There is a standing rule in this business - when someone offers you a flight, you take it.
So when the folks at Northern Trust called last week and said there was a seat on the plane heading up to Mackenzie for the big announcement in that community, I was in. Some might argue that since I took advantage of a free flight, I risked losing my objectivity in reporting on the event.
Not so, but I didn’t voice any concerns until we landed back in Prince George. It’s a long walk back from Mackenzie.
And, for the record, the only concern I have about the announcement of a $750,000 grant to Geoscience B.C. to extend geophysical studies in the area, is that it doesn’t do much for the 900 or so people who will be out of a job when Canfor closes the mill there for good.
Those folks who were looking for a reprieve from the bad news, or for something to fill the hole, were left in the lurch.
The grant will result in some economic activity for Mackenzie, but it won’t create any new jobs there. Last week’s announcement isn’t about today, or tomorrow, it’s about the future. Mining exploration is a slow thing. Exploration helps the economy, no doubt about it. But it’s all done in hopes of finding a deposit big enough to warrant a new mine. Should that happen, it will be years before approvals are given and construction begins.
Is the announcement good news for Mackenzie? Absolutely. It will be good for the North and the province if deposit worthy of a mine is discovered.
Okay, now back to the flight. It was in a 20-seater NT Air plane. I’d never been in a plane that size before so it was a new adventure for me.
I was surprised that the cabin was only about four feet high. Tough enough for me, but for Prince George North MLA Pat Bell, who is well over six feet, … lets just say he didn’t sit at the back of the plane.
And, of course, being a pilot, he probably enjoyed sitting up front anyway.
That was one of the things that surprised, and disconcerted, me about the plane. If you leaned out into the aisle, you could see out the front windshield. Not so bad when you’re flying, but when we were coming in to Mackenzie there was a little bit of disturbance so, from where I was sitting my sight lines were kind of like this: Runway, (bump), sky, (bump), runway, (bump), lake, (bump), runway, (bump), trees, (bump), mountain (bump), runway … you get the picture.
You just kind of hope it’s the runway in the windshield when the wheels hit the ground. But, we landed safe and sound … none the worse for wear.
I was a little surprised to see former Premier Dan Miller get on the plane with us as well. I wasn’t aware that he was a board member for Geoscience B.C., so it made sense. He had an interesting message for the folks of Mackenzie, which had nothing to do with the Northern Trust announcement.
Miller knows what it’s like for a community to lose its major employer. He, of course, was Forest Minister and NDP MLA for Skeena, when Skeena Cellulose died its slow agonizing death in the 90s. He’s been there. He knows what it’s about.
His message for the people of Mackenzie. Make a lot of noise. Don’t go quietly. The plight of 900 workers in Mackenzie, a million miles away from Victoria and Vancouver, isn’t on anyone’s radar down there even though the Lower Mainland’s boom comes on the backs of places like Mackenzie. So, may some noise.
It was also interesting to see Miller and Bell chatting away like they were best of friends. When we put politics aside, we realize that our objectives are usually pretty similar.