Mayor Surinderpal Rathor spent some quality time with B.C.'s Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar over the Jan. 11, 12 weekend.
"I'm very hopeful," said Rathor, after his lengthy one-on-one time with Parmar, who became forest minister in October and is NDP MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca. Rathor said he brought up a number of hot topics with the minister, over a lengthy dinner visit and throughout their time together.
The mayor said he raised a broad range of local issues with Parmar, with whom he has a long-standing relationship, not all forestry-related.
He discussed Atlantic Power in depth with the minister, and said the challenges facing the biomass energy plant, which produces 65 MW of electricity by burning wood waste, are two-fold. On one hand, while a penalty BC Hydro charges Atlantic Power's Williams Lake plant for not operating year-round, has been addressed, the contract with BC Hydro cannot be reopened, as this would mean all contracts for independent power producers in the province could be up for renegotiation. Atlantic Power has told the city they don't see a viable path forward without a serious look at the rate for producing power.
Rathor said the Williams Lake plant should be looked at in the light of it being both more environmentally friendly and the "backbone of the community" as the single largest taxpayer.
The second challenge he outlined to the minister is the fibre supply. While there is fibre in the region, it has to be made economical to bring it to the plant. When the biomass plant was first built, it was the only one in the region and the mills produced more waste than they do today. Now, with wood being cut to length and processed in the bush, with more efficient mills and Drax's Pinnacle Pellet Plant also competing for fibre, the landscape has changed drastically for the power producer.
Rathor said when council approved the expansion of the pellet plant, they did not foresee the shortage of easily accessible fibre. At the time, the pellet plant didn't use the same type of fibre, but now it does.
He is pushing for policy changes to provincial subsidies from Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) for trucking costs for fibre, to allow for trucking from further away, including the west Chilcotin. He pointed out how this change would also benefit many area First Nations and other communities looking for fibre facing similar problems such as Merritt and Quesnel.
Without FESBC funding, fibre is being burned in the bush and this is unacceptable to us in Williams Lake, stated the mayor in his appeal to the minister.
Prior to the meeting, Rathor said he and Beth Veenkamp, the manager of economic development, met with representatives from Tolko and West Fraser to hear from them about their challenges as well.
He said the concerns from the mills included delays related to the permitting process, which major licensees want more input into how this is addressed and delays and related to revenue-sharing programs with First Nations. The process needs streamlining the mayor told the minister.
He said he also spoke to the minister about Terra Ridge and the city's dormant lake harvester, two topics while not related to forestry, he wants the province to be aware the city is not going to stop pushing for solutions on.
Rathor said he hosted the minister at his home for dinner so the minister could enjoy some home cooking and the two also met the following day with chief (kukpi7) Willie Sellars of Williams Lake First Nation and later the minister and mayor also toured Atlantic Power's Williams Lake plant.
The hope Rathor expressed is a change in tone from other recent ominous comments by the mayor, but he doesn't want to count his chickens before they hatch.
"In politics, nothing is done until it's done," he said.
A natural resources forum taking place this week in Prince George will be a further opportunity for Rathor to bend the ear of anyone he can to advocate for these issues facing Williams Lake. Rathor will be at the forum for most of the week and Coun. Joan Flaspohler will be stepping into his shoes as deputy mayor.
After alluding in a previous council meeting on Dec. 17 to fears he had for the community's future he could not yet discuss in detail, Rathor now says he was alluding to what could happen after Jan. 20.
This is the day President Donald Trump will be sworn in for the second time, and once in office, Trump has made many suggestions about getting tough on trade and introducing tariffs to Canadian imports to the United States, including softwood lumber.
