On behalf of the Board of Directors of the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI), I am pleased to announce the appointment of Kim Haakstad as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of COFI. Kim Haakstad brings a wealth of experience and expertise to COFI, with over two decades of leadership in executive roles across government, industry, and stakeholder relations. A seasoned strategist and relationship builder, Kim has consistently demonstrated her ability to navigate complex policy landscapes and forge strong partnerships that drive shared success. She has served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the BC Premier and Chief of Staff to Cabinet Ministers. Her deep understanding of governmental processes, coupled with her strong connections across sectors, positions her as a uniquely qualified leader to guide COFI and the forest sector through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
As we welcome Kim to COFI, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to Linda Coady for her leadership and service as President and CEO. Linda’s work underscored the forest sector’s role in Indigenous reconciliation and supporting the diverse values BC’s forests provide — community well-being, environmental resilience, and economic prosperity.
As most may have heard by now, Premier Eby has announced an agreement in principle between the BC NDP and Greens. …Of key significance to the forest sector, the agreement commits “to undertake a review of BC forests with First Nations, workers, unions, business and community to address concerns about sustainability, jobs, environmental protection and the future of the industry.” Such broad encompassing reviews typically take several months, if not over a year to complete and even longer before acting on recommendations. To propose such a review now is a prime example of just how forestry in British Columbia has truly become all about politics and not common sense. The two parties in their wisdom, have agreed to a review while the BC forest industry is literally in its death throes.
NEW YORK — The U.S. increasingly relies on Canadian crude oil to meet domestic demand and that relationship faces potential strain amid the threat of tariffs from President-elect Trump. More than 50% of crude oil imported to the U.S. comes from Canada, up from 33% in 2013. The increase follows a jump in production from Canada’s western provinces and growing pipeline capacity to its southern neighbor. Trump has threatened blanket tariffs of up to 25% on products from both Canada and Mexico. That has raised concerns about higher energy costs trickling through the entire U.S. economy. “All three countries remain heavily reliant on each other economically, and hefty taxes on key U.S. imports like crude oil or softwood lumber risk exacerbating U.S. consumer inflation,” said the Americas for UBS Financial Services. …Canada, with its proximity to the U.S., is also the nation’s biggest trading partner. 
VANCOUVER — Conifex Timber announced that it has amended and restated its existing credit agreement with PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. The restated agreement increases the aggregate principal amount of the secured term loan provided thereunder to up to $41 million, of which $5 million is available immediately, and the remaining $11 million is subject to completion of financial diligence. …“The additional borrowings will be used to fund a build-up in sawlog inventories to support our transition to a two-shift operation at our sawmill complex, effective January 6, 2025,” commented Conifex’s Chairman and CEO, Ken Shields. The decision to move to a two-shift operation was based on a steadily improving backdrop for lumber prices, as evidenced by the 18% improvement in cash prices for Spruce Pine Fir benchmark lumber prices in the fourth quarter of 2024 relative to those in the third quarter of 2024. 
…Washington argues stumpage fees are too low and give Canadian loggers a competitive advantage over U.S. producers, which harvest timber largely from private lands and bid against each other for the privilege. The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to release its next preliminary duty rates on lumber in early May, or 90 days later than originally planned. Its sixth administrative review is based on lumber markets in 2023, when prices were low. Analysts say U.S. duty rates imposed on Canadian softwood could double in 2025 and reach nearly 30 per cent. …U.S.-headquartered lumber producers and timberland owners who complained about Canadian softwood ended up receiving 10 per cent of the US$5-billion in softwood duties paid in the previous round of the dispute, from 2001 to 2006. Canadian companies recouped 80 per cent of the funds while 9 per cent went to “meritorious initiatives” in the U.S., with the remaining 1 per cent allocated to promoting lumber in both countries. Vancouver-based forestry analyst Russ Taylor said, it’s unclear how much Canada will recover in U.S. duties already paid since 2017. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required to read this article in full]
The B.C. government has appointed a new chair and three new directors to the BC Hydro board of directors. …Glen Clark has been appointed the new chair of the BC Hydro board of directors. Clark will take over the post from current chair, Lori Wanamaker, whose term will end on Dec. 31, 2024. …Merran Smith is president of New Economy Canada and brings award-winning leadership uniting industry, government and civil-society partners. …Brynn Bourke is executive director of the BC Building Trades (BCBT). …Don Kayne is president and CEO of Canfor Corporation, and former CEO of Canfor Pulp Products Inc. Kayne has deep experience in international sales and marketing, human resources and executive compensation through 45 years with the forest company. 
The monitor for the San Group of companies has been granted broader powers by the Supreme Court of B.C. to manage and make decisions about the financially troubled forestry company, which has operations in Port Alberni. The San Group’s protection from creditors was extended at a court hearing in Vancouver on Thursday. The next hearing is set for Jan. 16. Expanded powers granted to Deloitte include the ability to administer the company’s restructuring and any winding down of the business, plus liquidating property and disposing of assets. The monitor is permitted to continue running the business, and said it anticipates working with current management. The various parties are expected to be back in court to ask for approval for a sale and investment solicitation process. …The court agreed the company can increase its borrowing limit to $1 million — up by $400,000 — to keep operations going.
Donald Trump talked about using tariffs as a means to increase American manufacturing. …One important economic aspect surrounding these tariffs centers on their potential impact on the housing market in 2025. …The good news for the upcoming year’s outlook on housing is that the overwhelming majority of such sourced building materials are not imported. Instead, housing market experts suggest that interest rates and bottlenecks in existing supply chains are the real threats to the market worth watching. …The biggest potential tariff expense impacting home builders would come from enacting such a cost on Canadian lumber. Market observers remain skeptical that the President-elect would really enact the tariff on close ally Canada’s raw materials. The real threat to the housing market in 2025 comes not from potential tariffs, but instead from high interest rates and lingering bottlenecks in supply chains, according to Stephen Haines of Artisan Built Communities.
BOSTON — Placing tariffs on Canadian products entering the U.S. would be “devastating” to the New England economy, Gov. Maura Healey said during an interview with the Herald this month. …Massachusetts relies heavily on Canadian lumber for building homes, and another Trump pledge to enact an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products would stymie local efforts to spur the energy and advanced manufacturing industries, Healey said. “Where does our lumber come from? A lot of it from Canada. So this really hurts. And it’s not just Canada. Look at China. We’re trying to lean hard into technology, applied AI in the state,” Healey said. “There are a lot of component parts that, sure, we want one day to be made here in America but right now they’re made overseas. So tariffs would really hurt our state.” “It would be devastating for the New England economy if President Trump imposes tariffs,” the governor added.
In 2024, the Canadian government released a new housing plan aimed at building more homes and addressing housing unaffordability. As part of that plan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that $600 million in funding will be provided to build homes cheaper and quicker using “innovative technologies.” The funding is earmarked for building more housing, including prefab and modular homes, by automating processes and using materials like mass timber construction, robotics and 3D printing… Building materials like mass timber, including cross-laminated timber, offer a renewable low-carbon substitute for conventional materials, reducing a building’s carbon footprint. These modern methods have been successful internationally, producing quality construction that is quickly completedHowever, systematic obstacles like governmental inertia and mismatched incentives must also be tackled to unlock their full potential in Canada.
The federal government has pushed its target to achieve a net-zero electricity grid back 15 years to 2050 as part of new clean electricity regulations announced Tuesday — though officials maintain that target date was always the goal. Canada had previously signalled an aim to fully decarbonize electricity grids by 2035. But some provinces, namely Alberta and Saskatchewan, said that was simply not doable. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith swiftly responded to Ottawa’s plan by saying her province would immediately mount a legal challenge because the regulations wade into provincial jurisdiction. …The country’s electricity grid is already substantially green, with 85% of Canada’s power supply coming from non-emitting sources. But four provinces — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — still rely on coal and natural gas. Committing to a net-zero electricity grid is an easy move for the other six provinces, which are already more than 90 per cent of the way there.
New actions are being implemented to help more people find affordable homes in the communities where they live and work. …Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the B.C. home-flipping tax will be in place to discourage investors from buying housing to turn a quick profit. People who sell their home within two years of buying will be subject to the tax, unless they qualify for an exemption, such as divorce, job loss or change in household membership. It is expected approximately 4,000 properties will be subject to the tax in 2025. All revenue from the tax will go directly into strengthening housing programs and building new affordable homes in B.C. …Other measures to help make homeownership more accessible and improve the supply of housing, which came into effect April 1, 2024, are new thresholds for the first-time homebuyers’ program and the newly built home exemption.
Toilet paper and biomass pellets are emblematic of the fight to save northern forests – and prevent some the planet’s more important biodiversity from going down the toilet (or up in smoke). While much of the focus on deforestation is on the world’s tropical forests, the degradation of boreal and temperate forests continues apace, threatening their ability to store carbon and destroying ecosystems.
For several years, McMillan LLP has been a go-to law firm for the Paper Excellence corporation. This large Canadian forestry company has been represented by McMillan on transactions worth over $6 billion. The ethical problem arose when McMillan took on a new retainer, for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). That client’s main work is administering the “FSC” certification, which you may have seen stamped on some wood products… One of FSC’s rules is that, in order to remain certified, a company must not only avoid destructive forest practices, but must also not be “indirectly involved” with companies that do so… In November 2023, Greenpeace alleged that Paper Excellence was effectively a corporate sibling of Asia Pulp & Paper, insofar as both were controlled by Indonesian forestry company Sinar Mas. That allegation was contested by Paper Excellence, and so the FSC sought corporate law expertise to conduct a review. The firm that FSC hired was none other than McMillan LLP.
BOSTON — Procter & Gamble has agreed to provide additional information regarding its practices related to sourcing wood pulp from the boreal forests of Canada. The updates will reiterate the company’s aim to eliminate sourcing from intact forest landscapes and to protect primary forests. …The agreement came after discussions earlier this year with investment firms Green Century Capital Management, AXA Investment Managers, BNP Paribas Asset Management, and Robeco. In exchange, these investors agreed to withdraw a shareholder proposal asking the company to enhance its disclosures in relation to its existing efforts to mitigate risks to biodiversity and forest resilience. “These disclosures will help investors better understand how P&G is managing the risks associated with sourcing from such an ecologically important area,” said Leslie Samuelrich, President of Green Century Funds. …In addition, P&G will renew its investment in the development of alternative fibers.
A call for international alignment on nature protection Canada and other wealthy countries for “double standards” in managing their forests, just as a new poll reveals most Canadians support stronger safeguards for nature at home. But that support may not be enough to sway their voting decisions… New polling data suggests most Canadians agree that stronger safeguards are needed at home—but opinions diverge when it comes to how platform and policy influence voting choices… 84% of respondents across the political spectrum agreed the government should take stronger action to protect forests and wildlife. About two-thirds, or 68%, said they would be reluctant to vote for a party that made no commitments to safeguard nature.
More than 280 million trees were planted in B.C. forests in 2024 due to the Province’s efforts. “2024 was a banner year for tree planting in B.C., including celebrating 10 billion trees planted since 1930,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “Our government’s commitment to sustainable forests has seen us lead the country by planting more than two billion trees since 2017.” …The Province’s 2024 reforestation efforts were primarily focused on fire-damaged areas. This was in addition to the work undertaken by forest tenure holders as part of their legal requirements to regenerate harvested areas. “We are in good shape right now based upon a run of strong years and the government’s commitment to tackling the impacts of climate change through adaptation and keeping reforestation programs at a level to help regrow our forests,” said John Betts, executive director, Western Forestry Contractors’ Association. 
Walking through the clear-cuts north of Lund, I’ve noticed they’re not terrible by typical standards … the real problem lies in what comes next: replanting. Replanted areas aren’t forests; they’re fiber-farms—dense monocultures devoid of biodiversity. There are no birds, deer, or diverse plant life, just crowded trees competing for scarce nutrients. If we had to live off these lands, we’d starve. Replanting is a public relations greenwash, creating biological deserts instead of ecosystems. Naturally regenerating forests, by contrast, begins with nitrogen-fixing alders, enriched soils and balanced biodiversity. …Yet British Columbia clings to outdated forestry models focused on short-term profit. …Why not replant one clear-cut while letting others regenerate naturally? We could compare outcomes and learn something valuable. …We could listen to professional foresters and scientists rather than corporate lobbyists. BC could lead the world in forestry innovation, but only if we upgrade our economic belief systems. 
British Columbia’s government expects to plant nearly 60 million fewer trees next year — a 23 per cent drop from this year’s planting season at a time the province has seen a major spike in wildfire activity. The projections come from presentation slides obtained by Glacier Media and shown to industry in September, less than 10 days before the B.C.’s provincial election campaign kicked off. During the campaign, the BC NDP promised to plant 300 million trees annually across the province to “help increase forest resilience.” That promise came off the back of two of the most destructive wildfire seasons in B.C.’s history. In 2023 alone, more than 6,000 fires torched 15 million hectares of land, an area larger than England, according to Natural Resources Canada. But according to the province’s own projections, the government expects the number of trees planted to sink to 233 million in 2025, down from 291 million in 2024 and far short of its election promise.
For decades, forestry companies in B.C. have used chemical herbicides like glyphosate to kill off plants that might compete with trees destined for timber. Trembling aspen, named for its almost heart-shaped leaves that seem to quiver in the wind, is often on the hit list. But after years of destructive wildfires that have wiped out whole neighbourhoods and sometimes whole towns, more and more people are questioning the wisdom of killing off this tree. Because when wildfires sweep across the landscape, aspen can help calm the flames… “Anytime we apply herbicides, we are changing potential fire behaviour,” wildland fire ecologist Robert Gray explains… in areas where aspen and other deciduous trees are killed, a natural fire break is lost too.
For the first time since the pandemic, Canada had a year-over-year decline in its greenhouse gas emissions — though it is still a long way off its 2030 target. A preliminary 
While details are minimal to this point, the BC Forest Safety Council is reporting a logging truck driver was killed outside of Logan Lake sometime Monday. According to the Safety Council’s bulletin issued Wednesday, the person was killed December 16th while attempting to “tow a log truck that had spun out on an icy road.” The details on a specific location, as well as the circumstances surrounding the person’s death, have not been detailed. …A separate bulletin issued by the BC Forest Safety Council this week also highlights the dangers that forestry workers face while on the front-lines of felling operations. It points to two separate, non-fatal incidents involving heavy machinery being used in different operations in the Southern Interior this fall, including one near Scotch Creek in the Shuswap. Both involve harvesting in steep-sloped areas.
On December 16th, a log truck driver was fatally injured during an attempt to tow a log truck that had spun out on an icy road. This incident occurred in an area near Logan Lake, BC. WorkSafeBC and the Coroners Service are investigating this incident. We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and our sympathies to all those affected by this incident. This is the second harvesting fatality of 2024… We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and our sympathies to all those affected by this incident.
At its November 2024 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s