The B.C. government is calling on the federal government to do more for the province’s softwood lumber industry, and that includes anti-tariff ads.
The sector has been hit hard by duties and U.S. tariffs, while Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government have been spending a lot of their time focusing on Ontario’s tariff-battered sectors.
“We were in Ottawa just a few weeks ago and we raised the profile of forestry,” B.C. Forest Minister Ravi Parmar said on Tuesday.
“Forestry jobs are on the line, paycheques for those forestry workers are at risk, and we’re seeing the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs and duties on forestry right now, where we’ve got mills curtailing and potential closures on the way.”
The B.C. government is asking federal ministers Dominic LeBlanc and Melanie Joly to come to B.C. as part of a forestry sector summit.
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“I don’t want to predispose any conversations that we’re having with the federal government around what the summit looks like, but industry has to be a part of the conversation, and I know I’m speaking to them on a regular basis around the important work that we need to do collectively to be able to ensure that we can restore confidence in the sector and to be able to withstand the issues that we’re dealing with right now,” Parmar added.
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Premier warns B.C.’s softwood lumber industry on a ‘razor’s edge of survival’
Ottawa promised more than a billion dollars in aid for the forestry sector and the industry said it is still waiting for the money to arrive.
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Parmar said that the upcoming ad campaign will take the province’s message directly to U.S. residents and lawmakers.
“We are hearing from companies like Canfor and West Fraser that sales are down in markets like Texas and California, and that has to do with duties and tariffs, but also has to do with the demand that is dropping because of the actions that the president is taking in his own country,” he said.
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“And I think it’s important we take that message directly to lawmakers in the United States.”
BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said the provincial government is too quick to turn to Ottawa for help when it should also be addressing an onslaught of concerns companies have been chipping away at for years.
“They failed to make wood available,” Rustad said.
“It takes three years to get a permit. You have had forest fires and the wood just sits there and rots.”
There is no firm date set for the summit but the hope is for something over the next few weeks, according to the B.C. government.
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