GRASSROOTS CONVOY SEEKS RESULTS - BY ADRIENNE TANNER - TRUCK LOGGERS ASSOCIATION
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Grassroots Convoy Seeks Results
By Adrienne Tanner
B C’s September logging truck pro-
test, the largest in recent memory,
was cooked up over a cup of coffee at the
I’m sitting here with egg on my face with
very few trucks working.”
The two men felt they had to do
of Merritt, and some south too,” he says.
When the numbers hit 200, McKinnon
and Etchart called the RCMP, knowing
Merritt home of Howard McKinnon, something to raise awareness of prob- a convoy of that size would require a
owner of a logging truck business and lems endemic to BC’s forest industry. police escort. By Tuesday, the day be-
45-year veteran of BC’s forest industry. McKinnon had helped organize a 1994 fore the rally, they’d had responses from
His friend, fellow hauler and business logging truck rally to Victoria and sug- between 350 and 400 drivers planning
owner Frank Etchart, had dropped by gested it might be time for another. He to attend.
and as always, talk turned to the indus- and Etchart knew the annual Union Among them was Laura Christy, of
try downturn killing jobs in Merritt and of BC Municipalities Convention was Merritt, whose family has three gen-
other communities dependent on for- happening in Vancouver the following erations actively working in the forest
estry province-wide. McKinnon himself week. The gathering, which is attended industry. Logging is practically in her
hadn’t worked in five months. Merritt’s by municipal politicians and a smatter- blood. Her father, Fred Lowe has been
local mill, Aspen Planers, had planned ing of MLAs from across BC, presented driving a logging truck since the early
to harvest a large volume of timber near an ideal opportunity to make their con- sixties. “My dad had two daughters and
Lillooet over the summer, but skyrock- cerns heard. So, the next day they put so I went with him everywhere. I could
eting stumpage fees and plummeting out a social media callout urging logging hardly wait for a day off from school to
lumber prices meant there was too lit- truck operators to roll into the heart of go in a truck.” Today, Christy and her
tle profit to be made on the wood. The downtown Vancouver for a rally outside husband own a company that runs two
mill curtailed production until the math the convention on Wednesday, Septem- low beds used to move logging equip-
improves. That was devastating news ber 25. At such short notice, McKinnon ment, and two logging trucks. Christy’s
for McKinnon, who had geared up in wasn’t counting on a huge turnout. “But sister is an office manager for a trucking
the spring, believing business would be there was an overwhelming response company and her husband builds roads
booming. “I bought two more trucks. from just about every community north for a Merritt logging company. And for
Season’s Greetings
46 Truck LoggerBC Winter 2020
the past six years, Christy’s son has driv- for the rally. “My husband and I went in The loggers want BC to adopt some-
en a logging truck as well. “So, we’re all a pickup. My husband’s sister drove one thing more like Alberta’s system to avoid
tied to it.” of our trucks.” the boom and bust cycles. There, stump-
Christy says since 2011, her customer
list has shrunk by half. “There’s been “It was such an emotional day to see all the trucks and
half a dozen prime logging contractors
in our area that have either shut down, all the people at the side of the road from Merritt to
sold or just folded.” Loggers in Merritt Vancouver cheering us on.”
must now travel farther afield to find
work, including her son who takes jobs Jerry Canuel, a retired chief forester age is calculated on a timelier basis and
that separate him from his wife and from Merritt who worked in the busi- reflects stumpage rates significantly
one-year-old because there is little work ness for 42 years, helped organize the lower than those charged in BC, Canuel
close by. “You do what you have to do rally and write speaking notes that clear- says. But BC has been reluctant to tin-
to put food on the table,” Christy says. ly identified the issues and demands. He ker with the system for fear any change
The downturn has had a ripple effect says current stumpage fees, which are in would be viewed by the United States as
throughout the entire town. Sponsor- part calculated and adjusted yearly, are an unfair subsidy and reignite the soft-
ships for hockey and baseball teams, currently too high. The data used in the wood lumber wars, Canuel says. “Log-
typically donated by forest companies, calculations stretches back over a 10- gers and independent mill owners can-
are harder to come by, she says. “The year period, and over time the market not afford to wait as their livelihood and
money is just not there.” Even Christy’s has shifted, Canuel says. At today’s lum- that of many entire communities are
girlfriend, who is a hairdresser, reports ber prices, the numbers don’t work. “It’s teetering on the brink of collapse.”
her business is feeling the pinch. For put most company’s quota wood offside The Facebook post calling on partici-
all these reasons, there was no question and they cannot afford to put their log- pants to join the rally ricocheted across
Christy and her family would sign on gers to work.” the Province. In Prince George, when a
CUTTING EDGE
FORESTRY LAW
With over 30 years of forestry law
experience, Brian Mulholland and
• Service To All Makes our team at EKB can take care of
• Kenwood 2-Way Radios all your legal needs.
• Protec Answering Service
• 24-hour Man Checks / Timber Harvesting Contracts &
Subcontracts
• Iridium Satellite Phones
• Talkie Tooter Service / Business Sales & Purchases
• Satellite Powder Mag Alarms / Disputes - Mediation,
• Telus Cellular Arbitration, Litigation
• Alarms Sales & Service / Environmental & Regulatory Law
• Globalstar Satellite Phones / Purchases & Leases of Aircraft &
1-877-977-9207
other Equipment
www.nicomm.com
PH: 250-287-9207
Dave.Emery@nicomm.com Brian Mulholland
604.661.1095
1690 Island Highway, Campbell River bmulholland@ekb.com
MEMBER OF 24/7
SERVICES
AVAILABLE
Winter 2020 Truck LoggerBC 47
friend asked Cole Thorne if he was plan- Overall, McKinnon feels the rally (Continued from page 62)
ning to attend, there was no hesitation. was a success and the loggers got their 2. Authority of contracts:
Thorne called his boss who encouraged points across. Outside the Vancouver • Determine who oversees the con-
him to make the trip. “It’s costing us to Convention Centre, the protesters were tracts and has signing authority.
haul logs,” says Thorne. “That’s not the met by the entire opposition Liberal 3. Contract management:
way it’s supposed to work. A guy is sup- caucus and Forest Minister Doug Don- • Determine who locates and man-
posed to go to work and make money.” aldson fielded some questions from the ages contractors and if there are ob-
Thorne prepared for the trip by washing crowd. If there was one disappointment, ligations to create employment or
his truck. “You gotta look good—I take it was that “Premier Horgan was in the small business ventures to conduct
a lot of pride in my truck.” He started at building, but never did once come out,” required work.
6 pm, finished at 10 pm and started the McKinnon notes. Thorne says he hopes 4. Insurance:
drive south at 2 am.” the rally will get results. His first child • Errors & omissions
People in towns along the route lined was born just weeks after the rally and • General liability
the streets cheering and holding signs of his livelihood depends on fair prices for • Professional liability
support, Thorne says. But the enormity lumber. He loves his job and hopes to re- 5. Rates for harvesting and road building:
of the rally really hit home when the main in it for the long run but fears he • Determine who negotiates and who
convoy reached Merritt, where about won’t be able to if things don’t improve. accepts the market downside risks/
150 more trucks were waiting. “The He feels he did his bit by participating in upside gains.
RCMP had the town shut down for us to the rally, saying, “You know, we had to • Understand explicitly costings and
come in and we went into the cardlock, make a point. We’re not going to sit back profit resolutions.
had a little get together and then took and just watch our families go.” 6. Log sales:
off down the Coquihalla to Vancouver. • Determine who markets the log.
It was absolutely amazing.” More sup- 7. Accounting:
porters with banners were standing on • Determine who pays the bills.
top of every overpass. The truckers were 8. Dispute Resolution:
heartened by the outpouring of support. • Understand how to resolve a dispute in
“It was such an emotional day to see all payment, rates, or licensee management.
the trucks and all the people at the side • Determine who has the final deci-
of the road from Merritt to Vancouver sion-making authority.
cheering us on,” Christy says.
MARINE LIN KTRANSPORTATION
Full Service Marine Transportation Specialists
Creative, cost-effective, and efficient problem solving
in Marine Transportation.
dispatch@marinelink.ca www.marinelink.ca
48 Truck LoggerBC Winter 2020
You can also read
