Peter Lister
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how democracy balances the rights of the few against the interests of the majority. This is a particularly complex topic in BC, where the legal standard is higher than other provinces and where we are advancing reconciliation efforts with Indigenous and First Nations peoples. …This higher legal standard helps explain why BC faces challenges implementing policy and managing public lands. The government isn’t simply making a political choice, it’s also responding to a unique legal obligation. …Forest Landscape Plans (FLPs) are a good example of how BC’s higher legal standard is shaping government action. To abide by DRIPA, government has been working closely with First Nations to reach consensus on how to manage public lands. However, in most cases, these discussions have happened behind closed doors, with very little opportunity for the resource sector, communities, or public to provide any meaningful input.
These challenges stem not from DRIPA itself, but from how government is implementing its legal obligations under it. …At present, industry and the public are only being consulted after agreements with First Nations have already been reached. This approach is fueling frustration and eroding public trust; people do not feel that government is acting in their interests, and anger is rising. Reconciliation must remain a shared priority for all British Columbians, but this is not the correct approach. Excluding the public from meaningful engagement will result in a backlash that may harm relationships with First Nations and do irreversible damage toward our shared goal of reconciliation. Our government needs to do better. It must engage the public in genuine dialogue, explaining its goals and involving industry and communities early in the process, instead of cursory box-checking engagement after decisions have already been made.
Two recent decisions from the courts of British Columbia and New Brunswick have addressed the relationship between Aboriginal title and private property rights. In Cowichan Tribes v. Canada, the Supreme Court of BC granted a declaration of Aboriginal title, which included lands held in fee simple by third parties. In contrast, in JD Irving Limited et al. v. Wolastoqey Nation, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal held that such a declaration could not extend to privately-owned lands. While these remedial declarations are discretionary, the apparent conflict in judicial approaches raises questions about the future approach to Aboriginal title claims in respect of private property. What you need to know:
VANCOUVER, BC — West Fraser Timber announced that it will record an impairment of its Lumber segment goodwill in the fourth quarter of 2025 due to persistently challenging economic conditions. The Company is also providing initial 2026 guidance for key product shipments, operational costs and capital expenditures. In Q4-2025, West Fraser expects to record an approximately $409 million non-cash impairment of goodwill as a result of the protracted downcycle that has caused management to recalibrate certain assumptions used in its annual goodwill impairment test. Adjustments to these assumptions include, but are not limited to, species-specific product pricing trends, lower demand and pricing for wood chip residuals, and the depth and duration of the current downcycle and its expected recovery. The impairment represents the entire amount of goodwill associated with the Company’s US lumber operations.
A new global risk assessment is warning that no country would be more “profoundly affected” by a political upheaval in the US than Canada. Published Monday, the Eurasia Group’s “
For a town still feeling the loss of its paper mill more than a decade ago, the promise of new industry is tantalizing; 50 or more new jobs, a much-needed boost to the local economy, perhaps a stepping stone to attract new business or help those already here expand. …the plan to build a new $210-million biofuel plant in Fort Frances is coming close to fruition and it could be a game-changer for the region – if it breaks ground this fall as anticipated. After an exhaustive search, the team has settled on the former Resolute mill site for its pilot project, a refinery that can turn the byproducts of logging … into synthetic gas, diesel and aviation fuel. The town is close to an abundant feedstock source, in the heart of a small labour market, owns its own affordable power production and is not far from colleges primed to provide essential training.
Lumber futures rose toward $535 per thousand board feet, rebounding from the September low of $528 reached on January 7th after a low liquidity holiday sell off unwound, improving seasonal demand expectations and longer term supply tightening. Renewed engagement from market participants, signaled that forced selling and the thin trading conditions that pushed prices to multi month lows have faded. Seasonal demand expectations have strengthened as builders begin positioning ahead of the spring construction period, when consumption typically improves following year end destocking. Industry forecasts point to a modest pickup in US housing starts and repair and remodel activity in 2026 as interest rates ease and trade uncertainty recedes, supporting demand after a weak finish to 2025. At the same time, longer term supply growth remains constrained by ongoing tariffs on Canadian softwood and slower capacity expansion across North American sawmills, limiting surplus.
Canada is becoming far more attractive in commodity goods to the rest of the world, as it diversifies its trade away from the US, says one analyst. Imports outpaced exports in October. Merchandise imports increased by 3.4% in October while exports increased by 2.1%. Because of this, Canada’s merchandise trade balance went from a surplus of $243 million in September to a $583 million deficit in October. …William Pellerin, a trade lawyer, said whether it be Malaysian kitchen cabinet manufacturers, or Chinese goods, he said “Canada is becoming far more attractive at lower pricing in many commodity goods and in many manufactured sectors.” On the other hand, the data shows exports to the US made up 67.3% of all Canadian exports, which is the lowest since the pandemic. …Cabinet and wood makers face a difficult challenge as they face a 25% tariff and lose access to the US market, said Pellerin.
B.C.’s GDP is forecast to increase by 1.6% this year, 
Nearly 1,060 hectares is being added to West Twin Protected Area to increase protection of important wildlife habitat across the Robson Valley. …West Twin Protected Area was established in 2001, and together with adjacent West Twin Park, covers more than 30,000 hectares to form the only protected wildlife corridor across the Robson Valley. The area spans from the Cariboo Mountains in the south, through the main Robson Valley trench and up to the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The additional land improves habitat connection for caribou, moose, elk, deer, grizzly bears and many other species. The Crown land was originally identified for protection through the Robson Valley Land and Resource Management Plan, but the land had two historical mineral claims that have now been forfeited. The land also contains old-growth priority deferral areas and an existing old-growth management area.
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.— In the 2025 wildfire season, 199 wildfires were fought in Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek areas in the “second-worst wildfire season in Canadian history.” The Ministry of Forests said in a news release on December 29th, 2025, the province has experienced over 1,350 wildfires burning an estimated 886,360 hectares of land since April 1st that year. In the news release, Ravi Parmar, minister of forests, said: “We’re coming off our second-worst wildfire season in Canadian history.” The Prince George Fire Centre specifically – the branch of the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) covering northeast B.C. – recorded 354 fires in the 2025 wildfire season. …For the 2026 wildfire season, the province says it will continue to look at new technology and opportunities for better prevention and response.
A BC judge has quashed a decision from the province to transfer a major forestry licence to an Indigenous-owned forestry company, after the government was found to have failed to uphold the “honour of the Crown” with a neighbouring nation. The Jan. 8 ruling centred on the BC Ministry of Forest’s decision to approve the transfer of a forest licence to the Kitsumkalum First Nation. The transfer, which occurred after the previous holder Skeena Sawmills entered into bankruptcy proceedings in 2023, was opposed by eight Gitanyow hereditary chiefs. … In his decision, the judge found the government oversimplified the impacts of the transfer, and relied on “hope and optimism” that the two First Nations could reach an agreement. …The Gitanyow had called on the court to quash the transfer of the forestry licence. Instead, the judge forced the province to reconsider the licence transfer while properly consulting with the Gitanyow.
North Cowichan will hire a wildfire specialist to support wildfire-protection planning in the municipality. At its meeting on Dec. 3, council voted to allocate $95,000 in North Cowichan’s budget for 2026 for the position from the Climate Action and Energy Plan’s reserve funds, and funding for the wildfire specialist will come from general taxation in following years. As well, council decided to allocate $115,000 in the 2026 budget for the creation of a Strategic North Cowichan Wildfire Plan, with the funding also coming from CAEP reserve funds. Council adopted a resolution establishing wildfire preparedness as a strategic priority in September, and the key actions identified and recommended by staff since then include strengthening the fire department’s wildfire-response capabilities, vegetation management, FireSmart education, evacuation planning, infrastructure standards, and community volunteer initiatives.
Three pieces of logging equipment owned by Fraser Valley Timber were torched overnight Jan. 1 into the morning of Jan. 2, putting multiple employees immediately out of work and potentially costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in replacement costs. …While a company spokesperson suggested to television media that the fire may be linked to nearby anti-logging protests, members of the Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek blockade denied any involvement. RCMP said investigators have not made any connection between the fire and the protest. Blockade members posted on Facebook that to assign blame to them before the facts are known “serves to vilify old-growth forest protectors without grounds.” …the Office of the Fire Commissioner brought an accelerant detection dog to the scene as part of the investigation. “…the Office of the Fire Commissioner is assisting in determining the circumstances, origin, and cause of the fires,” according to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
A group protesting old-growth logging on Vancouver Island is hitting out at an “insinuation” they were involved in the suspected arson of logging equipment last week. Sgt. Kevin Mack with Lake Cowichan RCMP says officers responded to the scene of the suspected arson at a site operated by Fraser Valley Timber on Jan. 2, and they are keeping an “open eye to all possibilities.” Two grapple yarders and a log loader reportedly sustained more than $530,000 in damage in the fires… The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but media reports quoted a spokesman suggesting that the proximity of the protest camp wasn’t a coincidence. But the Walbran Valley Blockade protest camp says its code “explicitly prohibits violence and the damage or destruction of property.” It says it supports a full and transparent investigation and that “assigning blame before the facts are known serves to vilify forest protectors.”
…council was about to vote to log our protected community forest. At the last moment, a chief saved the day. But we are now forewarned — our forest isn’t protected. …a new council could throw down the gauntlet. So, once again we’re asking ourselves, as a community how do we protect the Six Mountains? Now that we know our North Cowichan council can ignore our public consultation, and our vote for conservation, what can we legally do? In the next election, vote in a pro-conservation council? This is our intention, but there are no guarantees. …an extraordinary solution [exists to] protect ecosystems from human destruction. It’s called the Rights of Nature movement (RoN). …founded on indigenous ancestral reverence for nature, as sacred and sacrosanct, beyond human control and ownership… it’s the perfect solution for our Valley where we, N. Cowichan and Quw’utsun, “own” the legal right to protect the ecosystem surrounding our home.
