Brenda Bailey

For all the measures touted as keys to unlocking BC’s resource sector, such as speeding up permits for mining activity, Finance Minister Brenda Bailey’s budget includes additional tax hits. …The ministry of forests will see its budget go from $1.3 billion in 2025-26 to $910 million in fiscal 2026-27 to $860 million in 2027-28. …The budget includes some new measures for BC’s beleaguered forestry sector, such as $50 million in new and reallocated federal funds to support for Indigenous scholarships, the purchase of equipment to aid in wildfire fighting and refunding the province’s Fire Smart program. However, Bailey’s document doesn’t make specific mention of measures Forests Minister Ravi Parmar alluded to at the BC Truck Loggers Association. …BC had set a target to harvest 45 million cubic metres of timber, but the document shows the 2025-26 harvest at 29 million cubic metres, with the number expected to stay at that level through the three-year financial plan.