Alcan clears second of three conditions for Kitimat smelter upgrade

Excellent agreemennt

how can you say "excellent" when no one knows the details of the agreement at this point?

Alcan is a reputable company with strong ethical leadership that have always shown community spirit.
This is excellent news for Kitimat, Alcan shareholders. Alcan suppliers and Alcan employees. These stakeholders have a win/win/win/win situation.

...uncritical alcan cheerleading grows stale...the alcan/BCUC power sales agreement is just that...a power sales agreement, and one conveniently penned without consult or input from those who bear the consequences ..that is in terms of local job loss (over 400 so far and 500 more promised ), loss of control over a public resource and loss of competitive advantage of cheap power to grow the aluminum industry.
I'll be interested to read this new hydro/alcan deal..will there be written and enforceable smelter commitments and job guarantees or just glossy promises and slick "trust me" jargon.

Alcan is a reputable company having won many awards globally on its overall policies. The issue will always be the integrated economics of stakeholders within the context of public policy and shareholder value.

This is excellent news. News that should be applauded. I congratulate Alcan management for its astuteness and vision

What a silly and pretentious response.
Alcan is being astute as it cleverly disguises power sales contracts in the cloak of smelter expansion, to appease the desperate locals. But not so astute on the part of our provincial Government, as it gives away the region's competitive advantage, namely water rights and cheap power.
Also not so astute on the part of the local Alcan stooges (perhaps you are one of them)..who trumpet and applaud every Alcan move and blindly believe every Alcan advert and "positive" announcement.
Foolish, desperate and sad really.

I am sad that you would defame the good name of Alcan. Alcan has always been 100% upfront and honest in its dealings with all stakeholders.

Alcan has excellent management and cares deeply about the communities in which it operates.

Fair enough. Your loyalty to the big corporation is unwavering. However, questioning the nature of a new BC hydro/Alcan deal, and hoping for firm written commitments to smelter and job security is hardly defaming the good name of the corporation...(and perhaps that name is changing anyway, from Alcan to Rio Tinto?)
Isn't this exactly what Alcan would have us Kitimat locals believe, namely that smelter expansion is a definite and our town's security is close to their hearts? If so, then what is the big problem with putting that down in writing??
I want a smelter/aluminum deal, not a power sales deal. The former grows my community, not the latter. So perhaps this is what Alcan will pony up at the BCUC, in exchange for the Provincial Government's undying loyalty (and yours too)and this gigantic gift of a public resource to a foreign multi national. Hmm. We'll see.

You are too selfish.

wtf??

This deal is excellent for all stakeholders. Alcan is a business that is one of the top global Canadian companies, a company we should all as Canadians be proud. Alcan has for decades been a source of high paid jobs in the communities in which it operates. These high paid jobs can only be created in areas where Alcan can be globally competitive throughout the business cycles.

Kitimat is one such community that has and continues to benefit from these jobs.

There is no doubt that Alcan has been a source of high paid jobs on which communities could and have grown...thats why the shedding of such jobs in favour of bulk export of power is so devastating to these communities. Such smelter jobs, in spite of rhetoric about attracting new industry, are in fact real difficult to replace.In good faith, people moved to remote areas such as Kitimat, worked hard, invested and raised families, and in exchange Alcan and its shareholders made enormous profits.
I note you are part of the "win,win" cheerleading squad...well prior to this aggressive power sales agenda of the past 5-6 years, the relationship between a healthy community and a healthy profit margin for the company was pretty good..pretty "win,win" really. Things unravelled, however, and as you well know, when power sales took precedence over aluminium, and deceptive public relations campaigns and meddling in local politics trumped respectful relationships with host communities. And all this allowed by an urban centered provincial Government who lost sight of its role to protect the public interest.

I've been reading your debate quite closely. And I have to agree with Annie, however I'm in no means against Alcan, they are a very responsible company, but they are not the company they once were. They have made alot of promises to the people of Kitimat and have never gone through. It is not 100% Alcans fault, you can blame the NDP for squashing the Kemano Completion Plan. But anyways to the point, If they intend to build a smelter as they say, why not put it in writing, instead of this rollercoaster ride that the community has been expieriencing since the beginning.

Alcan is a business. They must deploy their capital in a manner which maximizes value. The Alcan of old was small and Canada centric. The new Alcan is large with facilities in Iceland, Africa and the Middle East. Alcan must be lowest cost. You must take a helicopter look at the world we live in and not be so cloistered in the mountains of British Columbia.

Alcan/rio tinto internationalism aside, the BC hydro/alcan deal is specific to BC and BC's public resources. Rivers and valuable watersheds are not gifts to be given away. Alcan gains access to these resources, as does any large company, in exchange for direct economic developement and growth . That was the original deal here in BC, and it worked well for 50 years and with a variety of provincial governments of differing political stripes.
I can't speak to Alcan operations in other parts of the world. Thats their business. My interest is in the sustainability and growth of my community, my provinces' natural resources and the sound management and protection of those.And since Alcan uses this province's water, at cut rate rentals, to gain access to the cheapest possible power, a fundemental to aluminium production, then yes, I believe some Canada centric, or BC centric bias is valid. Contracts between Governemnts and large multi nantionals should surely be just that, contracts that are mutually beneficial. Alcan gets cheap power and healthy profits from its smelter, and in return, BC gets economic growth in the Pacific North west, and jobs that provide good living wages.
I believe that was the original intent of the arrangement in the 1950s, and am not sure why this has changed, with bulk power sales now benefiting only the company.
The town is shrinking, is being manipulated and held hostage, and while Alcan schtooks us, we are actually led to believe by our mealy provincial Governemnt that we should be grateful and compliant. How about a little back bone here. If the multinational ( soon to be entirely foreign owned) wants access to BC public resources to make astronomical power profits, then what in real terms are they prepared to give in return,'cos assurances of smelter expansions conveniently not written down, and promises of a third of the workforce disappearing just don't cut it in my Kitimatcentric opinion.

If Alcan can deploy capital in other regions at a higher return (aluminum production + power sales) then it has a fiduciary responsibility to do so. Kitimat smelter expansion competes with all other global projects for capital. You do not seem to understand that.

Workforces don't "disappear". They are redeployed to other areas of the economy where they can be utilized in an economically productive manner. The Western Canadian economy has a shortage of skilled labour ( thousands of Newfoundland workers have been redeployed to Alberts is a good example)

Kitimat smelter expansion competes with an aggresive agenda of bulk export of power, and power sales are winning. That, at the end of the day, is what this discussion is about. Not global capital, not redeployment of labour forces, but power sales versus aluminium. Alcan argues out of both sides of its mouth, pretending it is committed to the smelter and our community, while at the same time crafting power sales deals with BC hydro that entrench power sales, are far more lucrative than smelting and thus undermine the viability of the smelter.
That the BC Provincial Government allows this, unlike in Quebec, where water and power agreements are closely tied to jobs, is very sad. At best, the BC Provincial Governemnt is incompetent in managing its public resources and ensuring economic stability in our area. At worst, its siding with a foreign owned multi national against the very public it represents smacks of third world corruption.

Unless you have power sales as part of overall business package , do you really think that expansion of a smelter in a very high cost region (BC) would ever be viable? Power sales fund the exceedingly high wages and other costs of the region and your life style. Just as Alcan can reallocate its capital , you can also make your own economic decision and work in another region where you believe you can have a higher personal return .

The B.C.provincial government is excellent and fiscally responsible -- if they were not you would not have received those generous tax cuts in the last provincial budget. If you believe you would be better off working in the Saguenay region of Quebec you have the option to apply for positions there. It is a free country -- if you dont take up this option then you are saying that actually I am happy with BC .

As I said your views are very insular.

I really don't know how to respond to that. You argue that Alcan is committed to my community, so I assume that means to the people here who have worked hard on their behalf, and then imply that labour is expendable and really a bit of a drag. I don't believe that power sales are necessary for smelter expansion...quite the opposite actually..power sales are killing the aluminium industry. We only ever get promises of smelter expansion...at a time of record high prices in aluminium, our smelter is not operating at full capacity. But power sales and new deals with BC Hydro to entrench those sales are full steam ahead. Alcan is dishonest in its public relations campaign.

Alcan is 100% honest.
You have to stop living a deluded life -- compared to the rest of the world Kitimat is very very high cost location --- all costs are very high ( wages, benefits, engineering , materials).

Alcan has many options around the world --- Kitimat is only one of many many smelters they own.

Maybe your smelter is not operating at full capacity because the marginal cost of starting up and operating that capacity is greater than the marginal cost of sourcing aluminum from other smelters globally.

I do not understand that if you think you are hard done by you do not seek employment in other locations in Canada or globally where you can maximize your personal wealth. That is the logical thing to do.

It is also logical that Alcan will invest its capital in areas that it can maximize its profitability.

As I said your views are very insular.

Alcan is not a charity -- if you believe that Alcan makes too much money then you should buy Alcan ( Rio) shares to share in those profits.