Prince George - "As a signatory to the Value Added Jobs and Timber Accord on September 17, 1997 in Williams Lake I must admit that I am appalled by the recent announcement of the closing of the Jobs Advocates office" says John Brink, President of Brink Forest Products Ltd. "I am bitterly disappointed that the promise of partnerships between government, the primary forest sector and the value-added industry has come to nothing: fewer jobs and less value from each tree cut are the direct results from this misguided experiment ", he adds.

The value-added sector had high expectations for the accord. It clearly set out two key areas for access to fibre for secondary manufacturers. Firstly, for value-added operators needing timber, it sought to increase the log supply available through reallocation of timber within the Small Business Forest Enterprises Program (SBFEP). The total commitment called for an additional 1 million cubic metres added to the existing volume of 3.6 million cubic metres in the SBFEP in return for 1,500 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs. Secondly, for secondary manufacturers requiring access to lumber, it sought to transfer an additional 70% or over 700 million board feet of sawn lumber from primary mills to independent value-added wood manufacturers under what was to be called the Wood Fibre Transfer Program (WFTP).

With regard to the timber issue, the government claims to have delivered 97% of their obligation under the accord. In fact what the government has delivered is a case of political meddling and toying with people's jobs and livelihoods. The situation is most telling in the Prince George area where 2 or 3 companies dominate the Small Business program. Competitive proposals are virtually non-existent and performance contracts are seldom if ever enforced. The situation is similar in other forest dependent communities.

What makes it worse is that some companies owe tens of millions in unpaid stumpage and are propped up under the job protection commission. These companies compete directly in the market place with others that have neither free timber nor subsidies. This was really a program that allowed politicians and bureaucrats to decide who would succeed and who would fail.

The larger impact of the accord, however, was to be derived from the Wood Fibre Transfer Program, which was expected to create 5,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs in return for access, under free market forces, to significantly increased sawn lumber volumes. The government claims to have established the program and to have hired value-added facilitators. In reality, no attempt was ever made by government or the advocate to measure the compliance of primary mills under the Wood Fibre Transfer Program. In fact the mechanism set up to do that, the Issues Committee, only ever met once. No benchmark measures were ever established nor were any formal rules enacted. The primary mills managed to obtain concessions under the guise of "internal remanufacturing" as well as being able to claim historical shipments as part of their commitment. There was nothing incremental in their plan.

As their commitment, the interior primary mills were to commit 16% of their total output to the program. In the past, this lumber had largely been exported and the intention was to keep manufacturing jobs in BC. To a degree this actually did happen, but not due to the accord. The primary driver for the change was the onerous penalty imposed on lumber exports under the Softwood Lumber Agreement. This meant that primary mills with limited quota could not afford to export low grades to the USA as quota was worth more than the lumber. They had to seek customers in Canada to absorb the 16 - 18% low grades (coincidentally the same number as the WFTP), which are routinely developed at the sawmill. "For my company, this was a boon. This was the material we had fought so long to acquire and we could now add value in BC" says Mr. Brink. "However, we knew that the Softwood Lumber Agreement would expire in April, 2001 and we would have to rely on the WFTP to retain that volume in BC. This is questionable now", he adds.

On both counts the Jobs for Timber Accord has failed and this failure means disaster for the value-added wood manufacturing sector. What has been created is a program, which punishes success and rewards failure; a system that stimulates the trading of logs for profit and makes the building of broader, viable secondary operations impossible. The SBFEP has been proved to be unworkable and subject to political interference. The Wood Fibre Transfer Program never got underway, was never supported by the primary sector, and the lack of it will leave many more lost jobs once the SLA expires.

"To the government, I say: we had the opportunity to realize the potential of this industry. The Jobs for Timber Accord failed the value-added community dismally. Let us all understand that government and bureaucrats do not create jobs - successful businesses create jobs".

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