Trevor Halford, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition and MLA for Surrey-White Rock, opened the second day of the 2026 COFI Convention with remarks that acknowledged the sector’s challenges directly and outlined what he said a Conservative government would prioritize. Halford said he is not a forestry expert but has spent considerable time listening to those who are, and singled out Conservative forestry critic Ward Stamer — who he said began his career in the bush 50 years ago — as someone who understands the industry through direct experience. He said the caucus hears clearly what the sector needs: secure access to fibre, streamlined permitting processes, strong Indigenous partnerships, investment in value-added and sustainable innovation, and lower costs.

He said BC’s forestry industry has been on the brink of collapse, citing harvest levels down 40% over the last five years, coastal harvest cut in half, 21 mill closures since 2023, and 15,000 jobs lost since 2022. He said those job losses represent 15,000 families without paycheques and 15,000 mortgages, with visible impacts on main streets in communities across the province. He also made a point of reframing forestry as an urban issue, noting that one in four forestry jobs in BC is based in the Lower Mainland and that thousands of people in Surrey depend on the sector for their livelihoods — arguing that too many politicians in Victoria have forgotten that the Lower Mainland prospers because of the work done in the bush, in the mills, and on the coast.

The breakdown of one link in the supply chain, he said, affects the entire chain: fewer logs mean fewer board feet, fewer chips mean pulp mills paying to barge fibre from the US or shutting their doors entirely, which means less royalty revenue for the hospitals, schools, roads, and infrastructure that British Columbians rely on. While US tariffs and softwood lumber duties are a contributing factor to the sector’s decline, he said deeper structural domestic issues have been neglected, with policies introduced by the current government adding layers of bureaucracy, red tape, and permitting delays that have driven up harvesting costs exponentially — citing planting costs tripling in the last five years as one illustration of broader cost escalation across the sector.

Halford said his party believes in reconciliation and supports Indigenous-led forest stewardship and clear, transparent agreements that pair economic opportunity with environmental responsibility. He pointed out that forestry in BC was getting done before DRIPA was introduced in 2019, and asked delegates to consider whether reconciliation has actually been well served over the last six months given the succession of court challenges and what he described as an absence of a clear government plan to provide the certainty the sector requires. He told delegates directly what he expected Premier Eby — who was speaking later that day — to argue: that repealing DRIPA would trigger an economic shutdown the province has never seen. Halford said that is not true, and said the province is begging for leadership on this file that the current approach has not delivered.

Halford closed by telling delegates that change is coming, that the Conservative caucus is ready to work with the sector, and that delivering fibre, permits, and results is what will lift everyone — including First Nations, small businesses, and rural communities.

Drafted with the assistance of digital tools to streamline the process.