I was born and raised into the forest industry. I have seen many cycles. I have never seen the situation as precarious in BC as it is right now says Nechako Lake MLA Rustad

Alan Forseth ~~ Kamloops, BC ~~ May 7^th, 2019

Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad is the BC Liberal forestry critic, and yesterday his party sent out a media release, “BC Liberals oppose John Horgan’s forestry bill that divides communities and puts jobs at risk”

I grew up in the Cariboo, and over a number of years saw ongoing and continuous job reductions taking place. 

The Cariboo is a beautiful part of the province to grow up in, and so starting first with my 1973 Toyota Corolla ... and then moving up to my Chevy half-ton truck ... I traveled pretty much every road (paved, graveled, rutted and at time what little remained of horse drawn wagon roads dating back decades and decades).  

During those travels I also saw what was happening as small rural communities, dependent on the forestry industry saw those job loses leading to businesses closing, people moving away, schools closing, and government services being shuttered.

Last night I asked Forestry Critic Rustad about the future ... this is what he had to say:

“The industry is going through some very tough times right now. Mills are taking down time, workers are scrambling to make payments or find other work (or EI) and everyone connect with the industry are worried. Confidence is low as BC has become the highest cost producer in North America”.

Continuing he told me of families that he had personally talked with ... families in Ft. St. John for example, that were really struggling:

“They have not had consistent work for almost 6 months and are asking .... where is this government? Do they care about what’s happening and are they going to help us?”

Rustad continued, “I asked the minister this question during estimates the other month and unfortunately the answer was no”.

In fact, according to the Liberal’s Rustad, an agreement was negotiated in secret without input from the forestry sector. The impact was guessed at by the government as nobody had thought to do an analysis before the negotiations were basically completed.

It turns out the agreement will mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of timber annually, in the Northeast, likely leading to a mill closure and the loss of about 500 jobs. 

What agreement you ask, and so did I of MLA Rustad?  Turns out this is the one between the province and two first nations to protect caribou habitat.

It’s also one where BC’s Minister of Forests, Doug Donaldson, cushions what could be a major blown by stating that ... some local industries might be impacted and the governments will work to ensure that the effects are limited.

What does Rustad think?

“Industry was caught by surprise and quickly started looking at other caribou habitat areas around the province. Will the government be coming for them next?”

“Their analysis which was rough, and a worst-case scenario, suggests if government goes all the way, the forest sector in the interior of BC could see a 15 to 20 million cubic meter reduction in the annual allowable cut”.

“Put another way”, he continued, “This represents about 40% of the total trees harvested in BC’s interior. It would mean significant permanent closures of forestry processing facilities”. 

While industry is aware there will have to be rationalization, due to the pending reductions in the annual allowable cut (amount of timber available to support the industry) ... however the uncertainty and added costs brought on by this government are compounding the problems. 

“Industry has recently said they are putting capital plans on hold as they have no confidence in where the government is taking them”, said Rustad, before continuing, “and the mountain caribou file is a prime example. 

I was raised in a forestry-based community with numerous large and small sawmills (along with the requisite bee-hive burners, so yeah it was a few years ago).  Those sawmills where I lived were the life blood of our small community – when they shut down, or had to reduce the number of shifts and lumber being cut, things got hard for all.

That’s why I can understand this comment Rustad made directly to me:

“I was born and raised into the forest industry. I have seen many cycles. I have never seen the situation as precarious in BC as it is right now. Not because of markets but because of ideology that is coming from the BC NDP government and the uncertainty it is creating”.

The forestry and resource industries in our province have been called a ‘sunset’ one by may ... especially environmentalists.

That would include John Horgan’s Environment Minister, and former Sierra Club Director, George Heyman.  Still Forestry Critic John Rustad has confidence in the forest industries resilience.

“BC’s forest industry supports about 140 communities across the province. More than 140,000 jobs are created through direct, indirect or induced employment. Forestry has been a foundational piece of BC’s economy and I believe it will continue to do this well into the future”, he commented. 

Still, there is Bill 22 to consider. Bill 22 basically requires industry to share confidential information with the government. It gives the minister the ability to suspend tenure licenses if there is a change in ownership ... or even as simple as a change in the power structure of a board. 

Commenting on this Rustad stated, “The minister can continue the suspension until the company has met "community interest", whatever that is. In other words, through this bill the minister can force companies to surrender tenure without compensation if they partake in the pending rationalization and if the minister deems the concentration of tenure is too high”

“This is not a rural versus urban issue— this is a BC issue,” added Rustad. “We need policies and laws that address the immediate and long-term viability of a sector that has been the backbone of our province for 200 years.”

“Yet again John Horgan’s approach to rural issues is to make unilateral decisions without engaging the very same communities that will be impacted,” further stated Rustad.

It sounds like the knees could be knocked out from under the forest industry – and we haven’t even mentioned Donald Trumps attack on softwood lumber a couple of years back, by again imposing sky high tariffs on what we ship into the United States.  

Still many British Columbians in rural and Northern BC come from strong stock ... and I’m betting they’ll fight for a strong economic British Columbia that can allow, and provide, a safety net for those in need.