Robert McKellar
Part 1 of this series on political risk management and the Canadian forest products sector speaks to the problem with assuming political risk only applies to multinationals with operations in volatile and dangerous places. If we are aware of political risk, we can still use a tacit approach where it works, but we will know when and how political risk is a significant factor and will have the option of ramping up political risk management capabilities accordingly. With that preamble, two broad political dynamics affecting the Canadian forest products sector are discussed—the ‘China-West rivalry’ and ‘climate change confusion’—in preparation for the question—is it time for Canadian forest products companies to develop an explicit sense of political risk and how to manage it? Part 2 of this series continues with the political dynamics of ‘Canada-US trade friction’ and ‘emerging market challenges’ and concludes with what a political risk management capability could mean in practice.
…If the answer is Yes, what then? A political risk management capability generally includes: senior management and board buy-in; a strong concept of political risk in the company’s context; a corporate intelligence process that identifies relevant trends and dynamics and derived potential implications (or risks); straightforward but practical guidelines for how managers could apply political risk intelligence; and a seat of coordination and institutional learnings. These elements could manifest in a number of different organisational forms… but there are four things that probably would not work in most cases: treating political risk management as something different from what managers already do; creating a political risk department and expecting it to somehow lead to effective political risk management; managing political risk only within enterprise risk management functions and processes; and creating a few policy documents and then ticking a box beside “political risk managed”.
The union representing thousands of workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City says it has served a 72-hour strike notice to the railway. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says in a press release that unless the parties can reach a last-minute agreement, workers will be off the job as of 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Thursday. The Teamsters say CPKC has served notice it will lock out its members as well as change the terms of collective agreements, which the union says forces it to serve a strike notice to protect workers. …Shortly after, Canadian National Railway said in a statement it issued a lockout notice to the union and would have “no choice” but to continue shutting down operations. CN said “despite negotiations over the weekend, no meaningful progress has occurred.” Both CPKC and CN have been halting shipments in preparation for potential work stoppages by a combined 9,300 workers at the two railways.
The US Department of Commerce released its final determinations for the fifth Administrative Review (AR5) in the antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations of imports of certain softwood lumber products from Canada. The final determination rates are listed in the table below. These rates will take effect once they are published in the U.S. Federal Register, expected within approximately one week.
U.S. officials warned Canada in February that its tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber would increase, but a final decision on Tuesday that nearly doubled them was a body blow to an already challenged industry. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced its decision, which will start being applied to American imports of Canadian lumber almost immediately, to increase the total tariffs to an average rate of 14.54% from 8.05% a year ago. “It’s not welcome at all, particularly for B.C. (which is) faced with a number of challenges,” said Kurt Niquidet, of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council. “We’re a high-cost producer, so this just adds to the cost of shipping to our major market.” …“You might see curtailments as a result, all depending on how markets, more broadly, move over the next little while,” Niquidet said. …The new tariffs add US$58 to the price paid by U.S. buyers compared with $32 under the previous rate.
Are you a BC value-added wood products manufacturer or supplier/distributor? Or are you a stakeholder to BC’s value-added sector—e.g., primary producer, industry association, education/R&D organization, government oversight agency?
In the construction industry, light wood-frame offsite construction has emerged as a game-changing approach, promising faster build times, higher quality, and reduced environmental impact. Member companies of the Quebec Wood Export Bureau (QWEB) have launched a digital tool that harnesses the benefits and potential of prefabricated light wood-frame products for projects. It all starts with the BIM environment. QWEB and its members have built a digital tool called Offsite Wood for professionals seeking to delve deeper into offsite wood construction. It offers a wealth of downloadable content, technical specifications, and case studies. It highlights the extensive use of BIM technology among QWEB members, showcasing how digital tools can streamline the prefabrication process and improve project outcomes. By leveraging these resources, industry professionals can stay informed about best practices and innovations in offsite construction.
In celebration of 
This article was originally posted as an op-ed in 
MERRITT – The Forest Practices Board will audit the range planning and practices of the Douglas Lake Cattle Company on range agreement RAN076915 in the Cascades and Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource Districts. The five-day field audit will start on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. The Douglas Lake Cattle Company’s operations are in the southern Interior of B.C., located in the highlands between Kelowna and Merritt to the north and south of Highway 97C (the Okanagan Connector). The range agreement covers an area of more than 200,000 hectares of Crown range, with more than 7,000 head of livestock authorized for grazing. Auditors will examine range activities for compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act. Requirements include adhering to the approved range-use plan, ensuring that range activities protect riparian areas, fish habitat and upland areas, and maintaining range developments, such as fencing.
The Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative (CFN) and the Government of BC are renewing their commitment to work together through a reconciliation agreement that builds off the success of their 2009 reconciliation protocol and 2020 Pathway to Reconciliation MOU. …Christine Smith-Martin, CEO of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative said, “We have improved land and marine use planning throughout the Great Bear and launching a marine protected area network that sets a new precedent for conservation and sustainable management. We look forward to working together on Reconciliation 2.0.” The Province is contributing $1.6 million annually for implementation funding for four years. …The agreement outlines how coastal First Nations and the Province will work together to increase the quality of life throughout the area. This includes… clean energy, and opportunities in coastal forestry, and reinforces CFN’s conservation efforts in the Great Bear Rainforest.
It wasn’t as extreme as the 2021 heat dome, but heat waves that hit B.C. in July were much hotter than normal because of human-caused climate change, according to the federal government. Environment and Climate Change Canada figures released this week show climate change made summer heat waves in B.C. up to 10 times more likely. It’s the first assessment released using the agency’s new rapid extreme weather event attribution system. The system uses climate models to compare today’s climate to a pre-industrial one to explain how much climate change affected each heat wave’s likelihood. The agency is conducting a pilot project with the system. Climate scientists analyzed the heat waves in several Canadian provinces and found that, in all instances, human-caused climate change made these heat waves much more likely. This means that human influence on the climate made these events at least two to 10 times more likely to happen, according to the agency.
