VICTORIA — B.C.’s Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the expectation of more duties and additional tariffs piled onto Canadian softwood lumber would “absolutely be devastating” for the country’s industry. Parmar says the government expects the U.S. Commerce Department will issue anti-dumping duties by Friday of as much as 14 per cent, on top of the current 14.4 per cent duty. It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump told media on Air Force 1 that his administration was eyeing a 25 per cent tariff on lumber some time around April. Parmar says he knows many forestry workers are going to be worried about their jobs and he’ll continue to fight for them. He says the extra tariffs are “very likely” and Canada should take Trump at his word. …He said provincial and federal governments need to continue to make the case that while such tariffs hurt Canadians, they will also hurt Americans.
Hinton Town Council will add its voice in support of the Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA) advocacy efforts. Nicole Galambos of the AFPA – of which both West Fraser and Mondi are members – appeared as a delegation before council with a presentation called Trade Barriers and Albert’s Forest Industry. “Today [there are] some pressing trade challenges facing our sector, particularly some of the softwood lumber duties and tariffs, in addition to emerging US trade barriers and global competition,” Galambos told council, asking for their help. …AFPA suggested there are six steps the Government of Alberta can take to support the forest industry, the first of which is advocate for Alberta forest products in the US. The second is keep Alberta’s regulatory costs low, with Galambos pointing out that high costs have led to mill closures in BC. The third is … a Build With Alberta Wood Act similar to those in BC and Quebec.
SQUAMISH, BC — Peter Dickson has owned FraserWood Industries, a Squamish-based timber manufacturer, since 1998. He has grown his business, earning contracts near and far, including the Sea to Sky Gondola service building and log cabins at Walt Disney World. One third of his business is exported to the US. …“The biggest problem is our American customers will be reluctant to sign moving forward with the uncertainty.” …David Girard sits on the government relations committee for the Sea to Sky Canadian Home Builders Association, and he said the tariffs would have an outsized impact on consumers and demand for Canadian products, and cause reduced employment. According to a recent survey by KPMG, 48% of Canadian companies contacted said they would invest or produce in the U.S. to retain American customers and reduce costs. But for FraserWood, that’s not an option.
WILLIAMS LAKE, BC — The City of Williams Lake has cancelled a lobbying junket to Victoria on the news Adrian Dix, minister of Energy, plans to meet with BC Hydro to discuss the imminent shut-down of the Atlantic Power station. The plant, which generates electricity through the burning of wood waste, is Williams Lake’s biggest industrial taxpayer. The company that owns it plans to shut down soon, unless the province can assure it better power rates and reliable fibre supply. The city has been lobbying the provincial government to prevent the power plant from shutting down, and had planned to converge on the BC Legislature tomorrow for the first day of the new BC legislative session. …The Atlantic Power plant is an independent power producers with a power purchase agreement with BC Hydro. The plant is owned by I Squared Capital, an American private equity investment firm.
B.C.’s rookie forests minister Ravi Parmar had a strong case to make as he travelled to Sacramento last week to meet with California business and government representatives. The state lost more than 16,000 structures in the recent wildfires … and California’s construction industry knows it will need B.C. and Alberta lumber for a rebuild that will take years. …Parmar says U.S. insurance companies confirmed that high-sticking Canada with more border fees for lumber will drive up costs for California fire claims and other new construction. A classic case for this dysfunctional relationship is Interfor Corp. …now one of the biggest lumber producers in the world, with a strategy to respond to trade attacks by expanding U.S. production. …Canadian forest companies shifting their investment to the U.S. involves other factors, such as pine beetle damage and governments restricting timber supply to satisfy often overblown environmental protests. But the effect is what Trump is after, moving jobs from Canada to the U.S.
The first session of B.C.’s 43rd Parliament opens Feb. 18, with traditional rituals like the Speech from the Throne. …This threat [of US tariffs] has since become much more real. Double-digit tariffs from the United States on key exports such as energy, minerals and lumber now loom over B.C. with some potentially reaching or exceeding 50 per cent in the case of aluminum and lumber. “The lumber industry, in particular, is vulnerable,” Werner Antweiler, Chair in International Trade Policy, at UBC’s Sauder School of Business said. “They are not very profitable at the moment and any further setback in terms of accessing the U.S. market will really hit hard. So I’m really worried about jobs in the lumber industry.” …But the threat of tariffs could also spur developments that government has previously neglected. They include efforts to finally break down barriers between provinces.
California home builders say they have very little choice but to continue buying Canadian softwood lumber from places like British Columbia, even if US President Donald Trump issues a 25% penalty on imports next month. The state is in the midst of its rebuilding efforts from the Pacific Palisades wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area. …Dan Dunmoyer, who is the president of the California Building Industry Association said the rebuild will become a lot more costly. …“The price of lumber is already starting to go up some even without the tariffs in place out of uncertainty, which again is a reason not to move quickly on tariffs. …“We are very desirous to rebuild as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost possible. The timing of tariffs or additional costs to softwood lumber coming from Canada is very ill-timed.”
The Government of British Columbia recently approved and enacted changes to the BC Building Code to enable just a single staircase for new small multi-unit residential buildings. However, in response to Vancouver City Council’s approved directive requesting City staff to consider similar changes to the separate Vancouver Building Code, City staff are strongly opposing such a flexible allowance, primarily due to safety concerns. This negative recommendation to City Council takes into account critical feedback previously provided by fire rescue departments in BC during the provincial government’s consultation on its proposed changes. The provincial government’s new regulations enable residential buildings up to six storeys — designed for no more than 24 residents per floor — to have just one egress staircase. Previously, such buildings with three or more storeys required at least two egress staircases.
Kelowna, B.C. – A new documentary, B.C. is Burning, is tackling British Columbia’s wildfire crisis by exploring forest management solutions. The project was sparked in 2024 when Kelowna entrepreneur Rick Maddison, who lost his home in the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire, came across an article by retired forester Murray Wilson about wildfire prevention. The two teamed up to create a film focused on solutions rather than devastation. “I’m hoping if these ideas in the film are adopted, more communities can be protected from this ongoing threat,” says Maddison. …The documentary features interviews with leading experts, including scientists, carbon specialists, and forestry professionals, providing a comprehensive look at the problem and potential solutions. “We’ve spoken with some of the leading people in the field,” says Wilson. “Their insights could change how we manage our forests—and how we protect our communities.” The team is hoping to raise $45,000 to finish production and distribution of their film.
BC-based Interfor reaped an estimated $1.8 million in net profit from logging in old-growth areas that were meant to be preserved, a decision by the province’s Forest Appeals Commission says. The commission upheld the finding that Interfor committed eight contraventions of the Forest and Range Practices Act with the logging between 2012 and 2016 in the Arrow Lakes area of southeastern BC. …Interfor’s forest stewardship plan for the area stipulated that logging should not take place in old-growth management areas except in certain circumstances. It said Interfor’s site plans didn’t meet those requirements. Instead, it said the configuration of the cut blocks “indicates that the harvesting of (old-growth management areas) was a goal for Interfor, rather than confining such harvesting to exceptional circumstances,” as required by the stewardship plan. …Interfor acknowledged that its operations had involved logging old-growth management areas. But the company claimed it had complied with its forest stewardship plan.
Big, dense forests full of highly flammable wildfire fuel surround Hope. But the town itself isn’t as doomed to fiery destruction as one might initially fear. While there is plenty of potential for wildfires in the area, a new report presented to Hope council says Hope itself benefits from several geographic features that keep the risk to homes and businesses to moderate levels. The wildfire risks facing Hope have been comprehensively catalogued in the community’s first wildfire resilience plan, a draft of which was presented to council earlier this month. The report warns that a severe wildfire could burn wide swaths of the forests surrounding the town. The forests are dense and full of coniferous trees that bake in hot, dry summer weather. In Hope, the highest risk areas are those that buttress the nearby woods. 
GRAND FORKS – The Forest Practices Board has finished a complaint investigation into Interfor Corporation’s logging practices north of Grand Forks. The complainant believed Interfor did not properly manage whitebark pine and caused environmental damage during site preparation for planting. The board found that Interfor planned and implemented special management practices for whitebark pine in the cutblock during its operations from late 2021 into early 2022. The investigation also determined that Interfor’s mounding activities – a technique that uses an excavator to scoop and pile soil to create raised planting spots for seedlings – did not cause environmental harm. “Interfor retained whitebark pine trees, avoided scarring them and preserved the species’ natural seed bank,” said Keith Atkinson, chair, Forest Practices Board. “Interfor also planted around 5,200 whitebark pine seedlings on the cutblock, incurring extra expenses to help maintain the species into the future.” 
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