Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The more lifelines governments throw to the sinking forest industry, the more tangled it gets in the quicksand of U.S. trade policy. That policy is obvious to all now. Responding to a powerful lobby group, the U.S. wants to suffocate the Canadian forest industry and choke off all lumber imports, to the benefit of U.S. timber firms. They are unlikely to be able to fully meet demand, but they’ll make a fortune trying, because they will get all the market instead of most of it, and because shortages cause price hikes ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

A two‑week curtailment at Interfor’s Adams Lake sawmill, announced late Friday, threatens the livelihoods of roughly 400 families in the region, according to Ward Stamer, BC Conservative Forest Critic and MLA for Kamloops‑North Thompson ... CLICK HERE for the full story

BC’s forestry sector put aside its growing frustration with the NDP provincial government on Tuesday to unite behind the premier on a common call: Ottawa needs to step up with better, faster aid to counter the devastating impacts of rising U.S. softwood lumber tariffs. Forest companies, wood producers, truck loggers, processors, manufacturers and organized labour issued a joint call with Premier David Eby for the federal government to start treating the $15-billion B.C. forestry sector with the same political importance it treats Ontario’s steel, aluminum and auto manufacturing industries threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump. The move came after a new wave of 10 per cent American tariffs hit softwood lumber at midnight Monday, raising the collective duties and financial penalties against the sector to 45 per cent ... CLICK HERE for the full story

IMAGE CREDIT:  Canadian Forest Industries  Federal Industry Minister Melanie Joly said financial relief is coming soon for Canada’s tariff-struck softwood lumber sector. The minister said in Fredericton Wednesday the government will provide funding through banks, backstopped by the Business Development Bank of Canada, in the “coming days.” “That’s for supporting, right now, our businesses to make sure that they stay afloat,” Joly said. “Meanwhile, we will make sure that we work on a buy-Canadian policy to have our homes and our major projects and our infrastructure being built with the great softwood from New Brunswick.” ... Joly said the funding will go toward ensuring businesses stay afloat while dealing with “unjustifiable” tariffs, adding the government will also offer support for operations and capital expenditures. The minister said the government funding will be provided based on individual companies’ needs ... CLICK HERE for the full story

This week’s announcement by the Eby NDP government of another advisory committee is more bad news for a forest industry in crisis, according to Ward Stamer, Conservative Official Opposition Forests Critic. “This new committee has been appointed for one reason only,” said Stamer, “to keep the Green Party happy, so they will prop up David Eby’s government a little while longer.” Stamer noted that the creation of the committee was one of the conditions that the Greens demanded in exchange for supporting Eby. “The Greens talk a good game about sustainability and stewardship,” said Stamer. “This is a group of lawyers and city folks who only ever step foot in a forest to go hiking or bird-watching. Their only goal is to turn the entire province into one big provincial park.” “We’ve lost tens of thousands of jobs in the forest industry. Most of the people on this committee played some kind of role in shutting down mills, removing fibre from the timber supply, and throwing loggers and mill wor...

A nyone remember when BC lumber was not subject to U.S. tariffs? What we now refer to as the Canada- U.S. Softwood Lumber Dispute began in 1981 when the U.S. lumber industry complained to its Department of Commerce that Canada was unfairly shipping and selling lumber in the U.S. the Department of Commerce found Canada’s lumber industry did not “hinder” the U.S. industry. Although that decision was not appealed, additional and subsequent charges were levied by the U.S. producers, resulting in the softwood lumber war that continues today ... CLICK HERE for the full commentary

A Canadian forestry research centre that has led efforts to expand the use of mass timber in British Columbia and Quebec is being accused by the U.S. lumber industry of receiving unfair federal and provincial subsidies. The move is part of a new offensive in the long-running trade dispute over Canadian softwood sold south of the border . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story