The Softwood Hard Sell

2006–10-13 (Bryan Zandberg, The Tyee) Deal a bitter pill for some B.C. lumber firms

But some timber execs have unburdened themselves to union members, claims Terry Tate, a financial secretary with the United Steelworkers in Williams Lake. “They’re telling us behind closed doors that this deal is horrible.”

Michael Wigen of Wynndel Box & Lumber Company in Creston, B.C. has been an outspoken critic of the deal. He said that operating under the new agreement will be precarious for the family-owned mills that compose the Interior Lumber Manufacturers’ Association.

“We’re losing our ass at 11 per cent,” he said of the current duty. ”[Now] we’re going to go to 15 or 22.”

To be reimbursed $10 million of the duties he paid during the last five years, Wigen first has to sign off litigation to get back all the money he paid, plus agree to 78 cents on the dollar instead. Then he’ll have to pay a 20 per cent tax to the Canadian government.

“We’ve been denied the use of that money for years, and we’ve lost 30 per cent on currency exchange. Now we’re to lose another 20 per cent,” he complained, urging the government to “let this deal die and let us go back to litigating.”