Mark Carney
Prime Minister Carney told his negotiators to walk away from the table after the Trump administration introduced late unacceptable demands on culture, autos and sovereignty that, when taken in concert with their overall approach to talks, revealed the US was not interested in a “true economic partnership” with Canada. In a departure from his usual diplomatic language, Carney suggested the US sometimes signs trade deals in “pencil,” and while Canada’s government is united and working together, the same is not true of the Trump administration. “We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked,” Carney said. The prime minister revealed that the US had issues with Canada’s subsidies for French culture; the prevalence of French-language media online and even the requirement to have bilingual labels on products sold in Canada. …”The U.S. introduced, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals,” Carney said.
Related coverage in:
- The Walrus: Mark Carney: Why I Rejected Trump’s Trade Deal
OTTAWA — The federal government is replacing its counter-tariffs on seafood with 50% levies on a series of other American goods, according to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s office. …The decision to remove seafood from Canada’s list of counter-tariffs was made in part to avoid giving the appearance of escalation by Canada in the face of a simmering trade conflict with the United States, as the U.S. does not tariff Canadian seafood imports. Newly added to Canada’s list of counter-tariffs include: Wood charcoal; Printed matter, including printed pictures or photographs; Articles of plaster or of compositions based on plaster, including boards, sheets and tiles; Materials used in the conveyance or packing of goods, including bottles, flasks, jars and pots; And copper wire. On Tuesday, the federal government laid out its plan for countermeasures in the ongoing trade war, and announced a $7.5-billion support package for workers and businesses.
Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says Canada “welcomes” the US “withdrawing” its positions on the French language and culture after US Trade Rep. Greer said Canada’s streaming laws are not a “red line” for the American side. “Canada welcomes that the US is now withdrawing its positions on discoverability and labelling and is confirming that measures to promote French language and Canadian culture will not be subject to future US trade actions,” LeBlanc said. …In a Canadian exclusive interview, Jamieson Greer disputed Canada’s explanation about why trade talks fell apart, and said there’s currently no ‘open channels’ to get both sides back to the negotiating table. …In an interview that aired Wednesday evening, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer appeared to modify the U.S. position on culture and language. …The Americans’ modified position comes two days after Canada announced its own dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on more than 700 different U.S. imports.
More than 20 lumber mills closed across B.C. over the last three years. Billions in wood products affected by U.S. tariffs. Tens of thousands of jobs lost in Canada. …While there are many factors driving the decline, recent U.S. tariffs haven’t helped. But Donald Trump is hardly the first U.S. president whose government has imposed steep duties on Canadian lumber. The tariffs are the latest chapter in a dispute that’s been going on for more than four decades. …It boils down to differences in how much Canadian and American producers have to pay for access to wood, according to 
Barton: You know, it was just a week ago, incredibly, that you and your counterpart, Dominic LeBlanc, shook hands outside, seemed pretty confident that there was a deal to be had. From your perspective, what happened that caused the talks to collapse?
WASHINGTON — The US and Canada have 
First Nations are grappling with uncertainty and bracing for impact as the Canada-U.S. trade war escalates, with steep tariffs taking effect on some business sectors. … British Columbia faces the highest consequences to the new 50 per cent tariffs on certain goods, causing concern among First Nations in the province that are involved in forestry. John Jack, elected chief councillor of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations on Vancouver Island, said they are “potentially deeply impacted due to our heavy investment in the forestry industry.” Those investments include its own company, HFN Forestry Limited, a 35-per-cent partnership with Western Forest Products on nearly 137,000 hectares of forest, and Iskum Investments, a First Nations consortium looking at building a second-growth focused mill. …Dallas Smith, president of the Nanwakolas Council, which represents six First Nations on northern Vancouver Island, said the new tariffs would greatly affect its investments in forestry. 
Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the 
The Domtar paper mill on the Port Alberni waterfront is the area’s biggest employer, with 350 people making specialized food packaging and food-grade papers. But in the light of a new round of 50% tariffs levied by US President Trump, Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions is worried about the future of those jobs. …In 2020, Domtar spent $13 million to switch production primarily to the food packaging grade paper, an important diversification at the time, but it’s unclear how much of it goes to the U.S. and would be subject to the new tariffs. …Industry analyst David Elstone says the entire BC forestry sector will be hit hard and it comes right after Domtar closed other mills, including at Crofton and Howe Sound. …”A billion dollars worth of BC wood products will now be subject to the new tariffs, including plywood, veneer, paper and packaging products, furniture, MDF and doors. And that’s what these tariffs go after: these value-added products,” said Elstone. 
Bryan Yu, chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union, had no sooner completed a grim economic prognosis of B.C.’s ailing forest economy when, as if to punctuate the point, Domtar announced it would indefinitely idle its Howe Sound pulp mill in Port Mellon on Aug. 20. He said it was an “unhappy coincidence” that the announced pulp mill closure just happened to be announced the day before Central 1 published its economic commentary, which describes B.C. forest economy reaching the “breaking point.” The mill’s closure will result in about 400 workers losing their jobs. Domtar (formerly Paper Excellence) gave no date for when the mill will shut down. But if it is before the end of this year, that will mean three major pulp mills in B.C. will have shut down in B.C. in a single year. …The Council of Forest Industries (COFI) estimates 21 mills, mostly sawmills, have shut down in B.C. since 2023. 
It’s a dynamic moment in time for Nanaimo’s Harmac Pacific pulp mill and the whole coastal forest industry, according to CEO Paul Sandler. Sadler said that the new American 50% tariffs… are not directly impacting Harmac’s operations at this time, but the tariffs’ likely repercussions on the coastal saw and lumber mills… are very worrying. Harmac requires a significant amount of wood chips to produce its high-value kraft pulp that is used globally for tissue, packaging and paper production. …But Sadler said, the biggest news for the forest industry on the B.C. coast recently was the indefinite closure of Domtar’s Howe Sound pulp and paper mill on the Sunshine Coast. …“We need more pulp capacity on the coast to meet the demand than Harmac and the pulp operation in Port Alberni can provide. …Sadler said it’s vitally important that the region’s sawmills get back to operating at full capacity.
VANCOUVER — A leader in BC’s forestry sector is voicing support for Prime Minister Carney’s decision to walk away from trade talks with the US despite reported concessions on lumber tariffs in a scuttled deal. Kim Haakstad, president of COFI, says the breakdown of talks will create challenges for her sector, but Ottawa had to walk away if negotiators couldn’t secure a deal that worked for Canadians broadly. …BC Premier David Eby said that he understood some progress had been made in addressing the long-standing softwood lumber dispute during the most recent talks and it was “disappointing” to see that fail to materialize. …Haakstad called for measures including reducing regulatory restrictions to allow quicker access to BC lumber for a more competitive product on the global market. …She said Ottawa could also help by addressing rail transport costs, a significant barrier for Canadian lumber producers looking to sell products domestically.
Local officials and an operator are remaining hopeful over the future of the two remaining pulp mills on Vancouver Island, despite recent mill closures and new U.S. tariffs. B.C.’s critical forestry industry is among those that are likely to take a major hit due to the incoming 50 per cent tariffs on certain Canadian goods — with the new duties targeting some Canadian pulp and paper products specifically. But Nanaimo Forest Products, which operates the Harmac Pacific Pulp Mill, says most of its specialty wood products have been spared by tariffs and are mostly exported to markets in Asia. “We’re highly focused on exporting our products overseas into places like Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, even Australia,” said Harmac CEO and general manager Paul Sadler. Harmac produces northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp, which Sadler says is common throughout British Columbia, often used for making tissues and paper towels.
Late Thursday, Tolko issued a statement addressing reports that its Heffley Creek veneer facility was facing an indefinite curtailment. “We are aware of reports circulating about an indefinite curtailment at Tolko’s Heffley Creek veneer facility,” the company said. “This reporting is inaccurate.” Hot and dry conditions are impacting some Tolko harvesting operations, resulting in reduced fiber supply and a temporary shutdown of veneer production. The remainder of the Heffley Creek facility is fully operational, with full production expected to return this week.
Hundreds of stunned B.C. businesses are scrambling. …Doug Pauze, president of Coastland Wood Industries woke up Saturday to an escalating trade war with a 50% tariff target on the wood veneer that Coastland produces. With about 50% of its product typically exported to the US… that means scaling back production. For now, he’ll will avoid layoffs among his 320 employees. What the industry needs from counter-tariffs, he added, is for Canada to put an equal focus on the same amount of competing wood products coming into Canada, because “there (are) no other market options.” …Prime Minister Carney has vowed to levy counter-tariffs on US imports. BC business owner Baha Naemi hopes his government focuses on markets where Canadians can fill any voids the counter-tariffs create. Naemi’s company, CanCorr, makes corrugated cardboard and boxes in Surrey. …BC imports more corrugated paper products from the US than it exports, creating opportunities for Canadian producers hit by tariffs.
BC’s forestry industry expects it will be one of the hardest-hit sectors by the United States’ new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. …”This is clearly an attack on Canada,” said Derek Nighbor, president of FPAC. Nighbor said the most recent trade action by the US government captures more than $4 billion in Canadian lumber products that include not only raw materials, but also value-added and processed goods like fibreboard, particleboard, paper packaging, and wood moulding products. …David Elstone, a strategic advisor, “Unequivocally, this is the worst, absolutely worst situation we’ve ever been in.” …Kim Haakstad, CEO of COFI, said the lumber industry as a whole is deeply invested in developing international markets and relationships overseas, but cannot compete on a global stage. She said the high cost of Canadian lumber is driven by both federal and provincial harvesting regulations, making it difficult to diversify to markets beyond the US.
The wrecking ball is readying for the former Northern Pulp mill, a once major player in Nova Scotia’s forestry sector that also came to be recognized as one of the province’s most prominent examples of environmental racism. Environment Minister Tim Halman announced an amended ministerial order on Thursday, clearing the way for the decommissioning, abatement and demolition of buildings and other infrastructure at the site in Abercrombie that sits on the edge of Pictou Harbour. Officials with Northern Timber Nova Scotia, the company that owns the property, expect the work to begin as early as September. …Halman’s amended order says all solid waste, including construction and demolition debris from the mill site, must be disposed of in an approved facility and everything must be removed within 18 months. …An official for Domtar said the work is expected to be complete in the last quarter of 2027,” Brenda Martin said.
… municipal politicians [will] gather for their annual fall convention and attempt to influence the provincial government’s agenda. The Union of B.C. Municipalities convention takes place in Vancouver, Sept. 14-18. …The City of Nanaimo is calling for a ban on exporting raw logs and lumber cants. …The motion states that a lack of adequate and affordable wood fibre supply has been identified as a key factor in the continued curtailment or permanent closure of B.C. sawmills and pulp mills. Over the past five years, on average about 3.2 million cubic metres of raw logs have been exported. “Therefore be it resolved that UBCM call on the provincial government and federal governments to ban the export of raw logs and lumber cants from B.C. to ensure that forests harvested in B.C. from Crown land and private managed forest lands are processed in B.C., encouraging value-added manufacturing in B.C. and supporting employment in B.C.’s forest industry,” the motion states. [A Vancouver Sun subscription required for full access]
Nova Scotia’s softwood lumber exports south of the border have been spared from Donald Trump’s tariffs, but pine products from the province are facing steep new costs in the deepening trade rift between Canada and the United States. About 60 to 80 per cent of Nova Scotia’s pine products — some $25 million worth — are shipped to the U.S., and they have been hammered with 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the president over the weekend. The province’s forestry industry said the tariffs “will essentially kill the white pine market in Nova Scotia.” “It’s concerning,” Breck Stuart, president of Forest Nova Scotia, said in an interview Monday. “The western half of Nova Scotia, where there’s a lot of white pine, that’s 30 per cent of our forest. That market basically went to zero overnight. …Stuart said most of the province’s pine products flow through Freeman Lumber in Greenfield, Millett Lumber in Chester and Lewis Moulding and Wood Specialties in Weymouth.
“One of the hazards of free trade with the United States is the risk of what we’re witnessing now, that the United States could use its economic levers and turn on us as this behemouth next door that has become hostile without us having the time or opportunity to pivot,” said Tom Urbaniak, a professor at Cape Breton University….Where does Nova Scotia stand? “I don’t know,” Stephen Cole answered when asked whether the new tariffs will affect the province’s lumber and paper industries. …Sawmill owners had the same answer. Nova Scotia softwood exports south of the border have been protected under the CUSMA. “We have mostly private wood (about 70% cut off private land), so our timber market here is deemed to be a competitive market,” explained Cole. …What the Nova Scotia forestry industry doesn’t know yet is whether that CUSMA exemption remains under the new tariffs.
New US tariffs on Canadian wood products threaten to raise construction costs for US homebuilders and squeeze supply chains already stretched thin as a potentially long and bruising trade war gets underway. …“Basically, the fact that there’s import tariffs on Canadian shipments to the US and vice versa is going to raise the cost of production for everyone, ultimately through the housebuilder to the consumer,” wood market expert Russ Taylor told Mortgage Professional America. …The full impact on homebuilders could take a few months to become clear but the direction of travel is clear, he said. “The builders either can’t find product or the prices go higher for certain products, and then that starts to influence homebuilders,” he said. “Probably not right away – everyone’s got inventory to sell – but certainly looking ahead a couple of months from now, that’s when some shortages or stockouts could start to occur.”
“Tariffs on Canadian plywood will exacerbate the pressures already weighing on the entire construction sector, with the housing market poised to bear the heaviest burden,” AIA’s chief economist Richard Branch said. “For some time now,” Branch added, “a series of destabilizing factors has clouded the road ahead, making it difficult for developers and architecture firm leaders to plan future projects with confidence. When leaders in construction can’t make informed decisions, momentum stalls—and construction activity slows further.” …Thirty-six different types of plywood are impacted by Section 338 duties. The NAHB said the tariffs will increase housing costs and slow down construction. 
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — A 50% tariff on goods coming from Canada is officially in effect after negotiations crumbled over the weekend, putting a higher price on a large list of imports including lumber and plywood. Pete Peterson, manager at Sutherlands, said prices went up as soon as the news hit. “We don’t want to raise the prices, but we’re just kind of forced to”. Peterson has worked at Sutherlands for over a decade and has seen tariff impacts before. …“Once it’s landed here, it is what it is. Prices are adjusted to what the future prices are going to be. So homeowners, they’re doing less remodeling and stuff.” …“Spring and fall are your renovation times for outdoor projects and stuff. We’re seeing a definite slowdown and people’s need for just everyday projects. Decks, fixing barns, whatnot. Construction, that’s year-round. But homeownership, that’s where our type of business really feels it.”
Canada’s nascent mass timber industry escaped a direct hit from the Trump administration… But steep US levies on the wider Canadian forestry sector still present sizable challenges for manufacturers as they chase a global market for engineered wood forecast to grow to more than US$12 billion by 2035. …Engineered-wood products such as CLT and glulam were left off the latest tariff list. Yet the emerging mass timber industry could feel the “broader hit”. “Mass timber does not become mass timber without the raw wood inputs,” said FPAC’s Derek Nighbor. …Canada Wood knows what it takes to develop a market for Canadian lumber products in China and other Asian nations. But CEO Bruce St. John cautioned that shifting exports to markets other than the US will “take years still” and require more than simply shipping Canadian lumber to overseas buyers. …Canada Wood’s Lance Tao noted, Canada’s opportunity in Asia’s engineered wood market is still less about shipping finished “modules” to the region and more about selling lumber to Chinese mass-timber manufacturers.
The U.S.-Canada trade war escalated sharply over the weekend. …There are a few obvious implications of the trade war that could fall on Canada’s environment and the nation’s natural resources:
The province has ended its state of provincial emergency. The state of emergency was first declared Aug. 8 following a night of fast-moving fires, including the Bald Range wildfire that led to the evacuation of the District of Summerland. At the time, more than 20,000 people were evacuated from their homes. It was then extended Aug. 21 through to Aug. 29, but the province says the decision to end it early follows advice from emergency management officials. However, the province says the wildfire risk in B.C. remains high. The ending of the state of emergency has no effect on the current evacuation orders, evacuation alerts or local states of emergencies put in place by local governments or First Nations.
Prince George city council is being asked to support a call for an independent public inquiry into BC forest and wildfire management. A report, drafted by Coun. Garth Frizzell in his capacity as chair of the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, goes before council on Monday, Aug. 31. It recommends the city submit a resolution to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) asking the provincial government to establish an inquiry under the Public Inquiry Act. The UBCM holds its annual convention Sept. 14-18 in Vancouver. The proposed inquiry would examine the relationship between forest management practices and wildfire risk and severity, as well as the effectiveness of fuel management, prescribed burning, wildfire prevention and landscape-resilience strategies.
BURNABY, B.C. — The United Steelworkers union (USW) says the B.C. government’s proposed Working Forest Landscape Model is a step in the right direction, but … implementation cannot wait. “Our union and others have called for a clearly defined working forest for decades,” said Scott Lunny, USW Western Canada Director. “Government needs to move quickly to define the economic land base, increase the sustainable harvest and give workers and communities the certainty needed to rebuild our forest industry.” …USW says establishing where B.C.’s working forest will be only part of the challenge. The province must also determine how access to fibre from that land will support domestic manufacturing and employment. “These are public forests and a working forest needs to work for British Columbians,” said Lunny. “Greater certainty around the land base and fibre supply should mean greater certainty that those resources support mills, investment and good jobs here in B.C.” …“There is no time to waste”.
Large, devastating fires like those B.C. has witnessed this year frequently spark complaints and questions from the public: Why are there helicopters sitting at the local airport while smoke billows from a nearby mountain? Why are no squadrons of water bombers coming to the rescue? While officials might compare fighting a firestorm to spitting into a campfire, it does little to dispel the complaints that more could and should be done — in particular as anxious residents are evacuated and wait to hear if their homes, farm animals and pets have survived. To better understand how aircraft are used as a tool in wildfire fighting, The Tyee climbed aboard a Bell 407 deployed to one of the province’s largest wildfires. Flying above the 
Amid another brutal stretch of hot, dry weather across Canada, the so-called cultural burning practices of North America’s Indigenous peoples are in vogue. In fact, they’re being inflated to the point of being celebrated as an ethnically exclusive competency, supposedly distinct from western science. Parks Canada’s online resources say cultural burning must be Indigenous-led, “so as not to misappropriate cultural practices,” while claiming that prescribed fire… is a “colonial adaptation of cultural burning practised by many different Indigenous groups in Canada.” …We know that Indigenous communities have historically used low-intensity fires to maintain grasslands for grazing, corridors for travel and forests, among other purposes. The evidence of this is substantial and not in question, nor is the effectiveness of those methods in their particular contexts. But that is not uniquely Indigenous knowledge. It is a basic principle of fire management that’s understood and applied around the world.
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada – Dense evergreen plantations in Canada’s boreal forest absorb so much winter sunlight that the resulting surface warming can offset 6 to 20 percent of the climate benefit they are credited with. Canada’s current carbon accounting frameworks measure the carbon stored but largely omit the heat absorbed by these forests, according to a new Policy Brief from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). The result is inflated mitigation estimates and public investment in forests that may not deliver the cooling they promise. The Policy Brief “
In this month’s update, you find these stories and more:
A man has died following a workplace incident at a forestry business in Golden last week. Golden-Field RCMP responded to the scene at about 9:51 a.m. on Aug. 17, after reports of a serious workplace incident. Police said the initial investigation indicates the man was working alone on a logging truck when the vehicle moved and injured him. RCMP and B.C. Emergency Health Services attended, but the man was pronounced dead despite the efforts of first responders. The B.C. Coroners Service is conducting an independent investigation, and WorkSafeBC has also been notified and will investigate the circumstances surrounding the workplace death. An RCMP collision reconstructionist examined the scene, while Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement inspected the logging truck and found it to be in excellent mechanical condition.
An evacuation alert for 30 Lions Bay properties due to a nearby wildfire has been rescinded. The Village of Lions Bay issued the alert Sunday evening at 9 p.m. due to the Lone Tree Creek Wildfire but it was later rescinded on Monday after crews were able to hold the fire. A total of 30 homes, including properties on Oceanview Road and Kelvin Grove Road, had been told to prepare their things and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice should the alert be upgraded to an order. Those same residents were being notified directly on Monday that the alert had been cancelled. “While this is very positive news, response activities are continuing,” read a statement from the Village of Lions Bay.
The number of wildfires in British Columbia surged past 180 over the weekend, up from about 125 on Friday, as the province recorded 11,000 lightning strikes. An update from the BC Wildfire Service said a subtropical weather system brought hot temperatures and lightning that sparked fires throughout southern B.C. But it said crews were prepared for the storm that also brought significant rainfall, helping to moderate fire behaviour in a summer that’s otherwise been very dry. The service said 75 per cent of the new fires sparked during the storm had already been classified as held, under control or out by Monday. With that, the number of active blazes ticked down to just below 180 later Monday. The service has warned of the return of hot, dry and windy conditions this week. …About a third of B.C.’s active fires are burning out of control, including four major wildfires of note — the Pear Lake fire in the Cariboo, the Bald Range fire in Summerland, B.C., and the Ainslie Creek and Brunswick Creek fires in the Fraser Canyon.