B.C.B次元官网网址檚 forest industry is having another bad week, after Canfor Corp. announced the immediate closure of its Mackenzie sawmill north of Prince George, and the permanent reduction from two shifts to one at its Isle Pierre mill west of the city, effective in September.
ItB次元官网网址檚 the latest of a long string of permanent or temporary lumber production curtailments announced this year for B.C. Interior mills. Canfor attributes the layoff at Isle Pierre to timber reduction at the centre of the mountain pine beetle recovery zone. Mackenzie is B次元官网网址渄ue to the high cost of fibre, poor lumber markets and challenging operating conditions that have combined to make the mill uneconomic under these conditions.B次元官网网址�
This is the backdrop for Forest Minister Doug DonaldsonB次元官网网址檚 latest initiative, the launch of an B次元官网网址淚nterior forest sector renewalB次元官网网址� project. This consists of a website to gather public input, while ministry staff meet privately with local government and Indigenous leaders in Interior communities, including those hurting the worst.
As with the series of industry-led meetings urged by Premier John Horgan in January, the key purpose here is to further redistribute Crown forest cutting rights. Horgan and Donaldson are locked into the NDP political frame that big forest companies are the problem, and that nothing has been done about their grip on the peopleB次元官网网址檚 resource.
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The Gordon Campbell government bought back 20 per cent of timber licences to diversify the industry in smaller tenures and community forests, and then worked through more than 100 timber assignments with Indigenous communities. This effort faded away during the Christy Clark years, but now itB次元官网网址檚 back with a vengeance.
Similar to the Horgan governmentB次元官网网址檚 earlier engagement with salmon farm operators, I suspect these private meetings boil down to a series of ultimatums to big forest licence holders. The B.C. NDP wants to be seen as implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and this is how they aim to do it.
B次元官网网址淎lmost every day when weB次元官网网址檙e sitting in the legislature I have First Nations come into my office to express interest in more volume and getting involved in forestry,B次元官网网址� Donaldson told me last week. B次元官网网址淭hat diversity of tenure holders is something we think will be important to the vitality of the industry.B次元官网网址�
Legislation passed this spring requires whatB次元官网网址檚 called a B次元官网网址減ublic interestB次元官网网址� test for any transfer of cutting rights. Donaldson described the proposed sale of CanforB次元官网网址檚 licence to Interfor to keep its historic Adams Lake sawmill going as the $60 million sale of an B次元官网网址渁rtificial asset.B次元官网网址�
I asked Donaldson if this kind of transaction is a thing of the past. He allowed that while ministry staff have kept in touch with Interfor and Canfor, heB次元官网网址檚 met with the mayor of Clearwater and leadership of the Simpcw First Nation. Chief Shelly Loring has demanded a role in forest management, and Donaldson concurs.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 looking forward to seeing the proposal on my desk, and yes, we want to see diversity of tenure to create more opportunities,B次元官网网址� Donaldson said.
Setting aside the useless political rhetoric around this (B次元官网网址淵ou did nothing!B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淣o, youB次元官网网址檙e doing nothing!B次元官网网址�), an optimist could say a multi-decade process of Crown forest reform and development of new markets such as mass timber is continuing.
My concern now is that the NDP is interpreting its minority government as a one-term window for socialist revolution, like the Dave Barrett government of the 1970s. I hope IB次元官网网址檓 wrong.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press Media. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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