Trade concerns
A countervailing duty investigation has been started by the US Department of Commerce, following allegations over unfair trading of supercalendered paper.
Catalyst Paper Corporation is named as one of four Canadian paper producers by The Coalition for Fair Paper Imports, an ad hoc association of Madison Paper Industries and Verso Corp.
Included in the coalitions’ petition are Resolute Forest Products Inc., Irving Paper Ltd., Catalyst and the main target Port Hawkesbury Paper in Nova Scotia.
According to a report in Pulp & Paper Canada, supercalendered paper “is uncoated paper that has undergone a calendering process in which the base sheet is processed through a set of supercalenders, a supercalender, or a soft nip calender operation.”
A look at Catalyst’s website shows two types of supercalendered paper are produced in Powell River, called Electraprime and Electracal.
A preliminary injury determination is scheduled to be delivered on April 13 by the US International Trade Commission (ITC). According to the Pulp & Paper report, “If the ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports of supercalendered paper from Canada materially injures, or threatens material injury to the US domestic [supercalendered] paper industry, the investigation will continue and the Department of Commerce will be scheduled to make its preliminary [countervailing duty determination] in May. If the ITC’s preliminary determination is negative, the investigation will be terminated.”
The Peak contacted Catalyst for comments on the allegations, however, no response was received before press time.
Plan moves BC
A 10-year transportation plan has been announced by the BC government.
In the news release, ministry of transportation and infrastructure states the “$2.5 billion plan will grow the economy, improve safety, maintain and replace aging infrastructure and support trade for BC’s expanding resource sectors through Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway.”
An engagement process held during fall 2014, and involving key stakeholders as well as a public survey generating 13,000 responses, heard British Columbians “want their highways, roads, bridges and side roads kept in good condition, which is why the plan includes more than $800 million over the next three years dedicated to existing infrastructure and almost $1 billion toward expansion of major highways and the network,” according to the release.
Partnerships are at the heart of the plan, according to the news release. The government states an interest in developing partnerships when partners are committed to sharing costs and providing resources to mutual priorities.
Key partnerships include first nations’ projects that support economic activity, improving accessibility for people with mobility challenges at rest areas, and investing in bike lanes and trails through partnerships with local communities.
Readers can access the plan on the government's website.
Road rules
In a recent media release, ministry of transportation and infrastructure is reminding drivers about courteous driving while travelling on the province’s highways.
In particular, the ministry highlights drivers “hogging the left lane on high-speed highways.”
Legislation introduced mid-March paves the way for police to ticket drivers who remain in the left lane and do not move over. The Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2015, states the left lane of a highway is reserved for overtaking and passing another vehicle, moving left to allow traffic to merge from a slip road accessing the highway, preparing for a left hand turn, or moving to allow an emergency vehicle to pass. If there is an HOV or bus lane at the far left, then the left lane covered by the legislation is the lane to the right of the HOV or bus lane.
Drivers hogging the left lane can cause frustration and aggressive driving behaviours in other drivers, tailgating or illegal passing using the right lane.
The legislation follows release of the Rural Highway Safety and Speed Review which found misuse of the left lane to be of significant public concern.
“Drivers who won’t move over can impede traffic and contribute to crashes,” said Todd Stone, minister. “This new rule makes it clear who should travel in the left lane, and when, promoting safety on our highways.”
There are other times when drivers can use the left lane, such as when driving through road works where traffic is congested and reduced to 50 kilometres per hour, or when only one lane of the highway is safe for travel, for example, when it is the only lane plowed and cleared of snow.
The amendment act also makes it easier to define the type of tires used during winter. On various highways around the province, new rules brought in last year state tires with a mountain/snowflake symbol or the M+S (mud and snow) symbol must be used. The legislation also affects use of studded tires and chains.
A third area covered by the amended legislation is the allowance of motor cycles to park within six metres of intersections as long as a driver’s view is not impeded.
Radio moment
Anyone with moments to spare at 5 pm on Easter Monday, April 6, can tune into CBC Radio One to hear Margy Lutz speak about her floating garden on Powell Lake.
Wayne and Margy Lutz were visited last year by CBC journalist Willow Yamauchi who travelled to the couple’s Hole-In-The-Wall cabin. The six-minute segment was aired on local CBC radio previously, but has been repackaged into a series of five such segments about alternative housing in Canada called Outside the Box, to be aired during the Easter weekend.
The CBC link explains the program and will contain photographs of the five residences covered in the broadcast.
Garden tour
Due to a lack of gardens to tour for the Spring Garden Tour 2015, the organizing committee has decided to concentrate on 2016 and let 2015’s tour go for a year.
Speaking on behalf of the organizers, Diana Wood said they are deeply appreciative of the work involved in preparing a garden for a public tour and look forward to bringing back this popular event in June 2016.
