John Rustad and Ward Stamer issue joint statement on BC forestry summit

Premier David Eby and federal minister Dominic LeBlanc are in Vancouver today for a high-profile forestry summit, promising support for workers and businesses struggling under the weight of U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty.

 

We welcome any real relief for forestry workers and their families, but let’s not pretend this summit is anything more than damage control for a crisis the NDP helped create.

 

The annual allowable cut (AAC) in BC is approximately 63 million cubic metres; however, last year, before Trump’s new tariffs, we only harvested 32 million.

 

This year? We’ll likely fall below 30.

 

That’s not because of international trade. That’s because of years of provincial mismanagement, red tape, and policy paralysis.

 

David Eby’s government has tied the forestry sector in knots with broken permitting systems, ideological land-use policies, and a stumpage model that has left us uncompetitive, undercut, and exposed. Now, with tariffs hammering our exports, we’re watching another taxpayer-funded photo op while real jobs and entire towns disappear.

 

Let’s be clear: half this crisis is made in the U.S., the other half is made in Victoria.

 

While Eby smiles for the cameras in Vancouver, mills are shutting down, and workers are being “transitioned” out of careers they never wanted to leave. This is what happens when you treat the forest industry as a problem to manage, rather than a pillar to protect.

 

We don’t need another roundtable.

We don’t need more announcements.

We need a government that will get out of the way and fight for our forestry workers.

 

The BC Conservatives are ready to:

1.   Scrap the broken stumpage model

2.   Streamline permits with a one-project, one-permit process

3.   Shift to a fibre-based AAC

4.   Ban glyphosate aerial spraying and restore proper wildfire management

5.   Rebuild the workforce through skills training and emergency support

6.   And take a real stand on internal trade barriers and foreign tariffs

 

BC’s forestry sector doesn’t need sympathy from the same politicians who helped run it into the ground.

 

It needs a government that gives a damn and knows what the hell it’s doing.

If Eby wants a “Team Canada” approach, he should start by taking serious steps to protect jobs and communities, rather than undermining our economy with excessive red tape and symbolic summits.

 

Until then, this is just another headline to cover for a decade of NDP failure.