Prince George Citizen May 22, 2019

A lucky fan gets a

HANDOUT PHOTO A combined lumber, OSB and plywood mill complex and log sorting yard in Fort Nelson, pictured here before it was shut down.

No timber shortage here

Nelson BENNETT Glacier Media

A lack of timber will likely close more mills in B.C. in the coming years, thanks to a dwindling annual allowable cut. But one area of the province that still has an adequate timber supply is Fort Nelson, which wasn’t affected by the mountain pine beetle the way Interior pine forests were and does not have the same conservation concerns over the mountain caribou that its neighbours to the south in the Peace region have. It just hasn’t had much luck getting idled mills in the area restarted.

Mike Gilbert, regional development officer for the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, has been trying to hammer home the message to government and industry that the Fort Nelson timber supply area (TSA) has an annual allowable

cut of 1.6 million cubic metres that has been pretty much untouched for about a decade, and which is expected to increase, following a timber supply review that’s underway.

It also has rail access, a willing workforce and cheap rents. The area’s boreal forest doesn’t have a lot of pine – it’s mostly spruce and aspen – so it wasn’t affected by the mountain pine beetle the way Interior pine forests were.

And the region’s caribou are mostly boreal, not mountain caribou, whose dwindling numbers have prompted the province to develop a conservation plan that could take an estimated 300,000 cubic metres out of the annual allowable cut (AAC) for the Peace region to the south.

“That plan has no direct effect on our TSA,” Gilbert said.

He expects some caribou conservation measures will be instituted but does not think they will have the same impacts as those planned for the Peace region.

The Fort Nelson area had a dimensional lumber sawmill, an oriented strand board (OSB) mill and a plywood mill, all of which are shut down. Only one small family-owned sawmill in the area is still operating.

Canfor Corp. owned the OSB mill that shut down, and the company still owns 1.2 million cubic metres of the area’s 1.6 million cubic metres of AAC as part of two different licences.

One of the licences is attached to the OSB mill that Canfor closed in 2008.

That licence is up for renewal in December and could free up 600,000 cubic metres to other buyers.

— see ‘WE MAY, page 3

Local businessman

suing Yellow Pages

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

A Prince George businessman is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Yellow Pages Ltd., claiming the company failed to distribute copies of its directory in the city.

In a notice of claim filed at the Prince George courthouse, David Payne alleges that contrary to a “fundamental express term of the contract,” the company failed to distribute a printed directory in 2017 and 2018 while to date no 2019 directories have been distributed.

Yellow Pages had started soliciting local businesses in late 2016, and at about that time began taking monthly payments from Payne.

“Until distribution of the annual print directory occurs, the advertising purchased from Yellow Pages by local businesses and business persons will not occur or will be significantly reduced, therefore frustrating the purpose of the contractual relationship between Yellow Pages and its business customers,” lawyer Jon Duncan says in the claim filed March 22.

According to the claim, Payne knows of at least two other people within Prince George who bought advertising from the company.

A judge must certify the claim in order to make it a class-action lawsuit. Certification does not determine the merits of the case. Rather, it is a procedural step used to determine if the case is appropriate to be dealt with as a class-action proceeding.

“The process is to get a case management judge appointed, then apply for certification,” Duncan said Tuesday. “If certification occurs, then people in the class will be given notice of the action and their rights to opt in or out.”

Yellow Pages did not reply Tuesday to a request for comment and the allegation has not been tested in court.

The full notice of claim is posted with this story at www.pgcitizen.ca.

Mackenzie headlining comedy show for hospice

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff

fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Alex Mackenzie is trippin’ on comedy.

The trip will go wherever the sound of laughter might take him. With his RV under his butt, and his power engineering and industrial instrumentation certifications in his back pocket should he ever need them, Mackenzie is driving off into the urban wilderness in search of the common Canadian belly-laugher in its natural habitat.

Mackenzie quit a six-figure job at Canfor to embrace this spiritual mission. He’s a third generation employee at Prince George Pulp, but he knew he had to strike out on this adventure or he might strike out in life.

“When you tell people you just quit Canfor to be a full-time comedian, they look at you like you just put square tires on your car,” said Mackenzie, unfazed and undeterred.

“It’s not about money; it’s about fulfillment. I can always fall back on my trades but my biggest fear in life is not taking my shots, leaving my potential on the table.”

If you’ve only ever shot hoops in the backyard, then maybe it’s stupidly naive to abandon your career for a tryout with the NBA, but if you’ve climbed the local ranks, the regional ranks and now you’re competing in side-games with pro players, then going for the big leagues isn’t an opium dream, it’s just taking the next logical step.

That’s the position in which Mackenzie finds himself.

He remembers his first time on stage the way you never forget the terror of your first roller coaster ride. It was July 2014 at an Alfredo’s Pub open mic.

It all happened like a “funny thing happened” joke come to life. He and buddy Mike Stang were hosting a regular podcast. It was called Address This Mess (first episode March 19, 2013). It was a young man’s semi-juvenile discussion about current events, sports,

popular culture, and just supposin’ with a semi-comedic delivery.

“Comedy is the best way to get a message across,” Mackenzie said.

“It’s when people are the most receptive, even if the topic is a big concept or an unpleasant thought.

When people are laughing, it opens their minds to things. The message is the medicine and the comedy is the sugar that helps it go down.”

They got a real comedian, The Daily Show’s Kevin Bartini, to be a special on-air phone guest one day, and that got the attention of local comedy leader Brian Majore.

Majore heard Mackenzie talk about wanting to try comedy out one day, so Majore literally called him on it, and the Alfredo’s gig was set up. Mackenzie loved the adrenaline of fear that so many actors, musicians and standup comedians get hooked on. He built up about seven minutes of material and called on Majore to get back on another stage. This time it was at Nancy O’s and this time there was added pressure. Mackenzie was on the undercard of a real professional, part of the opening set for Michelle Shaughnessy.

Shaughnessy didn’t order his execution, so he took that to be encouragement. Veteran funnyman Brett Martin is probably most to blame for Mackenzie’s crack(ing jokes) habit. Martin was the first act for whom Mackenzie got the call to be the direct opener while out of town. Mackenzie made the trip to Kamloops, did the show, and Martin responded by openly telling him he had the goods to do it for a living. That may not have tipped the balance, but on that same trip professional booking agent Drew

McLean of Kammerce Promotions also agreed and started getting Mackenzie some additional shows. Mackenzie also started to get his name requested as an opening act. Veteran comic Simon King has been especially eager to have Mackenzie on stage to warm up his audiences.

“There was a gap where I didn’t get on stage for about six months,” Mackenzie said, describing yet another incremental step. “I had usually been doing something about once a month, but then Sonar (Comedy & Night Club) opened up and that allowed me to get on stage multiple times a week, and sometimes even multiple times a night. That’s when I noticed my comedy really starting to pick up. I also got to meet a lot more pros and start to see the details about how this is a viable career.”

Hockey was holding him back, too, but those ties got severed this winter. Mackenzie had been playing senior hockey for the Quesnel Kangaroos (there is presently no Prince George team in the Central Interior Hockey League) “and I always said I would keep playing competitive hockey until they made me leave,” he said, and they finally did. When he was finally cut this season, one chapter closed but another opened and it was a lot funnier.

“Sports is for the young,” he said, “but comedy you can do forever.”

Forever starts on Saturday. Mackenzie will headline a farewell comedy event at the Prince George Playhouse. Local standup veteran Mike McGuire will be the emcee, with featured comedy guests Jon White and Cody Malbeuf also on the bill.

Tickets are $25. Partial proceeds to PG Hospice Society and some will fill up Mackenzie’s RV fuel tank, because he’s leaving the city after this Wish Me Luck Show as he departs on a project he’s calling An Experiment Called Life – a comedy road trip with no fixed end date.

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Comedian Alex Mackenzie performs while hosting the Wheely Funny Fundraiser 2 on May 16 at Theatre Northwest. Mackenzie will headline a show at the Prince George Playhouse on Saturday, which will benefit the P.G. Hospice Society.

Connaught Hill Park sinkhole repaired

Connaught Hill Park has been re-opened to motorized traffic after a sinkhole was repaired. It emerged on Monday at the intersection of

Connaught and Caine Drives.

“The stormwater collection system in the area failed, and crews have replaced roughly six metres of old clay pipe that was likely installed in about 1970,” city spokesperson Mike

Kellett said.

“Crews also fed a camera down into the stormwater pipes around the sinkhole to confirm the integrity of other pipes in the immediate area.”

‘We may be the only ones that see an uplift in the AAC’

— from page 1

“The previous minister and current minister (of forests) have both agreed that that would not be rolled over into Canfor’s hands, but rather that would be redistributed,” Gilbert said.

The regional municipality has partnered with the Fort Nelson First Nation. They hope to secure a new community forest agreement with 200,000 cubic metres of AAC.

Because there has been little logging for

about a decade in the area, a restarted mill could burn through several years’ worth of timber without even touching the AAC. Gilbert therefore expects that a timber supply review that’s underway will increase Fort Nelson’s AAC.

“All the signals are that, of all the TSAs in the province, we may be the only ones that see an uplift in the AAC,” Gilbert said.

Once the timber supply review is done, Gilbert hopes some company may be willing to

invest in restarting the OSB mill that was shut down in 2008.

If the mill ever did restart, Gilbert said, the Canadian National Railway Co. would need to reactivate a rail line that runs to the old OSB plant.

Gilbert said several forestry companies are considering potentially restarting the Fort Nelson mill.

“And we are expecting something to happen in the short to mid-term.”

Firearms prohibition waived for work purposes

Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff

mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca

A provincial court judge has agreed to vary a prohibition against a Lake Babine Nation man so he can use a firearm while working as a security guard.

As part of a August 2016 sentencing for a series of assaults and probation breaches, Edward Herbert Williams, 41, was issued a 10year firearms prohibition.

As of that point, Williams had a criminal record consisting of 22 convictions showing an unbroken pattern dating back to December 2002. The record included 10 convictions for assault and one for assaulting a peace officer. However, in deciding in favour of Williams’ application, judge Judith Doulis noted none of the convictions were for firearms offences and that while many were violent and alcohol fueled, Williams’ offending has abated since he attended residential treatment. Doulis also found that when he is not abusing alcohol, Williams is a contributing member to both his family and community.

Given his lack of formal education – Williams has only Grade 10 and has difficulty reading and writing – Doulis also found he has limited career options and working as a labourer will become increasingly difficult as he ages.

With help from Lake Babine Nation, Williams has enrolled in a security services training course with the College of New Caledonia and seeks to obtain work on the LNG Canada pipeline at Kitimat as a security guard.

The Criminal Code allows a judge to lift an order if the person needs a firearm to hunt for sustenance or if the order would “constitute a virtual prohibition against employment in the only vocation open to the person.”

The 2016 prohibition includes an exemption for sustenance hunting and a restriction on that activity from a five-year prohibition issued in 2014 is set to expire in August.

While Doulis found that on strict reading of the provision, she doubts Williams’ is being denied access to the only vocation open to him, he would still have access to a firearm by virtue of the exemption for sustenance hunting.

“I do not see how Mr. Williams having access

to firearms for employment purposes would significantly increase the risk to the safety of himself or others,” Doulis said in the decision, reached on April 23 in Burns Lake.

Doulis also made note of Williams’ aboriginal background, saying he has “suffered much of the adverse impacts of colonialism endemic to Canada’s indigenous population.”

Two of his parents and both of his grandparents attended residential school and Williams was removed from his biological family and raised in foster homes between the ages of seven and 15.

Although some of those foster homes were good, others were horrific, Doulis said, and added his home life was rife with alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

Since his August 2016 conviction Williams has been “working on (himself) quite a bit.”

Along with twice going to residential treatment, Williams has taken anger management and healthy relationship counselling.

Williams “appears to have taken positive identifiable steps to distance himself from his criminogenic past.”

Go By Bike Week ready to roll

Citizen staff

The Prince George Cycling Club is aiming to convince at least 1,000 people to put their feet to pedals for Go By Bike Week – a new name for a longstanding tradition in the city.

Formerly known as Bike to Work Week, “the name and branding are currently working through a transition to be more inclusive and engage more potential participants,” coordinator Dane Greenwell said.

It’s all in the name of promoting cycling in Prince George, as well as encouraging healthy and environmentally conscious behaviour.

“Events like these bring value to our community by building comaraderie and encouraging people to visit businesses while they explore the city,” Greenwell said. It’s also a chance to win a cycling trip for two through Prosecco Hills in Italy. To qualify, you must register through www.biketowork.ca/ prince-george and log kilometres for at least one trip on your bike instead of driving a motor vehicle during the week. For example, riding to work, school, the gym, to run errands or meet a friend for coffee all qualify.

While it starts this coming Monday, there will be a prelaunch today at CN Centre, 5-8 p.m.

Commuting safety will be the theme and there will be a riding course and helmet fitting.

Celebration stations will be set up around the city during the week starting with a kickoff breakfast on Monday at City Hall, 6:45-9 a.m. Also on the schedule:

• May 28: Hot breakfast at Canadian Mental Health Association, 1152 Third Ave. 7:15-9 a.m.; CrossRoads Brewing, 508 George St., 8:30-9:30 p.m. after PGCC group ride. • May 29: Koops Bikes, 1659 Nicholson St., 6:45-9:15 a.m.; Brain Injury Group, 1070 4th Ave. 5-7 p.m.

• May 30: Handsome Cabin Boy & Ave Maria, 1616/1638 20 Ave. 6:45-9:15 a.m.; Ruckus Ski Board and Bikes, 1455 Johnson St., 3:45-6 p.m. • May 31: Ritual Coffee Bar, 101-1085 Third Ave., 7-9 a.m.; Group Ride Wine Down: The Exploration Place to Northern Lights Estates Winery along Cottonwood Island Nature Park 4:30 p.m; • June 1: Exploration Place, 333 Becott Pl., 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Citizen archives put more than 100 years of history at your fingertips: https://bit.ly/2RsjvA0

CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE

City crews work to repair a section of collapsed pipe at the entrance of Connaught Hill Park on Tuesday.

Citizen staff

Students from the Division 6 class of Ms. O’Brien perform Francois Princes’s Dakelh K’Una at Buckhorn Elementary School on Tuesday morning. Students in the school spent the past few months learning drum protocols, and First Nations songs from across Canada.

B.C. forestry’s stock shock highlights industry troubles

Nelson BENNETT Glacier Media

Look at any stock chart of any publicly traded forest company in B.C. over a three-year period, and you may be struck by what you see: mountains.

Whether it is a major player like West Fraser Timber Co. or a medium-sized company like Conifex Timber Inc., the stock charts for these B.C. companies over three years all have a similar shape – a mountain slope that starts rising in early 2017, peaks in the summer of 2018 and then slides down to three-year lows.

Whereas some B.C. forestry companies were posting record profits one year ago, they have lately been posting losses.

Canfor Corp. posted $126 million in operating income from lumber sales in the first quarter of 2018 and a $78 million loss in lumber sales for the first quarter of 2019.

Its stock price has plunged 65 per cent in one year – from $31.20 per share on May 14, 2018, to $10.93 per share on May 14, 2019.

Interfor Corp. reported net income of $32.7 million in Q1 2018 and a net loss of $15.3 million in Q1 2019. Its share price has fallen 47 per cent, from $24.81 per share on May 14, 2018, to $13.16 on May 14, 2019.

In first-quarter financials, B.C. companies cite lower lumber prices in the U.S. and higher log costs in B.C. for the poor firstquarter showings.

And in management and discussion analysis, they also note new

layers of regulations in B.C. as introducing new risks and uncertainty that could deter any further investments in B.C.

John Rustad, the BC Liberal critic for forestry, said it’s not just about lumber prices, U.S. softwood lumber tariffs and market access.

He points to West Fraser Timber’s most recent financials as an example.

“It showed them making solid profits in Alberta; they’re making solid profits in their operations in the States and they’re losing money on their operations in B.C.,” Rustad said.

“Alberta and B.C., you’ve got the same market conditions. You’re struggling getting wood into the United States. The difference is, British Columbia has become the highest-cost producer in North America.”

Some B.C.-headquartered companies warn that it is simply becoming too costly to operate in B.C. Since last year, they have been taking temporary curtailments and eliminating shifts. More could be coming.

“We expect the July 1 marketbased stumpage adjustment to put severe additional pressure on British Columbia production levels, which could result in additional curtailments across the industry, given the increasingly challenging competitive environment,” Canfor CEO Don Kayne said in a recent analyst call.

“Between supply and demand today and with the cutbacks on AAC (annual allowable cut),” Kayne said, roughly two billion

board feet of lumber will need to be taken out of production in B.C.

Tolko Industries has already announced that it will take 250 million board feet out with the permanent closure of its Quest Wood sawmill in Quesnel and the elimination of one shift in Kelowna – curtailments that will result in 240 job losses.

That represents one-eighth of the curtailment that Kayne estimated may be coming in B.C., in response to high operating costs and a shrinking AAC.

Companies operating in B.C. not only face a shrinking timber supply and high log costs, but also now face a host of new regulations being added to the B.C. landscape.

They include:

• Adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

• New restrictions on log exports and wood waste in the Coast Forest Sector Revitalization plan.

• A new caribou protection plan that could take 300,000 cubic metres of timber from the AAC in the northeast.

• Bill 22, which could result in tenure take-backs.

Some of these new regulations are intended to address a longterm decline in the AAC – very likely the result of climate change.

A mountain pine beetle infestation and the increasing frequency and scale of forest fires have taken a huge chunk out of the annual allowable cut in the province.

The AAC jumped to 84 million cubic metres in 2008 as a result of the huge amount of salvageable beetle-killed timber.

It dropped to 64 million cubic metres, and will decline to 57 million cubic metres for the next decade. Parks and protected areas have also restricted the available timber supply.

B.C. companies are now having to compete for logs in an evershrinking fibre basket, and all of them are now paying higher prices for logs. On top of that, they are having to pay U.S. softwood lumber duties.

Some of those challenges were offset somewhat by high lumber demand in the U.S. and China and the availability of salvage wood from the pine beetle kill.

But that bonanza of beetle-killed timber is gone, U.S. lumber prices began to fall in the latter half of 2018, and a diplomatic spat with China puts that market for Canadian wood in question.

A number of B.C. sawmills have taken temporary curtailments, and now companies are beginning to make some of those curtailments permanent.

In an effort to keep B.C. logs from being exported, and used in local mills instead, the NDP government introduced the Coast Forest Sector Revitalization plan, and it is now looking to bring in a plan for the Interior forest industry.

Rustad said the aspirations of the plan are good ones – reducing log exports to free up more timber for B.C. mills, and making more wood waste available to pulp mills and wood pellet producers. But so far, it appears to be having the opposite effect.

“What we have seen is a 40 per cent reduction in the monthly av-

erage number of permits that are being applied for – i.e., there is going to be less wood being logged,” Rustad said.

But while there appears to be less logging going on, the percentage of exports from those logs that are still being harvested has actually gone up, Rustad said, “because they have to recover their costs.”

“So the end result of this is likely going to be fewer logs available for processing,” he said.

“For example, Western (Forest Products) has taken downtime on three of their mills because they can’t get logs. They can’t afford to log.

“So you’ve driven up costs, created uncertainty, and you’re having the opposite effect of what you’re trying to do.”

Meanwhile, the Green party is lobbying to have more coastal forests made off limits to logging. It is calling for a moratorium on logging in old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, which, if implemented, would cut into an already diminished coastal AAC.

For the Interior industry, one of the biggest new concerns is a proposed caribou recovery plan for the northeast. The industry estimates the plan could result in 300,000 cubic metres coming out of the AAC for that area.

As for high stumpage costs, they are tied to lumber prices, which explains why they have been so high, said B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson.

“As they’ve dropped, then stumpage prices will react to the lower prices as well,” he said.

Cummings playing Vanier Hall

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

A rock ‘n’ roll legend is coming back to Prince George for an intimate concert experience.

Burton Cummings is a Canadian Music Hall of Fame two-time inductee (the only musician to hold the title for both his band and his solo career). He will unleash his powerful singing voice at the Vanier Hall piano this coming Oct. 18.

Cummings was the vocalist that sailed The Guess Who into the world’s consciousness, powering through early rock anthems like American Woman and These Eyes before branching off to a glittering solo set that gave us You Saved My Soul, Stand Tall, Break It To Them Gently, Fine State Of

Affairs, I Will Play A Rhapsody, and many more. His song Dream Of A Child was the first record to sell quadruple-platinum in the history of Canadian music.

The songwriting was internationally acclaimed, but the technicality of his voice established Cummings as one of the preeminent singers in the history of the rock genre, named in the same breath as Steve Perry, Robert Plant, Ann Wilson and that upper echelon. It’s exactly why Ringo Starr called on Cummings to join his All-Starr Band the first time the ex-Beatle ever put together his now seminal supergroup.

Tickets to see Cummings on his Up Close & Alone tour go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via the TicketsNorth website or at the CN Centre box office. Charge by phone at 1-888-293-6613. Prices range from $79-80 (plus taxes and service charges).

Burton Cummings arrives at the JUNO Gala dinner in Calgary in 2016. Cummings will be playing a show at Vanier Hall on Oct. 18.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Fire training at airport

Fire training will be taking place at the Prince George Airport today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The session may produce dark smoke but there is no reason to sound the alarm.

“Locals are reminded these fires pose no threat to the public or surrounding areas,”

PGAA officials said. “These fires are held in self-contained training facilities under controlled circumstances and are part of ongoing recurrent fire training and certification.”

— Citizen staff

Cop charged with dangerous driving

VANCOUVER (CP) — A Vancouver police officer has been charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

The BC Prosecution Service says Const. Luke Bokenfohr was on duty and driving a police vehicle on May 18, 2018. It says the case was investigated by the Independent Investigations Office before Crown counsel approved the charge.

The independent civilian watchdog investigates any deaths or injuries that may have resulted from a police officer’s actions.

Bokenfohr is scheduled to make his first court appearance on July 8.

Woman charged as accessory to murder

SURREY (CP) — The mother of a man accused of the seconddegree murder of a British Columbia woman has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

Cpl. Frank Jang, with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, says 53-year-old Manjit Kaur Deo is the second person to be charged after the Kiran Dhesi’s body was found in a burned out vehicle almost two years ago.

The charge comes barely a week after police announced a second-degree murder charge had been laid against Deo’s son, 21-year-old Harjot Singh Deo, who was Dhesi’s boyfriend.

Dhesi, a 19-year-old student

Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, was found dead on Aug. 1, 2017, and investigators have said her murder was likely targeted but not gang related.

In a news conference last Monday, Supt. Donna Richardson, said Harjot Deo was in a romantic relationship with Dhesi and was arrested by police when he landed at Vancouver’s airport on May 10.

Weir not running in the next election

REGINA (CP) — Saskatchewan

MP Erin Weir says he will be not be running in October’s federal election. Weir issued a statement Tuesday saying he’s not running because federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh continues to block his candidacy.

“Some other party leaders and other MPs did approach me about the possibility of running for other parties,” he said, but added he sees himself as a lifelong New Democrat. Weir was suspended from the NDP caucus in February 2018 after fellow New Democrat Christine Moore sent an email to her colleagues saying she had heard numerous complaints about Weir allegedly harassing staffers.

Kidney Walk taking place on June 2

Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

Prince George will be out on the track at Ecole Lac de Bois, marching the miles for those who suffer from kidney disease and other ailments of this vital organ.

The Kidney Foundation’s annual Kidney Walk helps raise funds and hope for people living with kidney disease, people like Ainsley Campbell in Penticton, who was diagnosed when she was five years old.

The walk happens on June 2, with the public rallying at the AiMHi headquarters then striding out the back door of the gym onto the track for the yearly event.

“Before Ainsley got sick, we did not know much about kidney disease, and that it can affect children as young as Ainsley,” says Melissa, Ainsley’s mom. “When Ainsley is in remission, she is just like all the other kids her age – happy and active. When she has a relapse, she needs to stay home for periods at a time with low energy levels. She takes steroid drugs for her condition, which can cause side effects.”

Ainsley has a rare condition called Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome which causes the kidneys to leak large and abnormal amounts of protein into the urine instead of into the body’s bloodstream. When the protein is lost in the urine, this leads to puffiness or swelling, often in the eyelids, feet and ankles and eventually the abdomen. If left untreated, problems with breathing, eating and infections can occur.

It is one of many ways the kidney can malfunction, for people

all across the province, including many living in Prince George who will benefit from the funds raised right along with patients the breadth of B.C.

“It was really hard at first when she was diagnosed to ‘just be normal’ and not worry,” said Melissa.

“That’s why connecting with the Kidney Foundation was so important to us.

“Working with The Kidney Foundation, we were able to focus on doing something positive, like raising awareness about kidney disease and helping other

people living with this devastating disease.”

Ainsley is now seven and is just as involved as her mom, dad, and her own community of supporters in the effort to raise awareness and funds for the Kidney Foundation’s annual Kidney Walk. Thirteen towns and cities in B.C. take part in the event.

“It is really heartwarming to see a community come together like this and rally in support of kidney patients – it truly means the world to them,” said Marie Hesse, Director of Community Initiatives at the

BC & Yukon Branch. “The Kidney Walk could not happen without the tremendous support of thousands of volunteers, donors and sponsors, and it is thanks to them that The Kidney Walk has grown to become one of our biggest success stories.”

One in 10 Canadians has kidney disease but most don’t know it yet. Kidney disease has no cure and is often under-recognized, and undetectable in early stages. For more information on the Kidney Walk or to register, please go to kidneywalk.ca.

Bill 22 is a catch-22 for B.C. forest companies, critics say

Nelson BENNETT Glacier Media

A debate on forestry tenure reform in the B.C. legislature two weeks ago was capped on May 10, with the announcement of the permanent closure of a sawmill in Quesnel.

Tolko Industries Ltd. announced it will permanently shut down its Quest Wood sawmill in August and eliminate one shift at its Kelowna sawmill. That’s 150 job losses for Quesnel and 90 for Kelowna.

British Columbians can expect more such announcements in the coming months and years. It is estimated that six to eight sawmills in B.C. will need to permanently shut down due to a shrinking annual allowable cut.

When those mills close, the Crown tenure – cutting rights – associated with them would likely be up for sale or transfer. Typically, tenure can be sold to other companies that still operate sawmills and need the fibre.

But the BC NDP government plans to intervene in any future sales or transfers. Under a new act – Bill 22 – any transfer or sale of tenure will need ministerial approval.

The bill was given first reading

April 11 and was immediately implemented by order-in-council, putting it into effect.

Doug Donaldson, minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations, said there was some urgency in getting the new bill in place.

“There was concern that there might have been moves by forest companies to further concentrate tenure while the debate in the legislature was happening,” Donaldson said.

“The intent of Bill 22 is to address concentration in the tenures in the forest sector amongst five companies or more. More diversity and more competition means a more vibrant sector.”

Before any sale or transfer of tenure is allowed, the Ministry of Forests will allow First Nations, workers and the general public to weigh in.

It is expected that some of the tenure now concentrated in the hands of a few big players will end up with smaller organizations, including First Nations.

But the larger tenure holders are warning that the bill adds to uncertainty, which could curb investment in B.C.

“We understand that the government has an interest in how tenure

is used in the province – (we) fully respect that,” said Council of Forest Industries CEO Susan Yurkovich.

“But now there is an added test, which is an unknown test. There’s a test of ‘public interest,’ which has not yet been defined.” Bill 22 appears to pit the big players – large tenure holders –against the smaller ones, which often can’t compete for logs to supply their mills. The new legislation came as a

surprise, and without consultation, according to critics in the industry. BC Liberal forestry critic John Rustad sees it as a kind of potential expropriation without compensation.

“They’re trying to reduce concentration of tenure, and they’re trying to do it in a way that would force expropriation through companies voluntarily giving up tenure without compensation. So it’s essentially expropriation without compensation.”

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

Participants take part in the 2015 Prince George Kidney Walk at the UNBC Northern Sports Centre.

The Kidney Walk returns on June 2, taking place at the AiMHi headquarters.

Clerk’s exit wasn’t quite ‘non-financial’

When special investigator Beverley McLachlin passed the legislaturespending-scandal puck to the three house leaders last week, they had to do some stick-handling.

Her report was dated May 3 and it took until May 16 before it was released. Over that period, the house leaders succeeded in changing clerk Craig James’s mind, no doubt with lawyers deeply involved. His determination to keep fighting to clear his name faded away and he decided to retire.

Mike Farnworth (NDP), Mary Polak (B.C. Liberals) and Sonia Furstenau (Greens) came up with an artful term to describe the parting of the ways.

It was a “non-financial settlement.”

It’s a fascinating term for a couple of reasons.

Just the idea of a “settlement” is curious. McLachlin found misconduct on James’s part in several instances. Not only that, she emphatically rejected some of his explanations. One of them was incoherent, she said. On another, she said: “It is hard to understand what was going through Mr. James’s mind.” Those dismissals are almost as damaging

as the finding of misconduct, for someone in his position. She found that he came up well short of what was expected of him, gave him every opportunity to explain himself, then completely dismissed his story. Given that, what’s to settle?

The guy disgraced himself, so they could have fired him. But presumably there were several exchanges of views among lawyers that led to the settlement. It’s likely a reflection of how hard it is to simply fire senior executives who are entrenched in their positions. That leads to the second curiosity – it’s a “non-financial” settlement.

anything to go away, beyond the pension to which he’s entitled. And he doesn’t have to pay back the value of the benefits he improperly obtained.

The guy disgraced himself, so they could have fired him. But presumably there were several exchanges of views among lawyers that led to the settlement.

The house leaders are keen to put this all behind them, so they won’t likely be offering seminars explaining what that means.

But Speaker Darryl Plecas, the whistleblower who started the controversy, shed some light in a weekend interview with Postmedia.

He wasn’t involved in the negotiations, but said the non-financial settlement goes both ways. Taxpayers won’t pay James

That leaves a lot of money in James’s hands that shouldn’t be there, judging by McLachlin’s findings.

Most of it involves retirement benefits.

James got a $258,000 retirement-benefit cheque in 2012 for some bewildering reason stemming from a benefit program that supposedly ended 25 years earlier.

He also got a signed letter from Plecas in 2017 that his estate would get $900,000 –about three times his salary – in the event of his demise while still working.

McLachlin found that agreement highly questionable, but said it might still be in effect.

Then there was an effort to get a year’s pay if he were to resign. McLachlin found James actively orchestrated the policy, “identified a lucrative benefit for himself and focused on getting it approved, rather than assessing it critically.”

It would amount to a future payout of

An open letter to the residents of Prince George RIGHT OF CENTRE NATHAN GIEDE

Greetings. I am writing to remind you that the May 30 deadline for submitting no less than 5,546 signed alternative approval process (AAP) forms to City Hall is fast approaching.

I agree with Mr. Eric Allen, as well as a wider chorus, that forcing our dear leaders located at that ugly building on Patricia to rethink the borrowing for capital projects is paramount to our pocketbooks.

I recall that a municipal election was held not too long ago and, as grumpier folks around town observed, the “freeze or lower taxes” candidate was nowhere to be found. For my part, I can’t remember the current borrowing plan, let alone the list of capital projects, being put forward and discussed as election issues. That seems like a rather large sin of omission given the price tag of $40 million or more including interest that can only be financed by raising levies on voters. Supposedly things were “under review,” which sounds like managerial speak for “oh, the cheque is in the mail.”

Having spent time in boardrooms with such folks, I can assure you that this is a pathetic deflection, often shrouding an all but malicious intention to do as they please.

Unfortunately for the machinations of local officials and their klatch cabal allies, people were not so stupid as to go quietly into that good night of more taxation and less transparency. In the tradition of magna carta, dragging the speaker, and the populist rebellions of today, citizens have dared to say “enough!”

Now, by democratic means, the rule of faceless experts from that shabby shack will be questioned using several thousand pieces of paper, signed and delivered. Of course such romantic notions of historic precedence are belied by the quintessentially Canadian process at hand; no effigies or slogans will be found

near the Cenotaph on May 31, or whenever they bother counting the AAPs. If the threshold is achieved, some of the projects will be amended quietly, a few may go to referendum, but most will wither and die, remembered as “those crazy proposals” in ten years. Clearly, we are people who riot over hockey, not taxes.

But the polite nature of our polity does not take away from the principles at stake: zero mention of said proposals at election time, interest cost on a loan that by law cannot be paid down faster, and imposing tax increases long after this council has expired.

In short, the method of accountability as well as the end being pursued can’t really offend any but the municipal authorities themselves; and had they shown a modicum of restraint, this wouldn’t be happening.

Again, I exhort citizens of Prince George to sign these negative ballots. Our community requires sober and judicious leader – as they have obviously failed in this instance, the only backstop left are vigilant taxpayers. So grab a pen and start scribbling, May 30 is almost here.

LETTERS WELCOME: The Prince George Citizen welcomes letters to the editor from our readers. Submissions should be sent by email to: letters@pgcitizen.ca. No attachments, please. They can also be faxed to 250-960-2766, or mailed to 201-1777 Third Ave., Prince George, B.C. V2L 3G7. Maximum length is 750 words and writers are limited to one submission every week. We will edit letters only to ensure clarity, good taste, for legal reasons, and occasionally for length. Although we will not include your address and telephone number in the paper, we need both for verification purposes. Unsigned or handwritten letters will not be published. The Prince George Citizen is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact Neil Godbout (ngodbout@pgcitizen. ca or 250-960-2759). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.

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$370,000 to him. Plecas signed on to it, but later rescinded it. McLachlin said it might not be in effect, but recommended that authorities monitor the legislature budget to see if any liabilities persist. James also tried to claim for two years of life-insurance premiums from 2016-18, but it was partially denied because of the other benefits in place.

There is still the police investigation and auditor general’s probe to get through. It’s not settled yet, and it doesn’t look to be “non-financial,” either.

Just So You Know: Deputy clerk Kate Ryan-Lloyd has been filling in since James’s suspension. She will likely succeed him permanently, and she thoroughly deserves the job, just based on one anecdote from McLachlin.

The former justice recounted the nonsensical history of the retirement benefit noted above that existed or didn’t exist, depending on who happened to be Speaker. It produced a ludicrous situation several years ago in which the lump-sum benefit cheques magically appeared for some of the table officers. Ryan-Lloyd’s was for $119,000.

McLachlin said the deputy clerk was surprised and couldn’t understand the rationale for it, so “she returned the payment on the grounds she could see no basis for it.”

— Les Leyne, Glacier Media

Economy focus of political campaigns

In the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign, Bill Clinton ran on the central premise of “it’s the economy.”

One could certainly make the argument the economy should be and is the focus of any major political campaign. Our economy provides the wealth we require as a nation to support all of the funding our government’s provide.

Consider the breakdown of the federal budget. Personal income tax makes up 49 per cent of the revenue, while corporate (15.2 per cent) and GST (11.7 per cent) make up the bulk of the remaining taxes (EI premiums: 6.7 per cent, nonresident income taxes: 2.5 per cent, other revenues: 9.4 per cent; other taxes and duties 5.4 per cent).

Personal income taxes and corporates taxes are directly related to the health of the economy. High unemployment drives down the total salary mass of the country and decreases income tax revenue while driving up EI payments which are not totally covered by the premiums collected.

A sluggish economy reflects back on corporate earnings decreasing the amount collected and taxed while also decreasing dividends resulting in less money going into pension plans and an increased need for social assistance to the elderly.

The total GST collected is tied to consumer consumption which is tied, in turn, to personal wealth and the ability to make purchases where the GST is applied. The amount of GST collected annually measures to some extent consumer confidence in the market place.

The amount of revenue the federal government has to spend directly correlates with the economic health of the Canada and the rest of the world. The federal government spends money on transfers to the elderly, the unemployed, and children. Roughly one third of every dollar collected goes directly back to people. Another $50.9 billion is funneled into health and other social programs.

The economy allows us to support people across the country and around the world by providing the revenue to cover the expenses. Growth in our economy leads to growth for us all. It allows us to support the lifestyle and social objectives we value. It supports the programs we want – from the military to the environment to our justice system.

It is not surprising, then, to find the economy or “economic conditions” high on the priority list for voters in Canada and the rest of the world. In a recent poll by Abacus, 76 per cent of Canadians view wages and the cost of living

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as either a moderate or very big problem while 75 per cent put affordability of housing in the same category. The economy is what matters.

A previous poll by Abacus had 34 per cent of Canadians rating the economy as the most important issue facing Canada. The high was in Alberta with 47 per cent of respondents rating the economy as the most important issue while for B.C. it was only 27 per cent. But our economy is doing well while Alberta is struggling. On the whole, the Canadian economy has been doing well for the past four years. While the previous government oversaw an economic stall resulting in a recession, under the Liberals we have seen moderate continuous growth in the GDP. Unemployment across the country is down, dropping to a 40-year low of 5.7 per cent across Canada with B.C. leading the pack with a 4.6 per cent unemployment rate in April. British Columbia is effectively at “full employment” with companies now finding it difficult to attract workers.

The OECD has similar confidence in the Canadian economy, saying: “Well-being is high in Canada, and the economy has regained momentum, supported by a rebound in exports and strengthening business investment. Macroeconomic policies are gradually becoming less stimulatory, and budget policies are sustainable in the long term, although difficulties remain at the provincial level.” Their analysis does have some qualifications pointing to the affordability of housing as a concern along with our ongoing relationship with the United States. The recently lifted tariffs on steel and aluminum into the United States and on a variety of goods entering Canada were impediments to free trade across the border. We also still have a lumber dispute to resolve. On the whole, though, the Canadian economy is doing well which leads to a question about this year’s federal election. Will the economic record of the past four years be more important to the voting public than other issues? Do we want to go back to a Conservative government which ran up $150 billion in debt over the last five years of its mandate or stay with a government in which the economy has “regained momentum?” Only time will tell.

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Feds to help B.C. police spot drugged driving

Laura KANE The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — The federal government is boosting funding to help British Columbia police departments recognize drugimpaired drivers and buy roadside testing devices, as many forces remain wary of the technology.

Bill Blair, the minister responsible for organized crime reduction and border security, announced funding on Tuesday of $10.1 million over five years to increase the number of officers trained in field sobriety testing and as drug recognition experts.

The money will also help police forces buy approved roadside devices to develop standardized data collection and help the province get a clearer picture of the extent of drug-impaired driving, Blair said.

“It’s important for all Canadians to remember: Your life can be cut short or forever changed in an instant and you can seriously hurt the people you love most,” Blair told a news conference at Vancouver Police Department headquarters.

“Our message is very clear today. Don’t drive high.”

The funding is part of $81 million in federal cash for provinces and territories to support road safety and other public initiatives, and Blair said he was working with other jurisdictions to finalize agreements. Many police departments have been reluctant to use the only government-approved roadside test, the Drager DrugTest 5000, raising concerns about its bulkiness, its effectiveness in cold weather and how its test results will hold up in court.

A Nova Scotia woman who uses cannabis to treat her multiple sclerosis and whose driver’s licence was suspended after failing the test has said she is planning a constitutional challenge of the device.

Drager has defended its test, saying it was never designed to test for impairment, but to identify the presence of THC, the intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, and it’s just one tool of many that police use to assess road safety.

Blair said approval of the unit was based on advice from the Canadian Society for Forensic Sciences. Several devices were also tested for performance in cold weather by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, he added.

He also stressed that the test was not meant to provide the only evidence to secure a conviction. A positive test provides

police with probable grounds to request blood tests or analysis by drug recognition experts, Blair said. Additional devices are under consideration, including one hand-held unit that has been through the approval process and will soon be made available, he said.

Abbott, the company behind the SoToxa machine, has said the device can accurately use a saliva sample to test for drugs in a person’s system within five minutes and it works in cold weather.

The Canadian Press has canvassed police departments across the country and found most did not notice a spike in stoned driving after legalization, apart from a few detachments including the Alberta RCMP. Vancouver Police Chief Const. Adam Palmer said his department had not

Winds help fight to save Alberta town from fire

The Canadian Press

HIGH LEVEL, Alta. — Fire officials say winds continue to be favourable as crews battle a large wildfire burning a few kilometres from a northern Alberta town.

Nearly 5,000 people have cleared out of High Level and nearby First Nations with flames licking at the southern edge of the community, located about 750 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

Winds are expected to be out of the southeast for the next several days, pushing the fire away from homes and other buildings.

“The fire is actually burning on the southwest side of High Level headed northwest,” Bruce Mayer, assistant deputy minister of Alberta’s Agriculture and Forestry Department, said Tuesday.

“The forecast for the next few days is the strong gusty winds will be from the southeast to east and northeast, which are all favourable.”

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the fire is about five kilometres from the town. Official reports said flames were within three kilometres.

Kenney said no buildings have been damaged and the evacuation of the town on Monday went off without incident.

“I’m pleased to say it was a safe, orderly evacuation thanks to the co-operation of residents and first responders.”

Evacuee reception centres have been set up in Slave Lake and High Prairie.

Officials in Slave Lake said about 700 people have so far registered at its reception centre.

“Steady flow of evacuees all night,” Mayor Tyler Warman said Tuesday morning. “People are very calm, very patient.”

Warman said hotel rooms had been booked Monday for those who needed them, but they were running out of rooms later Tuesday.

“We are working with our counterparts in High Prairie right now to see if they can take some overflow,” he said at an afternoon news conference.

Warman, who was a town councillor and firefighter during a 2011 wildfire that destroyed parts of Slave Lake, said he’s happy that the community is able to help its neighbours.

“We gained a ton of experience in 2011,” he said. “We’ve done a ton of extensive training on how to assist other communities. Thankfully we’re able to put all that training and all that energy and all those ideas and things we learned to good use.”

Officials were also arranging for pets to be housed in Slave Lake during the evacuation.

Other evacuees were asked to register with the Red Cross. They were told to prepare for three days away from their homes and Kenney said they could be out for as many as five days. About 20 patients were also moved from the High Level hospital over the weekend.

The fire is rated at a Level 6, the most intense rating on the scale. That means flames are jumping from treetop to treetop.

The last estimate at noon Tuesday put the blaze at about 800 square kilometres, almost the same size as Calgary. Power had been cut to the town and wasn’t expected to be restored until Tuesday evening. Almost 90 firefighters were working on the edge of the fire closest to High Level. Heavy-duty sprinkler systems were brought in to keep buildings wet. Kenney said more firefighters from Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia were expected to be on the ground in Alberta in the next two days.

NEWS IN BRIEF

observed a significant increase, but it will continue to be proactive in detection efforts and monitor the impact of legalization.

The VPD has opted not to use the Drager device and has instead focused on training officers in standardized field sobriety testing and as drug recognition experts, said Palmer, who is also head of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

“While we are very confident in our ability to detect impaired drivers by drugs, we look forward to the additional approved screening devices that are coming down the pipe,” he said.

RCMP said it has deployed a “strategic, limited” rollout of the Drager device across Canada, in consultation with provincial, territorial and municipal partners. No RCMP detachment in B.C. has used the device.

Victoria looks to eliminate horse-drawn carriages

VICTORIA (CP) — Supporters of Victoria’s horse-drawn carriages plan a rally on Thursday after learning city councillors have asked staff to examine phasing out the industry.

A council decision last week asked staff to consider the effect of phasing out horse-drawn carriage businesses by 2023. Donna Friedlander, spokeswoman for the industry and also the owner-operator of Tally-Ho Carriage Tours, says the council request is shocking. She says the city reached a renewed, five-year agreement with carriage companies in 2018 and her business responded by investing in a new barn for its animals, while Victoria Carriage Tours purchased new horses. Friedlander says the industry brings considerable tourism revenue to the region because, for many visitors, a horsedrawn ride through Victoria’s streets is on their bucket list.

The rally is set for Thursday outside Victoria city hall. Coun. Ben Isitt has floated the idea of electric carriages but Friedlander says tourists choose carriage rides specifically because of the horses.

“It’s a bucket list item for people, of things to do. And we really want to make sure that, you know, we’re not a transportation company,” she says. “We’re not getting people from Point A to Point B, we’re giving people experiences with these horses, and that’s really what people are looking for.”

Blair recalled that when alcohol roadside screening devices first emerged, there was also a period of learning and various devices came forward until the police community settled on one.

“I think we’re going through that process now,” he said. He also said back in 2013, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police unanimously urged the federal government at the time to give departments access to roadside saliva drug tests that had been used effectively around the world.

As a result of his government’s measures, he said, there has been almost a 70 per cent increase in trained police officers across the country, with 14,400 schooled in field sobriety testing and 1,046 certified drug recognition experts.

Man is accused of impersonating police

SURREY (CP) — Charges have been laid against a Surrey man who is accused of impersonating a police officer in an attempt to obtain money from an elderly couple. RCMP say they received a report of a man posing as an undercover police officer and telling a couple he was investigating counterfeit money. Mounties say he defrauded the couple over two days but officers were able to identify a suspect with surveillance video. Forty-two-year-old Harmit Johal has been charged with one count of personating a peace officer and two counts of fraud. Surrey Sgt. Chad Greig says the public needs to know police never contact or solicit anyone to see if their money is counterfeit. Greig says police should be contacted immediately to verify any suspicious requests for cash.

Fuel price gouging under investigation

VICTORIA (CP) — B.C.’s independent energy regulator will have the power to call oil company representatives as witnesses into an investigation of high gasoline prices in the province. Premier John Horgan has tasked the B.C. Utilities Commission to examine the market factors that affect wholesale and retail gas prices, and he wants a report by Aug. 30. Gas prices hovering around $1.70 per litre in the Metro Vancouver area have been the highest in Canada for several months. Horgan says he’s given the utilities commission broad terms of reference to conduct a fair and transparent investigation that would include concerns about competition and why recent gas refining margins for Vancouver have been more than double the Canadian average.

In this photo illustration, smoke from a cannabis oil vaporizer is seen as the driver is behind the wheel of a car in North Vancouver. The federal government announced $10.1 million in funding to help B.C. police forces train officers to conduct field sobriety tests and in drug recognition.

U.S. metal tariffs focused Canadian industries on China, CEO says

Giuseppe VALIANTE The Canadian Press SEPT-ILES, Que. — American tariffs on Canadian aluminum cut into profits but didn’t slow production or hurt employment, says the CEO of the Quebec company whose plant Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Tuesday to boast about getting the duties removed.

In fact, Patrice L’Huillier said the trade dispute with the United States has pushed the industry to resist an influx of Chinese metals.

“We will die from the overflow of Chinese aluminum,” said L’Huillier, who runs Aluminerie Alouette in Sept-Iles, Que., about 550 km northeast of Quebec City. “The tariff was not a good thing but to control the metal flow and to understand the source of the metal... is quite a good idea.”

L’Huillier said China accounts for more than half of world aluminum production and each year, the country adds between two and three million tonnes of capacity. Chinese metals, such as aluminum, were illegally finding their way into the market, he said, undercutting the North American industry.

China produced nearly 36 million tonnes of aluminum last year, according to official government figures. Canada produces about three million tonnes.

L’Huillier said Trump’s tariffs “put a lot of pressure into the system.” And as a result, he said the North American aluminum industry is coming up with a tracking process that will be “much more formalized with much more information. The system will be secured in such a way that you can prove aluminum has been produced in Sept-Iles.”

The U.S. slapped import taxes of 25 per cent on Canadian steel and 10 per cent on aluminum as a pressure tactic when negotiations on a new North American free-trade treaty got difficult, tariffs the Americans agreed to lift entirely last Friday.

The agreement says the U.S. and Canada will establish a process for monitoring the

steel and aluminum trade between them. And Ottawa has also been working to demonstrate to Washington that it is stemming the flow of cheaper Chinese metals into Canada.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods played a key role in restoring free access to the U.S. market for Canadian steel and aluminum, Trudeau said after touring the aluminum plant. Canada responded by putting taxes on U.S. metal products, but also on a range of others – from cucumbers to coffee to whisky to playing cards to lawn mowers. In many cases, these were grown, processed or manufactured in districts represented by key American politicians.

“We strategically put a significant number of American products and produce under tariffs and that had an impact on governors, on members of Congress, who continued to talk to the president and to members of the administration about lifting these tariffs,” Trudeau said.

L’Huillier said over the past year his company shipped more of its products to Europe instead of the United States, which ate into profits due to the added costs of sending aluminum across the Atlantic.

“We didn’t decrease production volumes, we didn’t remove jobs – in that way there was no direct impact,” L’Huillier said in an interview following his meeting with Trudeau.

“But I think the tariffs, it’s more of an indirect, long-term impact if these taxes were not removed.”

Residents of Sept-Iles said they didn’t really feel the effects of the tariffs.

“Yes, they touched the industry, but everything was still working to full capacity,” said Isabelle Bond, who works at the town’s public library. “The big companies just lost money.”

She said people in Sept-Iles have been more positive about the industry in general over the past 12 months, as prices have improved.

Jean-Francois Fournier, owner of a beloved seafood restaurant by the shore of the St. Lawrence, said because there were no job

losses over the past 12 months, his restaurant continued to do well.

“When the metals industry does badly we feel it because people spend less,” he said. But since last year, business is good. “I’ve actually seen more tourists because of the high American dollar.”

Trudeau said now that the tariffs have been lifted, the route is clear to finalizing the replacement for NAFTA.

Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the new trade treaty at the end of last year; it awaits ratification in each country’s national legislature.

“With the full lift of the steel and aluminum tariffs, the last major barrier against ratification has been taken away – on both sides, because it was also a barrier to the American ratification process,” Trudeau said.

But Canada remains entangled in a battle between the United States and China, since the RCMP arrested Chinese high-tech executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant last December.

China has since detained two Canadians –former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor – and begun to obstruct trade in Canadian products such as canola, soybeans and pork on various technical and administrative grounds.

“I speak to global leaders who are all very concerned about some of the decisions and some of the positionings that China has taken recently,” said Trudeau, who was asked about reports that Canada has sent a parliamentary delegation to aid in securing the release of the two men. “Canada obviously is in a difficult situation with China right now but we’re going to continue to hold strong, we’re going to continue to stand up for our values and principles. We’re going to put the safety and security of Canadians first and foremost, as we always do, and we’re going to work with our allies to ensure that China understands that Canada is going to stay strong.”

Federal tourism strategy aims to promote smaller centres

The Canadian Press OTTAWA — A new Canadian tourism strategy is meant to help boost international visits to Canada during non-peak seasons by more than a million people and get visitors to see the country beyond Canada’s biggest cities. The plan, unveiled in Montreal, includes $58.5 million over two years to help communities create or improve tourism facilities and

experiences. The funding is supposed to back experiences that show off Canada’s strengths – and break visitors’ fixation on just a few destinations in the nicest weather.

“Just over three out of four international visitors travel only to Canada’s largest provinces, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, and most go to their biggest cities: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal,” the new strategy

document states. “Drawing tourists to venture beyond the big cities remains a challenge for regions that want to expand their visitor economies.”

Tourism Minister Melanie Joly said Tuesday that the tourism measures are tooled to help tourism revenues grow by 25 per cent – to $128 billion – by 2025 and the government also hopes to create 54,000 new jobs directly related to tourism.

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In 2018, the federal government says, Canada welcomed 21.1 million international tourists, surpassing the previous year’s record of 20.9 million.

The federal government knows that tourism helps every part of the country, Joly said, adding it has seen many examples of communities transforming and diversifying their economies by attracting visitors.

Tourism is a pillar of the Canadian economy, generating $102 billion in annual economic activity, supporting 1.8 million jobs and accounting for over two per cent of gross domestic product, the federal government said.

After the Montreal announcement, Joly headed into Ontario for stops at a brewery and a winery in the eastern part of the province, where culinary tourism is a fledgling industry.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 197.43 points at 25,877.33. The S&P 500 index was up 24.13 points at 2,864.36, while the Nasdaq composite was up 83.35 points at 7,785.72.

Shares of chipmakers like Intel got a boost from the U.S. government’s move to issue a 90day grace period on its order to restrict U.S. firms from selling to Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei, said Michael Currie, vice-president and investment adviser at TD Wealth. U.S. markets ended last week lower, a step down from the previous week’s steep drop following tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump about raising tariffs against China. “If you’re betting who’s winning the trade war right now, the betting seems to be a little bit on the States,” he said, pointing to the U.S. dollar reaching a four-week high and gold falling to a more than two week low.

The TSX was divided with six of the major sectors rising, led by telecommunications, energy and financials. Materials was the weakest on the day, falling nearly one percentage point. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. lost 7.17 per cent following a downgrade from Citigroup.

The June gold contract was down US$4.10 at US$1,273.20 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 1.1 cents at US$2.715 a pound.

The July crude contract was down eight cents at US$63.13 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was down six cents at US$2.61 per mmBTU. Although oil prices were down, the spread on Canadian heavy crude hit the widest of the year at almost US$16. The former NDP provincial government imposed production cuts on Jan. 1 to free up pipeline space and draw down a glut of oil that had resulted in widening differentials between bitumenblend Western Canadian Select oil prices and U.S.

CP PHOTO

Red-hot molten aluminum is poured in a smelter at the Alouette aluminum plant on Tuesday in Sept-Iles, Que.

Blues beat Sharks, march on to Stanley Cup final

Steve OVERBEY

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues are marching into the Stanley Cup final for the first time in decades.

David Perron had a goal and an assist, Jordan Binnington picked up his franchise-record 12th playoff win and the Blues beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1 in Game 6 of the Western Conference final Tuesday night.

Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and Tyler Bozak also scored for St. Louis, which will face the Boston Bruins for the championship. Ivan Barbashev got an empty-netter with 2:15 left, Ryan O’Reilly had three assists and Binnington stopped 25 shots. St. Louis won three consecutive games to advance to the fran-

chise’s first cup final since 1970. That series also pitted the Blues against the Bruins. Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.

Laura Branigan’s Gloria blared over the speakers at the Blues’ home arena after the latest victory on an improbable run from last in the NHL Jan. 3 to one of the last two teams standing.

The turnaround came after Craig Berube replaced Mike Yeo as coach in November and Binnington took over as the starting goaltender in January.

San Jose played without injured forwards Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl and defenceman Erik Karlsson.

Injury attrition played a role for the Sharks, who played seven

games in each of the first two rounds.

Dylan Gambrell scored his first career goal for San Jose, which lost for the first time in five elimination games this post-season. Martin Jones made 14 stops. St. Louis grabbed control with a fast start.

Perron tipped in Sammy Blais’ shot just 92 seconds into the game. Tarasenko made it 2-0 with a well-placed wrist shot at 16:16.

Tarasenko got his eighth goal of the post-season just seven seconds after San Jose forward Barclay Goodrow was sent off for tripping. Tarasenko recorded a point in each game of the series.

Gambrell converted a breakaway along the right wing 6:40 into the second period. Joonas

Donskoi set up the play with a long stretch pass.

Gambrell’s goal came just seconds after Jones stopped Pat Maroon from close range. It also stopped the Sharks’ scoring drought at 99 minutes, 32 seconds.

Schenn pushed the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal 12:47 into the second. He pounced on the rebound of a shot by Alex Pietrangelo for his first goal in 14 games.

Bozak scored on a feed from Perron in the third period for a 4-1 lead.

Binnington improved to 12-7 with his second successive strong effort. He made 21 saves in a 5-0 win in Game 4 on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Binnington stopped Evander Kane on the doorstep midway through the

third. He also denied Logan Couture on a breakaway later in the period.

Notes: St. Louis went 0-12 in its three previous Stanley Cup appearances... The team that scored first won all six games... Referee Wes McCauley left in the first period with a lower-body injury. He was replaced by alternate Gord Dwyer... St. Louis D Vince Dunn missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. He took a puck to the mouth in the first period of Game 3... St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina attended the game after the Cardinals’ matchup with Kansas City was rained out... The Blues have set a franchise record for post-season wins with 12.

Raptors even up series against Bucks with 120-102 win

Lori Ewing The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Kyle Lowry had 25 points, a limping Kawhi Leonard had 19, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 120-102 on Tuesday, tying the Eastern Conference finals series at two wins apiece. In one of the best all-around victories of this post-season, six Raptors scored in double figures. Norman Powell had 18 points, Serge Ibaka had 17 points and 13 boards, Marc Gasol scored 17 points, and Fred VanVleet chipped in with 13.

Game 5 is Thursday at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.

Khris Middleton had 30 points for the Bucks, while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Two nights earlier, the Raptors edged Milwaukee 118-112 in double overtime for their first win of the series, but the heavy minutes took their toll on players like Leonard, who played a career-high 52 minutes.

Leonard, who missed all but nine games last season with a serious quadriceps injury, looked like he was running in mud Tuesday, and was noticeably limping after a dunk over Antetokounmpo early in the third quarter.

Lowry, who scored 12 of Toronto’s first 17 points Tuesday, is playing through pain with a sprained left thumb he suffered in Game 7 of the conference semis.

The Bucks, who led the league with 60 wins in the regular season, two more than Toronto, are also

known for bouncing back with big games after losses. They’d only lost back-to-back games once this season. Still, the Raptors withstood a slow start to take a double-digit lead in the second quarter. They stretched it to 16 by the third quarter, and roared into the fourth

up 94-81. VanVleet had seven of the Raptors’ 10-3 run that gave Toronto a 20-point cushion early in the final frame. Antetokounmpo drove to the hoop to slice the lead to 14 with 5:34 to play. But the Raptors locked down on the defensive end, and when Lowry scored with 3:50

to play, they lead by 21, to the delight of a Scotiabank Arena crowd that included Maple Leafs Nazem Kadri and Mitch Marner, Olympic 100-metre champ Donovan Bailey, music producer Timbaland, former NFL star Terrell Owens and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Drake was at his animated best,

on his feet for most of the night, waving arms in the air to get the crowd going during Antetokounmpo free throws. During a timeout, Drake walked behind coach Nick Nurse and gave his shoulders a squeeze.

Nurse subbed Lowry, Gasol and Leonard out to a standing ovation with three minutes to play. It was a big night for the bench, which has struggled in these playoffs. Toronto’s second unit outscored Milwaukee’s 48-23. The Raptors lost the series’ first two games in Milwaukee – the first a narrow eight-point defeat in a game they’d led most of the night. They’ve never come back to win a series after falling behind 0-2 in seven tries.

A running dunk by Antetokounmpo gave the Bucks an early seven-point lead, but the Raptors clawed their way back, and when Leonard drained his second free throw with 25 seconds left in the first quarter, they took their first lead of the game and went into the second up 32-31.

Ibaka’s putback dunk capped a 13-0 Raptors run that straddled the first and second quarters and put Toronto up by 10. The Bucks pulled to within four – thanks largely to a 13-point quarter for Middleton – but the Raptors outscored Milwaukee 13-7 to the end of the quarter, and were wildly applauded as they headed to the locker-room at halftime with a 6555 cushion. The Golden State Warriors, who swept Portland on Monday night, await the winner of

St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist (70); defenseman Colton Parayko (55); and Vladimir Tarasenko (91), celebrate after the Blues scored a goal against the San Jose Sharks during Game 6 of the NHL Western Conference final series on Tuesday. The Blues won 5-1 to win the series 4-2.

CP PHOTO Toronto Raptors forward Norman Powell (24) heads for the baskets as Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton (24) defends during Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference final in Toronto on Tuesday.

Sports

takes a shot on goal while Carolina

Slavin (74) defends during the first period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final series in Raleigh, N.C., on Thursday.

Bruins will scrimmage to stay sharp for Stanley Cup Final

in the East finals.

“We’ve had good practices, but this will be a little bit different.”

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins think they’ve found a way to stay sharp for the Stanley Cup Final while waiting a total of 10 days between games.

The Eastern Conference champions will hold a public intrasquad scrimmage on Thursday night, and coach Bruce Cassidy said he’ll try to maintain a regular game-day schedule so that the players will get back in the routine before the opener of the championship series on Monday.

“We’ve got some ideas we bandied around. We came up with this one,” Cassidy said on Tuesday, the Bruins’ fifth day off since sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes

The Bruins needed seven games to dispatch the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round, then had one day off before starting the second round against Columbus. They finished off the Blue Jackets in six games, and had two days to rest before Game 1 against the Hurricanes.

But that series ended Thursday, and the Bruins didn’t even find out their opponent for the final until Wednesday night, when the St. Louis Blues eliminated the San Jose Sharks in six games.

Cassidy said last week he would reach out to other teams to get pointers on how to handle long layoffs. Among them: the New England Patriots, who routinely

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have a first-round bye, in addition to a two-week break before the Super Bowl.

The Bruins coach said on Tuesday that he touched base with all of the teams in town, as well as some of the Boston players from the 2011 and 2013 teams that went to the final and other NHL coaches who have had long breaks. But he declined to share their advice.

“We’ll take what we thought was relevant to us and go from there,” Cassidy said, acknowledging that a seven-game series is different than preparing for a Super Bowl. “In the first game, we want to be good. We want to be sharp. We want to be on time. We want to win. But we have a bit more luxury than say a one-and-done.”

The scrimmage will be two,

25-minute periods, with two officials on the ice. But some rules will be ignored in the interest of situational drills and keeping everyone healthy.

Cassidy said he may create a four-on-four situation as well as a six-on-five for a potential end-ofgame, pulled goalie scenario. The checking line will face off against the top line, and players might switch teams to get the matchups Cassidy wants to work on.

Individual players, including goalie Tuukka Rask, will decide how much they want to play.

The winning team will earn... something.

“They will put something on the line,” Cassidy said. “That’s something I have to discuss with them. I think that’s important. What it is it could be something very minimal,

or whatever it is they want to decide.”

Other than that, the coach said he will be happy if everyone comes out of the scrimmage healthy. He said it will be no different than practice, when players know not to check their teammates, but because of the increased stakes, he will talk to the team about it.

“This isn’t a physicality contest out there. It’s compete on pucks. It’s play with some pace,” he said. “I think we’re smart enough. That will be the message I relay to some of the younger guys: We’re doing this for a reason. But the reason is not to injure anybody.”

Fans can attend Thursday’s scrimmage for $20, and park for $10; popcorn will be free for children. Proceeds will go to the Boston Bruins Foundation.

Blue Jays GM regrets not talking to manager about Victoria Day lineup

Gregory STRONG The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Everything seemed to be set up nicely on Victoria Day for Blue Jays fans eager to celebrate the team’s star attraction on a holiday matinee against a top-flight opponent.

Instead Vladimir Guerrero Jr., sat on the bench for his scheduled rest day, kicking social media into overdrive and giving local columnists plenty of fodder.

The rookie third baseman was coming off a breakout performance on last week’s road trip.

The Boston Red Sox were in town and a decent crowd was on hand for a change at Rogers Centre.

The appetite to see one of the best young players in the major leagues was much higher than normal. But with the Blue Jays in the middle of a 16-game stretch without a day off, it was Guerrero’s turn to sit.

Perhaps hoping to quiet the blowback, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins held a pre-game availability Tuesday to discuss the situation. He said manager Charlie Montoyo makes the call on the lineup each day.

“Really it’s Charlie’s process,” Atkins said.

“We have given him a lot of tools and resources and there’s a lot of things to factor in into those decisions. And we ask a lot for him to factor in.

“One of the things that we don’t ask him to think about is when fans may or may not be here when he decides on everyone’s playing time.”

Montoyo has said the team has a schedule in place for when each of the regular starters will sit out and Monday happened to be Guerrero’s turn.

Guerrero was named American League player of the week midway through the 12-2 blowout loss in the series opener.

He had a slow start after his callup last month but found his form during last week’s road trip, belting four homers and hitting .333 with nine RBIs over six games.

Sitting Guerrero for the showcase game – one of a handful in a rebuilding season – quickly became a hot topic as fans vented on local sports radio call-in shows. Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star didn’t mince words in her column Tuesday.

“There’s just no measuring the tonedeafness of this franchise in the Shapiro era,” she wrote.

Toronto Sun baseball writer Rob Longley weighed in on the issue via Twitter:

“Not sure how Bluejays management could be so out of touch with what has been a loyal and enthusiastic fan base. Sitting red-hot Vlad Guerrero Jr. on a national holiday is a big middle finger to fans with tickets and those watching on TV.”

Montoyo, in his first season as Toronto’s manager, returned Guerrero to his usual No. 2 spot in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox.

“The one thing that I regret in all of the things that we have talked about with Charlie, I had not talked to him about the importance of Victoria Day,” Atkins said.

“There are a lot of things in Canadian culture and about this great country that I have talked to him about, but I did not share with him the importance of Victoria Day.”

An announced crowd of 26,784 –much larger than usual – took in the holiday action.

Jimmy GOLEN

The Associated Press

AP PHOTO

Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand (63)

Hurricanes’ Jaccob

Music showcased around Prince George

CITIZEN PHOTOS BY JAMES DOYLE My Band’s Adam Farnsworth, right, and Spencer Holmes perform at the Prince George Legion on Saturday night as the opening act for the Interstellar Jays album release party.

The Prince George Ukelelele Group performed at the Wilson Square Farmer’s Market at Pine Centre Mall on Saturday.

Susan Phillips performs on Friday night at Cafe Voltaire during Friday Night Mics.

Marcel Earl Simpson May 27, 1970- May11, 2019

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Marcel. Marcel touch the hearts of many people and shared many cherished friendships throughout his life. Marcel is survived by his three daughters, Ashley (Aaron),Amber, Aimee (Cody) his father Earl, mother Beatrice,

William Noel Greenley Nov 15, 1919 - May 12, 2019

Bill passed away peacefully at Gateway Care Home and joined his loving wife Margaret at the age of 99. He will greatly missed by his daughters; Loretta Bukmeier; Paulette ( Ken) Ng; Roberta ( Glen) Caston; Son Garry (Saline) Greenley; 10 grandchildren; 10 greatgrandchildren; sister Marie Smith; Sister in laws Anne (George) Young and Alma Gilby. Bill was predeceased by his son; Dennis; his parents; 2 brothers and 4 sisters; son in law Tim Bukmeier. Celebration of life will be held on Saturday May 25, 2019 at Assmans Funeral Chapel at 11:00am. A special thank you to all the staff at Gateway and Dr. Siegling for all the love and wonderful care that you provided Dad. In lieu of flowers, donations would be gratefully appreciated to the Parkinson’s Society.

Empson, Richard Roy May 24, 1944 March 14, 2019

A celebration of Life will be held for Richard Empson on May 25, 2019 at 1pm, at the Pineview Hall on Bendixon Rd.

In Loving Memory Of KEVIN JAY April 21, 1961May 22, 2017

Loving and missing you everyday.

Love Forever, Mom and Shirley

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