Don’t Shoot the Messenger!
When I was home recently I found there was a lot of confusion about the timber supply and job loss numbers I had commented on in the press. Some people were more angry than confused, some were angry at me.
Let me try to clear up continue reading
May 4, 2012Preventing Future Tragedies
Another worker lost his life in a sawmill yesterday. There will be yet another investigation, more recriminations and second guessing, but nothing will change the fact that another human being went to work and won’t ever come home.
I spent some time with the workers from continue reading
May 1, 2012Poisoned Relationships
This weekend I was provided with a letter that Taseko Mines President Russ Hallbauer sent to Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent last November. The letter was sent in advance of the new panel hearings into Taseko’s proposed Prosperity Project. Unfortunately, the letter clearly illustrates why the continue reading
April 25, 2012Leaked Cabinet document reveals how far government was willing to go
When I was home during the Easter break I caught wind that the government was contemplating a “Burns Lake Recovery Act,” legislation designed to guarantee a log supply for Burns Lake to ensure Hampton Affiliates would rebuild the mill that burned down in January. Industry representatives continue reading
April 13, 2012Three Years of Timber Supply Left?
In 2002, it became evident that the mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic hitting the central interior of BC was of an order of magnitude different than anything the province had experienced before and was likely going to wipe out BC’s interior lodgepole pine forest. A committee continue reading
April 3, 2012Fallacies of “One Project, One Review” Logic
The federal government’s rationale for streamlining the environmental review process is based on fallacious arguments about the certainty that’s needed for investors and about the state of Canada’s regulatory regime.
In B.C., the real certainty that’s needed is a resolution to the question of ownership. No continue reading