake following the Jan. 20, 2012 Babine Forest Products explosion and
$1.34 HST inc.
LEDA move out of the Foresty Heritage Centre building. p13
Advice from Mackenzie District of Mackenzie meet with Village of Burns Lake
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Budget silence on hospital Hospital replacement decision could take months REBECCA BILLARD
TAKING A STAND Lakes District Secondary School (LDSS) teachers formed a picket line Monday morning. Also on Friday, LDSS students staged a walkout in support of their teachers. The event turned into a rowdy curb side protest as a fight broke out between some students and there was also reports of kids yelling profanity to drivers passing by. Turn to page 5 for more on teachers strike. Rebecca Billard photos
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Build Your Future at the Burns Lake Career/Job Fair March 15, 2012 - Muriel Mould Neighborhood Learning Centre
Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad is remaining optimistic that funding for a replacement to the aging Lakes District Hospital will flow through from the province's 2012 budget, but it is a process that he said, could still take months. There was no mention of an approval for the replacement of the Lakes District Hospital in the 2012 provincial budget, which was released last month, however Rustad said that this is to be expected. "It would be very unusual for specific capital projects, like the replacement of the Lakes District Hospital to be announced directly in the budget," he said to Lakes District News. He said a decision about the project will now take several months to flow through governmental processes. "I am pushing for the hospital replacement project to be approved ... I want to make sure that we don't lose out on this and that the project
doesn't get forgotten," he said. According to Rustad, the good news is that there is additional dollars for capital spending for projects around the province that was announced in the budget. He said, "If this additional capital had not been approved, the outcome for the Lakes District Hospital replacement project would not be so great." Rustad also said he didn't think the request made by Northern Health to lower the required 40 per cent capital contribution to 20 per cent in the final project submission to the Treasury Board will be a stumbling block to getting the project approved. As reported in the Lakes District News edition of Sept. 21, 2011 the cost of the replacement project is estimated at approximately $50 million dollars and as per provincial requirements, the Stuart Nechako Regional Hospital District is responsible for contributing 40 per cent of the total cost towards the project. The first proposal submitted to the province by Northern Health had included two funding scenarios, one at a 20 per cent capital contribution and the other a 40 per cent contribution, however in December
Employer Panel Presentations 9:30 to 10:30pm Employer Booths Open 10:30 to 3:00pm
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Public Welcome!
Phone: 250.692.1700 • Fax: 250.692.1750 • Toll Free: 1.866.692.1943 545 Highway 16 West • PO Box 5000, Burns Lake, BC • V0J 1E0 Email: lksdist@cnc.bc.ca • Website: www.cnc.bc.ca/lakesdistrict