Jock Finlayson

Ken Peacock

The economic crisis gripping B.C.’s forest industry shows no signs of easing. As the landlord and owner of the vast majority of forested land in the province as well as the regulator that largely determines how the industry operates, the provincial government is in the firing line as mills close and thousands of jobs disappear in logging, wood products manufacturing, and pulp and paper production. Whenever questions arise about the calamity unfolding in forestry, Premier David Eby and his hapless Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar are quick to finger U.S. tariffs as the culprit. In reality, the unprecedented downturn in B.C.’s forestry sector has three main causes. American tariffs are one of them. Unfortunately, history teaches that there is little B.C. can do to influence the course of U.S. trade policy. The other two factors pummeling the industry are primarily “home-grown” problems that reflect decisions made in Victoria: A stunning decline in the supply of fibre; and the emergence—over time—of an increasingly complex, costly, and ever-changing regulatory environment. Together, these trends have made B.C. a virtual “no-go” zone in which to deploy capital across all parts of the forest industry supply chain.