MARCH 30, 2006
Members Statements
Coastal Sawmilling Industry

R. Cantelon: I rise today to speak to the issue of the coastal sawmilling industry. We are all aware on both sides of this House that the industry is sick. The question is this: is it a terminal illness? The answer needs to be a firm and resolute no.

           The trends have been clear. The closure of the Island Phoenix mill in Nanaimo was greeted with resigned acceptance. This mill was highly touted when it first opened. It first went into production some 20 years ago. However, it was outmoded virtually on the day it opened. It had been designed for a disappearing market. Many other factors conspired to cause its demise: the softwood lumber dispute, the collapse of the Japanese market, the strong Canadian dollar and changing markets.

           Mr. Speaker, we need to face the facts that the old models will not work. The industry needs to reinvent itself. We need new mills and also new approaches. Innovation has been the trademark of the B.C. forest industry, and there are signs of hope and signs of success.

           In discussions I've had with Russ Taylor, publisher of the Wood Markets Monthly, he points to what I would describe as a compartmentalized approach. Currently, successful mills basically operate with no ties to the forest production side. They do not have a marketing division. They custom-cut to contract order, in batches. This requires a mill built to this purpose and a workforce that has adapted to a continually changing production stream, and it works.

           New, bigger mills are needed that are designed for second-growth cut, mainly hemlock. The reality is that the new, large production mills will need a new breed of production staff. They will be operating computers that control the production equipment. There will be fewer, more technically trained employees.

           Upon these two concepts, a new future can be built. To bring about this change is the challenge. It will require capital investment on a large scale. It will require new attitudes and new ideas from management and from the workforce in order to develop the positive atmosphere that is so crucial in creating confidence in investors. This will not be easy or quick, and it will require real dialogue and real leadership.

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