Three BC mayors brought a community perspective to the 2026 COFI Convention in a panel moderated by Karen Brandt, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Partnerships at Mosaic Forest Management. The panelists were Leonard Krog, Mayor of Nanaimo; Brad West, Mayor of Port Coquitlam; and Maria McFadden, Mayor of Castlegar. The session ranged across polarization, public communications, civic engagement, land use, and what local governments need from the forestry sector to be effective advocates.

Each mayor was asked to open with their biggest concern about the state of the sector and their hopes for it a decade out. West said his primary concern is that residents of Metro Vancouver are entirely unaware that mill closures have any material impact on their lives — that they do not connect the health care, education, and public services they rely on to the forestry workers who help fund them. Without that awareness, he said, the political conditions for meaningful action will not develop. McFadden said forestry has become collateral damage from a broader societal problem — polarization — and that the root cause is a failure of leadership willing to hold difficult conversations without defaulting to entrenched camps. Krog said that while Nanaimo has seen growth in other sectors, forestry remains a vital part of the community’s identity and economy, and that the current moment — with First Nations working to build meaningful economic participation — is an opportunity for the industry to forge genuine partnerships that deliver sustainable jobs. All three said their concern for a decade out is that the sector will be smaller than it should be, not because the opportunity isn’t there, but because policy and public will haven’t kept pace.

On what the industry is not getting right in its public communications, West said the industry’s advertising has been strong but that it needs government as an active partner — one willing to make the same case for forestry to audiences that do not already support it. He said consultation processes have in some cases drifted well beyond their original intent, creating barriers that serve the interests of those who will never support resource development regardless of the evidence, and that getting back to something sensible and proportionate is important. McFadden offered a different lens, arguing that no communications plan will move the needle in a culture of deep skepticism toward institutions. She said the shift has to be organic — through face-to-face dialogue where people are genuinely heard before being asked to listen. She described moderating a post-screening discussion of a forestry documentary in Castlegar where an irate attendee threatened to disrupt the event, and how taking the time to shake his hand, learn his name, and invite him to stay on respectful terms defused the confrontation and led to a genuine exchange. She said there is a large middle contingent that simply needs accurate information, and that reaching them requires being in the same spaces rather than broadcasting from a distance.

On building political champions for the sector, Krog said the message cannot rest on the Minister of Forests alone — it requires the Premier to say publicly and repeatedly that forestry is a priority and then act on it. He drew a contrast between old adversarial political styles and what he described as the current federal tone — where the volume has been turned down and substantive conversations can happen. West said champions need to carry the message to audiences that do not already support the industry — social justice conferences, poverty advocates, community groups — and make the case that forestry and mining are what fund the social programs those audiences care about. He said BC is one province that will succeed or fail together, and that consistency of message across all audiences matters as much as the message itself.

On land use, West raised what he described as the largely unacknowledged damage caused by the conversion of industrial land in the Lower Mainland to residential uses. He said businesses in Port Coquitlam are already looking to Alberta and Washington State because industrial land is simply unavailable, and that once it is gone it cannot be recovered. He said the provincial government needs to become much more focused on protecting the industrial land base before more is lost. McFadden connected the forest sector to the lived experience of Kootenay residents, saying that people who move to Castlegar for the outdoor lifestyle often do not understand that what they are enjoying is the product of professional forest management. She said the same applies to wildfire risk and watershed protection — there is a significant gap between what the industry actually does and what the public believes — and that bridging it requires education and honest decision-making rather than policy designed primarily to satisfy short-term public opinion.

Asked what they need from the industry, each mayor was direct. Krog told delegates to get out and vote in municipal elections and to encourage their workers to do the same, noting that low turnout has consequences for who gets elected and what positions councils take. He said the industry has to engage persistently with its critics rather than writing them off. West echoed the call for civic participation and encouraged people in the room to consider running for local office. McFadden said she simply wants to know what the industry needs from local government so she can be a more effective advocate, and credited conversations with industry leaders in her region for much of what she has learned about forestry in her four years as mayor.

Drafted with the assistance of digital tools to streamline the process.