forestry

Tuesday July 23, 2013

Tuesday July 23, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 23, 2013

Residents feel powerless in information blackout

The city waited more than two days to post public information about the emergency response to the Friday storms that downed hundreds of trees and left 20,000 homes in the dark.

The information blackout angered some people more than the mass power outage, say councillors, some of whom are calling for a centralized online information site for residents in emergencies.
“Our city workers are doing a phenomenal job, but we can do far better communicating what they’re doing, ” said Councillor Sam Merulla, who wants to see an “interactive” web page that pulls in information from local utilities. – “Anyone with a smartphone can still communicate when the hydro is out. “We need to adapt to that reality and provide a one-stop shopping avenue for all the critical information residents are looking for.”

Although close to 75 city and contract workers spent the weekend attacking hundreds of fallen trees, blocked roads and limited water shortages, the city didn’t mention any storm-fighting details on its website or issue a public release until after noon Monday.

By contrast, the City of Burlington posted joint releases online with Burlington Hydro on Saturday and Sunday – a difference noted by some frustrated Twitter users.

Hamilton can do better, conceded city manager Chris Murray. “I’m not going to disagree with the (critical) comments, ” he said Monday afternoon. “In these circumstances you need to be doing everything you can to alleviate citizen fears or concerns.”

Murray said the storm didn’t trigger activation of the city’s official emergency plan, which has built-in communication protocols. But Murray said the flow of information to the public should have been better. (Source: The Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday December 7, 2005

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 7, 2005

U.S. to cut softwood duties almost in half

Canadian officials are cheering a move by the U.S. Commerce Department to chop softwood lumber duties by almost 50 per cent.The Commerce Department set the new rates on Tuesday, settling on average payments of 10.81 per cent.

That figure is a considerable drop from the current average payment of 20.15 per cent.

“This is a very positive step forward as Canada fights to have the illegal duties reduced to zero,” John Allan, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, told the Canadian Press.

The softwood dispute has been the main trade irritant between Canada and the U.S.

The U.S. believes Canada improperly subsidizes softwood production because most U.S. timber is harvested from private land at market prices, while in Canada the wood is mostly cut on Crown land.

The U.S. government has collected about $5 billion in duties on Canadian softwood exports to the U.S. since the tariffs were introduced in May 2002. (Source: CBC)