Region Archives: Canada West

Brock Mulligan

With the United States changing up its tariff system, placing a 25 percent tax on incoming goods from Canada and Mexico, among other countries, and seeking to impose reciprocal taxes on all countries that import into the USA, essentially charging the same tariffs on countries that already charge tariffs on The United States, industry leaders in Alberta are looking to their allies for support. At a recent Whitecourt Town Council meeting, Brock Mulligan, Senior Vice President of the Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA), presented an overview of what Alberta’s forestry industry is facing and how community leaders can help support changes by advocating to the provincial government. …The AFPA requested that Whitecourt Town Council send a letter to the provincial government. “The letter, we were hoping, would talk about some of the mitigative actions that could be taken to help us through this time.”

A Vernon internet personality known for her funny online responses has shifted to creating political content with an upcoming federal election and ongoing trade war with the United States. Vernonite Elle James, known online as Shameless Elle, has been creating content for years, primarily making humorous reaction videos. Things started to shift for James during the most recent U.S presidential election. In a recent video, James responded to a video of U.S. President Donald Trump talking about not needing to buy lumber from other places. “We [Canada] don’t have a tariff on lumber, you [U.S.] have a tariff on lumber, which you put in,” said James in the video. “You put it in in 2017.” Vernon-based forestry company Tolko has been lamenting the tariffs for years, citing them as a reason for mill closures and temporary shutdowns.

In the face of Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have a plan to protect workers, fight for Canada and its economy, and build, build, build using British Columbia forestry products and other resources and skills. “Let’s build, build, build—from hospitals to bridges to the affordable homes we need, and let’s do it using 100 per cent Canadian lumber and other B.C. grown and B.C. built products as much as possible,” said Singh. “We can make sure B.C. workers keep working, keep putting food on the table and keep building this great country.” B.C. businesses say Trump’s tariff fight is already causing layoffs and chaos. Forestry supports over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in B.C., paying $9.1 billion in wages, salaries and benefits annually. More than 4,800 Indigenous people are directly employed in the forestry industry in the province.

Stein Lumber is pleased to announce its acquisition of the Teal Jones’ Lumber remanufacturing plant in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. This purchase reflects Stein Lumber’s commitment to investing in British Columbia’s forestry industry and expanding its production of high-quality, value-added wood products. This strategic acquisition strengthens the company’s capacity to serve markets across North America and Europe while supporting the growth of British Columbia’s forestry sector. The addition of the Salmon Arm facility enhances its ability to meet the increasing demand for value-added wood products. We would like to thank the Teal Jones Group for their support throughout this transition. This investment reinforces our dedication to fostering economic growth and delivering innovative solutions for customers worldwide.

The mayor of Williams Lake, BC says he’s relieved that the provincial government and province’s power provider have stepped in to stop a local power plant from shutting down. The privately-held Atlantic Power Corporation has operated the Northwest Energy plant in the central BC community since 1993. Provincial utility B.C. Hydro purchases the plant’s power for the grid through 10-year agreements. Atlantic Power’s plant, which employs around 30 people, generates energy by burning biomass — primarily wood waste, fibre from sawmills, and logging debris. But last year, the corporations told BC Hydro that it would shut down the plant in January 2025 as it was no longer profitable, citing a lack of viable fibre supply amid the forest industry’s wider struggles. On Friday, BC Hydro announced it had reached a deal with Atlantic Power to save the plant, saying it provided ways to source and manage cost-effective fuel.

This year’s COFI convention will tackle the most pressing challenge facing BC’s forest sector – predictable access to fibre. Without this, BC’s global competitiveness and the family-supporting jobs forestry provides remain at risk. There is a path forward. Within the sustainable Allowable Annual Cut there are opportunities to surpass a minimum target of 45 million cubic meters of harvest while maintaining environmental stewardship. Achieving these outcomes will require changes to BC Timber Sales (BCTS), innovative approaches to forest landscape planning, stronger partnerships with First Nations, and community-led solutions. Join us for a solutions-oriented discussion, featuring distinguished experts: George Abbott, Treaty Commissioner, Former BC Cabinet Minister & Member, BC Timber Sales Review Task Force; David Elstone, Managing Director, Spar Tree Group; Makenzie Leine, Vice President, Business Development, A&A Trading; Jennifer Gunter, Executive Director, BC Community Forest Association; moderated by Michael Armstrong, VP and Chief Forester at COFI.

KAMLOOPS, BC – Unifor Local 10-B members at Kruger in Kamloops, B.C., ratified a new four-year collective agreement with 91% approval that will set the pattern for negotiations across the Western Pulp and Paper Caucus. “There’s a whole-union approach at work here to deliver for forestry members as we fight back against unfair tariffs, work to develop a national industrial strategy, and negotiate strong collective agreements at the bargaining table,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne, referencing Unifor’s work to Fight for Forestry Jobs. “I congratulate the members of Unifor Local 10-B and our partners at PPWC for working together to secure this contract.” The new agreement includes wage improvements, a Skilled Trades adjustment, benefit improvements, and, importantly, took zero concessions. There are 245 Unifor members covered by this collective agreement.

Nick Arkle

Kelowna Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel on U.S. tariffs on Wednesday at UBC Okanagan. …Arkle is the CEO of the Gorman Group in West Kelowna. His company employs upwards of 1,000 people… “This is real, this isn’t just rhetoric coming out of the United States, it’s hitting people hard,” Arkle said. While the forestry industry has seen its fair share of ups and downs with the United States through the long-running softwood lumber dispute, Arkle said these new tariffs are different in that they showed up “almost overnight.” He said …about 55% of Gorman’s products goes south of the border. “We’ve got customers down there that we’ve supplied lumber to for 35, 40 years. You don’t walk away from those kind of markets … they’re friends,” Arkle said. “We are working hard right now with them to try and figure out how to work this out, how do we share the burden?”

• Kelowna Now by Steve MacNaull: Actually, maybe retaliatory tariffs aren’t the way to fight Trump

Jason Krips

Canada’s economy is facing an attack — and our forest industry is on the front lines. Our forest products face a staggering 55-per-cent tax on a market that takes half of the country’s lumber, pulp, and wood panels.  …Job number 1 is talking to our American neighbours about the value of Canadian forest products. Alberta-made lumber and wood panels facilitate the affordable construction of American homes. Our pulp serves as feedstock for industrial processes and helps create jobs for Americans. …Now is a strategic time to implement a forest manufacturing tax credit. Such credits exist in other sectors and could catalyze investments in forestry mills to create new products for new markets. …We should invest in new markets like India, Africa, and the Middle East and leverage existing relationships in Japan, China, and Korea. But we also need to have the infrastructure in place to support those new markets. 

By easing the current restrictions on timber harvesting and natural gas development, B.C. Premier David Eby can reduce B.C.’s reliance on U.S. markets and improve affordability… This policy shift would create jobs, help address the cost-of-living crisis and insulate B.C. from U.S. trade volatility by diversifying its trading partners. Natural resources, namely forestry, energy, mining and agriculture, make up about 75 per cent of B.C.’s exports as of November 2024. …Yet both sectors face government-imposed constraints, from caps on logging to opposition to pipelines. Since forestry and energy dominate B.C.’s exports, robust growth depends on expanding these sectors. B.C.’s forestry industry has long been a global leader, but policies restricting access to fibre are undermining its viability. The annual allowable cut and a cap on how much timber can be harvested, along with actual cuts, have been reduced in recent years due to environmental concerns and pressure from within the NDP’s base.

Premier David Eby has announced new tariff-response measures with the intention of bringing forward legislation that will defend British Columbians, workers and businesses from U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and energy. …The B.C. government intends to introduce tariff-response legislation [that] would enable a range of responses, including the ability to remove interprovincial trade barriers, mandating that low-carbon fuels added to gasoline and diesel be produced in Canada, and allowing B.C. to apply tolls/fees to U.S. commercial vehicles using B.C. infrastructure to travel to Alaska. …The B.C. government and Crown corporations have also been directed to buy Canadian goods and services first. …a B.C. softwood advisory council is developing a diplomatic and trade strategy to fight for B.C.’s interests in the ongoing softwood lumber dispute…

• Canadian Press, by Chuck Chiang: B.C. poised to toll U.S. trucks driving to Alaska through province in tariff response

Snuneymuxw First Nation has launched a transportation company to strengthen Vancouver Island’s supply chain and spur the region’s economy. Sarlequun Transport Inc. will offer trucking services for general freight, forestry, construction and mining industries, stated a Snuneymuxw press release, offering “export and import from Vancouver Island to the world, providing transportation, documentation, and logistics,” and will operate under the nation’s economic development corporation – Petroglyph Development Group. The company has a 2.83 hectare property on Maughan Road in Nanaimo, complete with trucks, forklifts and a warehouse to service shippers on Vancouver Island, according to the press release. Ian Simpson, Petroglyph CEO, said the new company will build on Snuneymuxw’s legacy. …Snuneymuxw First Nation Chief Michael Wyse said the venture is important for his nation’s growth.

VICTORIA – The United Steelworkers union (USW) acknowledges the difficult position facing the B.C. government in its 2025 budget and applauds the thoughtful, diligent focus on priorities by Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey. U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats and the imposition of tariffs have created uncertainty for important exports, including lumber, copper, zinc and other essential products. …“Workers are calling for action to grow and diversify the economy and supply chains, reducing dependence on the U.S. market while ensuring jobs in mining, critical minerals and processing, forestry and lumber manufacturing,” said Scott Lunny, USW Western Canada Director. …B.C. should prepare for a wave of layoffs in the forest sector due to rising duties. …The USW is urging the B.C. government to increase the supply of fibre and streamline the permitting process in the logging sector to support the primary industry and facilitate ongoing efforts to expand manufacturing, Mass Timber and other value-added industries.

Russ Taylor

Canadian producers of softwood lumber are facing challenges to gain greater access to timber in British Columbia as they cope with new U.S. tariffs stacked on top of existing duties. Vancouver-based forestry analyst Russ Taylor said the B.C. government finds itself in a bind on the forestry file, after Tuesday’s implementation of 25-per-cent tariffs, which are in addition to the current duty rate of 14.4 per cent for Canadian softwood shipped south of the border. “The government’s forest policy in the last five years has gone from conservation of the forests and to almost preservation – locking up the timber rather making it available to the industry,” Mr. Taylor said in an interview on Wednesday. …Mr. Taylor said the B.C. budget tabled on Tuesday forecasts that tree harvesting would dip to 29 million cubic metres in the 2027-28 fiscal year, and there remains no timetable for when the harvest might eventually rise to 45 million cubic metres annually. [Globe and Mail subscription required for full access]

Ken Kalesnikoff

Ken Kalesnikoff, owner and CEO of Kalesnikoff Mass Timber, has called U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods “unbelievable.” …Kalesnikoff says the 25 per cent tariffs imposed on all Canadian goods pose a critical threat to the forestry industry in the province, which may also see the duties on softwood lumber exports increase to 27 per cent in August. “The BC industry is dealing with the unfair duties that are being charged by the U.S. on lumber. They just announced an increase to the tune of almost 27 per cent from 14.5 per cent. That was going to be bad enough, then to get 25 per cent on top of that with these tariffs is just unbelievable.” …This forced the company to explore market diversification, which, fortunately for Kalesnikoff, means it’s less reliant on U.S. exports. …It’s still too early to determine the full impact these tariffs and anti-dumping duties could have on the company’s operations and finances…

BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI)’s president, Kim Haakstad, is feeling “disappointed by the absence” of support for the Forestry Sector in Budget 2025. In a press release on Tuesday, March 4, Haakstads said “There is no one simple fix” to the challenges the forestry sector will face with the newly implemented tariffs, from President Donald Trump. Premier David Eby and Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar have acknowledged the forestry sector will be hard hit by the broad scope the tariffs have on exporting all forest products. …Another of COFI’s concerns in Budget 2025, is the government seemingly does not plan to commit to harvesting the 45 million cubic metres it outlined as part of its election platform. Budget 2025 predicts a decline to harvesting to 29 million by 2027/28. Below what COFI says is the Allowable Annual Cut of 60 million cubic metres.

• BC Council of Forest Industries Statement on BC Budget 2025

Brenda Bailey

The B.C. government is forecasting tough times in the forestry industry as U.S. tariffs take effect and lumber producers face timber constraints in the province. The B.C. budget tabled on Tuesday said the provincial government is expecting lower annual volumes of tree harvesting over the next three years, restricting the production of softwood lumber. “Total annual harvest volume on Crown land is projected to average 30 million cubic metres over the fiscal plan,” according to the budget released by B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey. …Tuesday’s B.C. budget comes only three days after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a new U.S. investigation into softwood lumber that is global in scope. …In an announcement on Monday for preliminary rate revisions, the Commerce Department said it plans to raise anti-dumping duties for most Canadian lumber producers to 20.07 per cent. …Canadian producers have been paying U.S. duties for the past eight years, but the new tariffs will likely be paid by mostly U.S. importers. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required to read the full story]