Mayor Dave Formosa has recently undertaken meetings dealing with important issues for Powell River.
Speaking during the community engagement report during the committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, July 16, Formosa outlined sessions with Paper Excellence Canada, premier John Horgan and Friends of the Patricia Theatre.
The mayor said he was asked to attend a meeting with Stewart Gibson, vice-president operations west for Paper Excellence. Gibson met with Formosa and Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons.
“We were basically informed of the mill’s curtailment,” said Formosa. “The issue is the lack of sales and still they are having an issue with wood chips and the type of wood chips this mill requires.”
In an interview after the meeting, Formosa said the lack of sales was due mostly to tariffs put on Powell River and the BC pulp and paper industry by the United States government. When those tariffs were put in place the mill had to seek other markets because it could not sell into the US profitably, he added.
Formosa said the company made the decision to pull away from US customers so it was selling more into China and other places. Those markets have subsequently dropped off and now the company needs to go back into the US and rebuild relationships with customers they couldn’t service at the time due to costs.
Also, the beetle kill in the interior of BC, plus forest fires and closure of sawmills has affected the supply of chips needed for the high grade papers the local mill makes, according to the mayor. The white chips from the pine trees are running out, he added.
“Now we have an issue with fibre,” said Formosa. “Based on that, we have curtailment.”
Formosa said Gibson told him and Simons what the company is hoping to do to help Powell River stay viable, and that is by concentrating on packaging markets, and trying to create a fibre in-house, which means not relying on the chips from the interior. There is hope of creating a compatible chip that can be used to give Powell River some longevity, based on the type of machines here and the predicament the mill finds itself in.
Formosa said there was also discussion about Gibson’s request for Formosa and Simons to help him create another committee, such as occurred when committees were created for the provincial sales tax on electricity consumption, and with the lack of pulp logs. The committees were comprised of mayors, unions and industry, and the provincial government. Gibson asked if a similar committee could be structured for some functions that need to happen in keeping the pulp and paper industry strong and thriving in this province, according to the mayor.
“We are awaiting Mr. Gibson’s agenda of what the issues are, the communities affected and the politicians required, so the MLA and myself can reach out to those politicians,” said Formosa. “We will also try to get the support of the premier, and/or the ministers themselves, to create this committee. Hopefully, we will have success on this third attempt of bringing government, industry, unions and local governments together to keep our mills profitable and thriving.”
Formosa said he’s happy the two previous committees were formed and achieved their objectives, which was “fantastic.”
Formosa also had an hour-long meeting with Horgan when the premier was here for Powell River Logger Sports.
“The premier contacted me, through the local MLA’s office, and offered one hour for Powell River’s issues,” said Formosa. “It was a great thing to get, an hour with the premier to talk about your own issues.”
The first thing the premier wanted to talk about was Catalyst and the curtailment, said Formosa.
“I brought him up to date on our meeting with [Gibson] and let him know this new committee is being formed, which he supported,” he said.
There was also discussion with the premier on immigration. Formosa said he and the premier are on the same page. Governments concentrate on skilled labour, such as professions and trades, but Formosa said unskilled labour is a huge problem. Formosa said the premier agreed entirely but was powerless because it is a federal issue.
“He had talked to the feds and they agreed that we need to be bringing in not only the skilled workers, but unskilled workers also,” said Formosa.
He also discussed the transit connection between Powell River and Vancouver. He gave the premier the plan discussed at the recent meeting between the city, qathet Regional District and Tla’amin Nation, that was suggested by qathet chair Patrick Brabazon.
“I explained that to the premier and he said he would support that and talk with his people in Victoria,” said Formosa. “I explained that we would be hitting on it hard, the regional district and the city at the Union of BC Municipalities.”
What Brabazon has proposed is if the existing bus service is unsustainable, making use of the paratransit bus services on the upper and lower Sunshine Coast, with coordinated, consecutive buses to Saltery Bay and Earls Cove. Ideally, there would be bus service from Lund to Langdale. This would allow passengers to travel from Powell River to Horseshoe Bay using busing services operated by the two regional districts.
Formosa also had a visit from Friends of the Patricia Theatre representatives Terry Noreault and Gary Shilling, who provided an update on their hopes to take over the theatre. They outlined challenges they are having and items they are working on. The mayor said they were looking for some help, advice and direction on where the mayor could assist in getting them where they need to go.
“I offered some of that and offered to continue to be a resource,” said Formosa. “That whole thing is still going on.”
