Well here we go again, another mill closing, the Catalyst mill in Quesnel is caput, another new year surprise, 180 mortgage paying jobs gone,another deathblow to the heartlands(since Gordon Campbell took over it has been known as the hurtlands).When are we going to wake up to what`s happening, the HST is coming or should I say, the HST is being rammed down our throats, Gordon Campbell(compulsive liar) and Colin Hansen(Gordon Campbell`s stooge) claim that the HST is the single greatest thing they can do to help our economy! Well, I see it a little different, the HST is a 2 $billion dollar transfer of wealth(yearly) from the public to the corporate world.....And even with that gift the corporations don`t give a rats ass about anyone but the shareholders, these hogs aren`t thinking long-term, they`re thinking about year over year and all of them,including the bought off government are guilty of National treason!
Bill( Gordon Campbell`s number 1 booster) Good had on as a guest on monday Jan/4/2010 at 9.00 am, the guest was no other than one of Canada`s richest man Jimmy Pattison, Bill Good asked him a few questions, specifically about the HST and....
Jimmy Pattison`s response was quite revealing, Pattison said...."It`s a good tax" and "eventually it will reap rewards" and the most telling thing he said was this....." Corporations need all the help they can get because they can`t compete with cheap Asian Labour" Snip.
So there you have it in a nutshell folks, besides the mill in Quesnel closing,besides the Eurocan mill closing in Kitimat, there is another closed mill in Chetwynd that "might re-open this spring, wages were rolled back 20%"
So here`s the deal folks, the Americans punish Canada with duty on softwoods, yet Canada won`t slap on duty or tarrifs against China for utilizing SLAVE LABOUR....Corporations bit by bit are stealing the Canadian dream and future and are lowering our standards because of legalized slave labour, how can any industry in Canada or the USA compete with workers that make 2.00$ per day? How indeed, we can`t compete, there is only one answer,duty,tarrifs, to level the playing field....I don`t give a rats ass about the corporation,if they want to move to China go ahead, or India or Sri Lanka have at her, if corporations want to work in Canada than they must remember...WE ARE NOT CHINA....WE ARE NOT SLAVES....WE CAN`T LIVE ON 2.00$ per day.
Anyways, I find it amusing, the article(read it here) http://vancouversun.com/business/Pine-beetle+gets+blame+Canfor+Corp+sawmill+closure/2409158/story.html Canfor is blaming the closure on 4 reasons...#1 High Canadian dollar...#2) Low lumber prices..#3) Low American demand...#4) Pine beetle and the low quality of the lumber.........Well isn`t that interesting, because, Pat Bell (forestry minister) has been crowing and bragging on how the Chinese are going to save the day,the Chinese are buying billions of board feet of lumber,all the while raw log exports from private lands (forests Campbell gave away illegally) continue to rise and are unregulated,we as a province have no say over raw logs leaving from private lands or first nation`s land, how come Russia is opening new mills,how come China is opening new mills?
Yet the lies from Pat Bell keep coming, Canfor blaming the pine beetle for this latest mill closure....Bullshit!...Here is what Pat Bell said about the pine beetle and BC Forestry on September/29/2009.....Pat Bell told Vancouver Sun reporter Gordon Hamilton ......"That if we maintain the status quo, mills will be forced to close as the pine beetle-killed wood runs out over the next 5 to 10 years.But that`s not going to happen"........and Bell went onto say....It turns out that some beetle killed trees maintain their value much longer than originally thought.......and he said....If mills do run short of trees to turn into lumber in the future,it will be bad management to blame, not an act of god,forest companies and the provincial government have known for years that the beetle-kill wood bonanza was only temporary.(read the story here) http://www.kelowna.com/2009/09/29/when-the-beetle-killed-trees-are-gone-the-real-problemsbegin/
Isn`t that interesting,yet in the last 8 years tree planting has been so low that experienced tree planters left the province to look for work and, Gordon Campbell has so completely failed on forestry he should be arrested and jailed, not only did he give away forests so the big three forest companies can ship out raw logs without scrutiny but he let forest companies off the hook and tree planting is and was at historic lows, that`s right folks, Gordon Campbell stopped planting trees, he failed in his duty to protect our crown lands,he failed in making forest companies re-seed the forest!......
In fact in November of this year a tree nursery in Summerland closed, how can that be? We have the biggest need ever in BCs history for tree planting and it`s not happening.....I have some quotes from an interesting article about this nursery closure..."obviously the downturn in the forest industry is part of the reason for the closure,but the real blame rests with the provincial government which has done nothing to solve the forest industry crisis" Walker says...."They`ve sat on their hands and watched our raw logs and forest industry jobs get shipped to China" .....(read the story here) http://www.bcgeu.bc.ca/Forestry_crisis_to_blame_for_Summerland_tree_nursery_closure_and_55_layoffs
What is it going to take, the HST won`t help any north American Company compete with China and it`s slaves, duty,tarrifs are the answers and most importantly it`s OUR RESOURCES.....BCers resources, the race to the bottom, forestry is doomed in BC under Gordon Campbell,he sold us out to his friends,he sold us out to a communist country and hundreds of millions of slaves, and when the HST drives the economy down,when corporations fail they will want more,they will want wage concessions and eventually foreign slaves will be brought here to harvest our resources.....I can`t believe how governments have sold us out, they don`t want to address the real problem, the real problem is north America can`t compete with 1 to 2 dollar a day slaves, and no tax code, no tweaking,no increase in productivity will change that....And that asshole Gordon Campbell knows that and he doesn`t care.
Our Canadian way of life vanishing because of Asians, toxic milk,toxic drywall,toxic pet food, stolen technology, cheap Chinese junk, and Gordon Campbell and Pat Bell are shouting out the virtues of the Asian market.
Gordon Campbell couldn`t run a lemonade stand, he only knows how to outsouce the lemonade stand to foreigners.
The Straight Goods
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open
15 comments:
Grant, did you read the Craig Mcinnes story in the Vancouver Sun front page today - YES "FRONT PAGE?
It was called - Lack of economic growth in B.C. seems to have given Campbell his own 'LOST DECADE'
Gordo is now eating more crow as his "GOLDEN DECADE" has now been called a "LOST DECADE" by CanWest of all people - on the front page - and that's a first.
Poor Gordo - I guess he has never heard that "what goes around comes around". LOL
Thanks for that lead on that story 7:14 PM
A good read,although,Mcinnes wasn`t hard enough on (read the story here)http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Lack+economic+growth+seems+have+given+Campbell+lost+decade/2410318/story.html
Interesting note to begin with, that the roof of the Richmond Ice Oval contains beetle kill wood. I recall a story a while back where musrooms were found growing up there...lol.
Grant, as you may know, my family are all forest industry workers in Prince George. My dad works at a pulpmill in PG, his brothers and my brother all work at a sawmill.
Two years ago, the saw-mill workers knew there was going to be an issue because although the lot was full of beetle kill logs - and they do keep coming as the dead stands are cut - but, the wood was already proving to be very inferior, even back then! This is not news to anyone in Prince George, at least.I'm sure Quesnel is the same.
In fact,a lot of the logs were rotting in piles on the lot while sitting to be processed, because there was so damn much of it coming in that they can never get ahead.
With wood quality so low, and so weak,there is not a lot of good use for it, and honestly, who knows how long the finished product will last? When I heard they were putting it into the oval roof, I called my dad and we had a good laugh over it. Time will tell.
In my opinion, unless Pat Bell isn't doing his job, then Pat Bell has been lying through his teeth for some time now about that beetle kill wood. And interestingly enough Grant, Jimmy pattison has been buying up shares of Canfor for some time now,while prices are low. You can find stories going back for years about this, this is one from early 2009.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Former+premier+Glen+Clark+nominated+Canfor+board/1499850/story.html
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20061118/RCOVER18
When it is all said and done, good old Jimmy will have bought and paid for most of BC, while the regular joe is none the wiser.
Thanks Laila....There is so much going on in forestry,we,as a province don`t even know what is being exported from private lands(raw logs) ....It`s a hidden industry shielded from public scrutiny...
The cheap (cants) being shipped to China where they are milled,planed, dried and sent back to BC store shelves cheaper than we can do it...There is something seriously wrong...Campbell has sold out the province...As for Jimmy Pattison, I`m aware he has major holdings in forestry companies, the point I was trying to make is that even Pattison recognizes that we can`t compete with slave labour in Asia.....
Even if forest companies,manufacturers,or any industry paid NO TAXES,No corporate taxes,even if we gave industry a total free ride we can`t compete with 1 to 2 dollar a day employees...
So why bother trying, even if the corporation got close to competing with China, China would lower the bar even further,the only way I can see competing is, you make Chinese imports as expensive as Canadian produts and give people a choice,.......
Laila, we as a country,as a province can`t survive if we become nothing but a raw resource whore....That leads to a government wealthy people poor scenario...Like China.
Thanks but no thanks
I agree with you completely. Another tactic China uses to keep their competitive advantage is to keep their currency pegged to the US dollar.
The sad fact is that the majority of North Americans are too eager to buy the cheapest item no matter where it is made. We, as a whole, must make a concerted effort to to quit buying goods that are made in these low-paying countries. It's not that difficult as most items state where they are made, and if we don't start now there will soon be nothing manufactured anywhere in North America.
Unfortunately, we cannot depend on the government types to do the right thing, so it is time for we individuals to take matters into our own hands.
My point was not that we should just sit by and do nothing, but that the public has been fed a load of crap about the quality of this beetle kill wood for some time, and that the planned foray into china has also been on the go for some time.
The threat and ensuing reality of mill closures are nothing new, but if the people most affected by them do not speak out BEFORE it happens,like by NOT voting PAT BELL or their other liberal MLA candidates in, then what?
As crankypants says, its sad that so many go for the lower priced product. But it is also sad that the same people who are now feeling the brunt of these pre-laid plans, are many of the same people who voted a liberal candidate back into their riding.
Shirley Bond and Pat Bell are both PG MLA's. Voting Pat Bell in, again, was a joke, but you know what? I'm not surprised because as a commenter recently said on my site, people are uninformed voters.
I asked my dad why everyone voted for Pat and Shirley again, despite what his record is, and he said two things: one- that most people dont think the NDP can manage it any better, and two- that a lot of people up there who work in the industry dont know about all this log export to china business, or pay little attention to what is going on in other areas of the province.They only care about getting a paychegue to pay the mortgage. Uninformed as to what is really going on. Many people up there dont read the tyee,or the globe and mail, or sit and make the time to look into this stuff like we do, and that is a travesty in my eyes.
Which, in a roundabout way, leads me to something else that is being talked about on my site right now,how to make the biggest impact in the legislature. You and I know nothing is going to change with the Liberal games,even with a new leader - we need to get rid of them.
The NDP isn't even listening to its own members and hasn't been for sometime, so will they get their act together to save the province?
Or do we take matters into our own hands through action, rather than demands for a leader to step down? People can demand Carol to step down all the want, but in the end it means nothing to the powers in the party.Look at all the demands made of Krog re BC Rail.Got us all nowhere, and with nothing. And now there is good old Sihota in the mix....which some think is a good thing, but I, and many many others, think not.
Perhaps the solution is a new party. Or a group of independents as Norm pointed out on my site, that would rock the boat.
Next time you are by,we'd all like to hear your thoughts on that!
Cheers.
By the time we get control of our province back there will be nothing left of it.
Expect to see in the future a severe decline in services. Education and health care will be cut to the bone. Anything that is provided from all levels of government will dissappear. People will be poorer and there will be no support for them. Homeless towns will sprout up everywhere, with empty buildings being the norm. It is already happening in the U.S. Bankrupt governments will be open for buyouts from the rich. They will swoop in and own everything. We will be China.
None of this is a surprise. Free trade agreements had many opponents who predicted all of this.
Grassroots revolution will be the only solution for change.
It is time that all good people join the NDP and throw James and her lickspittals out, then put into position people who will do something in Parliament. As it stands, the NDP are pathetic, incapable of exposing the most corrupt government in BC's history.
Geat article Grant, and a great comment thread too. As a fifth generation islander, I am horrified by what passes for resource management in this province. My generation was the first that did not have a forestry job for the taking. My partner was laid off by Timberwest permanently in 1990, so they could contract his job out, and then eventually just make treeplanting disappear entirely. Daily, I see dozens of trucks driving up island to Duke Point, loaded with peckerpoles that can't more more than 40 years old. A logging crew used to involve a large team of dedicated, hardened professionals. I know alot of them personally. Out of all of them, I know of one who still has a job in the industry.
Laila, when you become premiere, you could write some legislation that would require Corporations to sign and abide by a social community contract, that would require them to 1)train and employ members of the nearest communities to their operations and pay them a living wage and 2) consult with all interested parties and groups within those communities on environmental and specific community needs and 3) promptly pay their property taxes and 4)to refrain from draining public funds on SLAPP lawsuits against governmental agents.
On second thought, maybe you should run for PM. I hear there's a vacant house on the Hill!?!
Haha, Anonymous, I thank you for your confidance, but I don't have near enough experience to be either premier or PM!
I do like your ideas for legislation though, and have made notes for those in my trusty notebook. Yes, I still write notes manually, no blackberry or laptop or whatever.
If I could do one thing to open the eyes of BC'ers, I would tell them to google "China + BC + trade" and just take a look at what that brings up. Enough to anger every bloody person who never had their eyes so rudely opened, that is for sure. Now, check out how much these big bc business lumber barons have invested into the AMERICAN forestry industry, and you can put the pieces together even better.
I feel pretty passionate about it, because I've seen this coming along with many others for so long, and you know what? It hurts that I can't get it heard on a massive level. I'm sure Grant would love to see everyone in BC reading his fantastic stuff too!
I could never leave BC for PM. I love it here so much and it is my true home in every way.
This trend is happening around the globe. Naomi Klein wrote about it in No Logo. Protectionism, is something every Government should practice, in the interests of citizens, but Harper and Campbell think its a dirty word!
Kim,
You are correct,all around the world corporations are taking from us,they want slaves,more profits,.....
I`m not playing the race to the bottom game...in watching CNN today, the jobs report,more US jobs vanished,more canadian jobs vanished,the expert CNN had on said..."We are having a jobless recovery"
There is no such thing as a jobless recovery, what the expert really means is this...The jobs are never coming back,China has the jobs,suck it up....
The expert went onto say...Job recovery will take a decade and the jobs will be low paying service sector jobs(Burger flippers)
And..Kim,we in Canada don`t have to go that route,we HAVE the RESOURCES, we..us...the people have the power,possession is 9/10 Tenths of the law...China knows what it is doing,and they`re laughing at us swirling the toilet bowl.
What I find hard to believe is that the forest workers who loose everything because of Herr Campbell's policies keep voting him into office every election. Isn't the union informing these workers what is being done to them. Canfor closes two mills untill the workers run out of EI - then thy offer to open the mill if the workers take a cut in pay. When they start up them Jimmy Pattison & Co shut two more to start the game over again. Throw thos Liberal bastards out of office because anybody would be better
4:01 PM....It won`t stop there,they still won`t be able to compete with China...Mill jobs will be nothing but MC burger flip jobs.
Gordon Campbell couldn`t run a lemonade stand!
Higher powers will see that Gordon Campbell gets taken care of...Karma!
All China has to do, is call in, the debt of, the USA, and we are all toast. Canada, should not have joined NAFTA. Russia, wants Canada, because of the Arctics resources. China, also needs Canada's vast resources. There was a rumor, Russia and China, may join forces. Every powerful country on the planet, needs and wants, Canada. It would not matter which party, is in power, the results will be the same. There are weird events going on in this world, and none of them are good.
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