|
|
|
New boss to lead Ridley Terminals |
|
|
Written by Gordon Hoekstra
Citizen staff
|
|
Monday, 29 June 2009 |
Bud Smith, a former B.C. Social Credit cabinet minister, has been appointed by the federal government to head Ridley Terminals Inc. following the dismissal Fiday of the Crown corporation's chair, Dan Veniez.
Smith, who was a provincial MLA in the 1980s, has held posts in several Crown corporations including the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
Federal government House leader Jay Hill said he had full confidence in Smith to take the helm of the bulk-handling facility in Prince Rupert. "I'm comfortable he shares my vision for Ridley Terminals," said Hill, MP for Prince George-Peace River.
Hill declined to discuss Veniez's dismissal in detail, saying only the government believes Veniez was operating outside his mandate and the government decided to make a change.
Hill said he believes Ridley Terminals has a bright future as part of a northern B.C. transportation corridor that has the potential to grow, supporting industry and north and central B.C. communities.
Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen is calling for the parliamentary committee on transportation to take a closer look at what is happening at Ridley Terminals following Veniez's firing.
Veniez had alleged that the terminal was subsidizing coal companies, and had mused publicly that the terminal could benefit from being privatized. Cullen says the allegations of subsidization need to be examined at the parliamentary committee level.
"We need to find out what is actually going on," said Cullen, whose riding stretches east nearly to Prince George and includes Fort St. James. "This smells politically," he said.
Veniez, in correspondence that is being circulated widely, alleges that a coal lobby has been exerting pressure on the Conservative government, specifically junior transportation minister Robert Merrifield and government Hill, both of whose ridings include coal projects.
The federal government appeared to be critical of Veniez for making public statements about the privatization of the Crown corporation. "I note that you have been pursuing a corporate strategy and debating options for the future of Ridley Terminals Inc. in a manner that appears to be inconsistent with the government's expectations as your role as Chair," said Merrifield in a letter of June 5.
In the letter, Merrifield said he was considering recommending Veniez's termination immediately, although he was prepared to hear from him.
Veniez has maintained that he did not initiate a public discussion and that the terminal is in significantly better shape than when he was appointed to the board in 2006 by then Minister of Transport, Lawrence Cannon. In an op-ed piece published in the May 22 Financial Post, Veniez said the federal government made the correct decision in 2006 to scrap a plan to sell the terminal to a junior coal producer for a total cash consideration of less than $3 million. But he also said that does not preclude selling it to a proven and well-established terminal operator.
"The few customers who did come felt that RTI was in business to subsidize their operations. For a variety of reasons, RTI never disabused them of that notion, and over the years, RTI made a practice of subsidizing its services," he said. "The taxpayer consistently funded operating losses and a high-cost operation."
Both Hill and Cullen have cited support for the terminal remaining in public hands.
The Northern Trust, an economic-funding agency, has also come out in favour of keeping Ridley Terminals a public enterprise.
The terminal is part of what is hoped -- amongst economic development advocates in northern B.C. -- to become part of a growing northern transportation corridor that will link Asia and North America.
Northern Trust has said the deep-water, bulk-handling terminal is a strategic asset for bioenergy, wood pellets and coal products.
Northern Trust vice-chair Evan Saugstad said Monday that he believes Veniez's firing will in the end by a positive for Ridley Terminals and northern B.C.'s economy.
Saugstad noted the terminal could play an extremely important role in northern B.C. as the lowest-cost solution to world markets.
While it could be said the terminal has subsidized the handling of coal, that has to be examined against the backdrop of the whole story, which includes whether current customers should be expected to pay for past losses, said Saugstad.
The benefits of the taxes and jobs created from industry also have to be taken into consideration, he added. "That's where I think the disconnect is," said Saugstad, the mayor of Chetwynd.
The community, north of Prince George, is in the midst of coal-producing region. Currently, one coal mine is down in Chetwynd, while another operates at about half its capacity, a result of lowered demand in the face of the global recession.
The community has also been hit hard by the forest sector downturn: One of its two sawmills is closed and a pulp mill is also down.
- With files from the Prince Rupert Daily News
 |
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 29 June 2009 )
|
|
|
Who's Online
We have 160 guests and 5 members online
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
