BC NDP Forestry Parliamentary Secretary Ravi Kahlon bristled at the suggestion saying, ‘It doesn’t matter how you define it…call it whatever you want’
Parliamentary Secretary
for the
forest ministry, Ravi
Kahlon |
Canfor’s latest announcement
that it will be cutting back an additional 75 million board feet of production
falls in the wake of comments by the newly appointed parliamentary secretary
for the forest ministry, Ravi Kahlon, that there are “too many mills”
operating in the province.
Kahlon made the
comments during a radio interview with CHNL on Monday.
“The actual
forests minister, Doug Donaldson, has been virtually absent during the crisis
and for communities like Vanderhoof, Houston, Prince George, Fort St. John or
Bear Lake to be abruptly written-off by the minister’s underling is frankly
unacceptable,” says BC Liberal forestry critic and Nechako Lakes MLA John
Rustad.
“Premier Horgan
hand-picked his partisan hack Mr. Kahlon to launch a public relations campaign
on behalf of an incompetent minister who is literally missing-in-action.”
Canfor announced on
Tuesday that its Prince George, Polar, Houston and Fort
St. John sawmills will be curtailed during the week after Labour Day.
In addition, the
company’s sawmills in Vanderhoof and Houston will also transition to a four-day
work week in September.
Kahlon made his
comments in response to what many consider the worst crisis in the forest
industry in 40 years.
When asked directly
if the loss of more than 4,000 jobs is considered a crisis by the provincial
government, Kahlon bristled at the suggestion saying: “It doesn’t matter how
you define it…call it whatever you want.”
Forestry Critic John Rustad |
“I welcome the
fact that the government is starting to adopt the 5-point forestry plan that
the BC Liberals presented to John Horgan and the NDP almost three months ago,”
Rustad added.
“Minister Doug Donaldson
is however creating market uncertainty by sending mixed signals about stumpage
fees. On the one hand Donaldson says lowering stumpage fees would severely jeopardize
Canada’s position in the softwood lumber dispute”, Rustad continued.
He then concluded by
stating, “At the same time he is going on record as saying that ‘we are
looking at ways for stumpage to be more responsive’ to lumber prices. Minister
Donaldson has to make up his mind and be absolutely clear on stumpage fees in
British Columbia.”
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