Ward Stamer

Ward Stamer, the newly elected MLA for Kamloops – North Thompson is confident his years of experience in forestry as a logging contractor can be useful in his role as forestry critic in the shadow cabinet alongside the NDP’s Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar. Stamer, the former mayor of Barriere, was recently appointed to this high-profile position. “I’m hoping to work well together with Minister Parmar,” Stamer said. “…There is so much to be done with regards to wildfire mitigation, fibre supply and the softwood lumber crisis. I certainly hope the NDP will be receptive to constructive input as we work together. …Our softwood lumber agreement hasn’t been ratified since 2015 and we are paying the largest stumpage fees in North America through taxes on our products. These are critical issues to address and I’m ready to do the work as I’ve spent much of my career in the forest industry in B.C.”