Category Archives: Business & Politics

Joe Rich residents attended a public forum to hear from Gorman Bros. Lumber representatives about the West Kelowna company’s timber harvest plans for the Mission Creek watershed. While Gorman’s logging plans for the watershed have not changed since 2021, a renewed influx of questions about those planned activities in recent weeks gave pause for the company, with the support of the Joe Rich Society, to organize the forum. Gorman Bros. forester Luke Gubbels said they’ve heard concerns centred around logging on the watershed slopes and what impact that might have on potential landslides. …Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance has been advocating to suspend logging in that community’s watershed, while the Interior Watershed Task Force is developing a campaign to press the provincial government to restrict clear-cut logging in community-dependent watersheds. …Foresters Matt Scott, Luke Gubbels and Bryan Darroch talked about the company’s move away from clear-cut logging due to environmental impact concerns…

Western Forest Products announced the indefinite curtailment of its Alberni Pacific Division (APD) facility, located in Port Alberni, B.C.. The APD facility has been temporarily curtailed since fall 2022. In January 2023, the Company announced it would not restart APD in its current configuration and established a multi-party working group to explore viable industrial manufacturing solutions for the site. In April 2023, the Company commenced negotiations related to a proposal received to operate the APD facility as a going concern. …These negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful due to more challenging macroeconomic conditions and financing markets. The Company intends to move ahead with exploring other options for the property. …Western’s CEO Steven Hofer said, “This process has taken longer than expected and has been very difficult for impacted APD employees.” The Company intends to offer voluntary severance to the remaining 60 APD employees.

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s construction industry says its workforce numbers have improved in recent years, but persistent labour shortages are putting “extreme pressures” on employers. The BC Construction Association says the shortage of qualified workers has pushed the average annual wage in the sector to just short of $75,000, up 21 per cent in the last five years. It says the average entry-level wage for construction workers is now at more than $22 an hour, 25 per cent above minimum wage in the province. …The association says companies also face persistent uncertainty when it comes to getting paid for their work, with contractors possibly having to “wait months for payment.” “They experience significant financial risk and take on the increased cost of debt, which can put them in danger of bankruptcy,” the statement says. “They are put in the position of ‘financing’ construction projects, including the housing B.C. desperately needs.”

Brian Frenkel (centre)

Last week, local government officials from northern B.C. seized the opportunity to share their viewpoints on the forestry industry during the Council of Forest Industries conference held in Vancouver. Vanderhoof Councillor Brian Frenkel and Prince George Mayor Simon Yu joined a panel that discussed the future of forestry industry. …Yu stressed the importance of crafting an attractive narrative to attract young professionals to the forestry industry, noting that 50 per cent of current workers are aged 55. He highlighted the need for rejuvenation to prevent sector stagnation and loss. Yu suggested diversifying into the energy sector and reframing the industry narrative around forestry enhancement. …With 41 years of forestry experience and two decades in local government, Frenkel provided dual perspectives at the conference and urged Premier David Eby to significantly expand the community forest program and collaborate with Indigenous groups while educating communities on fire prevention strategies.

VANCOUVER — Industry players gathered at COFI’s convention in Vancouver last week, delivering a stark message: the province’s forestry sector is in the midst of a crisis. With dwindling wood fibre supply and regulatory uncertainty looming large, private equity experts and industry heads warned of an alarming trend – investment in BC’s forests is plummeting. COFI president and CEO Linda Coady highlighted a significant decline in wood harvest at 32 million cubic metres annually, which is only about half the volume compared to five years ago. “There’s been too much change happening at the same time,” she added, emphasizing the urgent need for certainty in the industry. …Coady highlighted positive developments in First Nations involvement, noting an increase in revenue sharing, more equity agreements, and emerging collaborations in technology. …“We need more of these breakthrough agreements – that would be such a powerful signal to send to the investors,” Coady asserted.

Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Mill owned by Paper Excellence has been handed $22,000 in penalties for releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere. The fines included 201 failures to comply with limits on the release of sulphur dioxide from its power boiler. In some cases, gas concentrations climbed 81 per cent above the daily limit, according to a decision from director of the Environmental Management Act Jason Bourgeois. In high concentrations sulphur dioxide can cause “breathing problems, respiratory illness, changes in the lung’s defences, and worsening respiratory and cardiovascular disease,” noted the decision. …The director increased the penalty to the mill for the repeated nature of the violations, finding “there was no detectable decrease in the rate of failures” over the nearly three years of contraventions. But Bourgeois decided they were not deliberate and reduced the penalty further after finding Paper Excellence had spent some money to ensure they did not occur again. 

Jason Alsop

Premier David Eby was in a self-congratulatory mood at a signing ceremony where the province recognized Haida aboriginal title over the entire Haida Gwaii archipelago. …“It will also be an example and another way for nations, not just in B.C. but right across Canada, to have their title recognized.” Not likely, given the still undefined implications of the agreement between the province and the council of the Haida Nation. The agreement is unique, and so are the circumstances that enabled it. …“This agreement is not a treaty… it is part of a reconciliation process.” …Along with the supposed end to litigation, the New Democrats claim that the agreement has no implications for owners of private property. …But the government’s version has been challenged. …Rather than follow B.C.’s lead on the agreement with the Haida, other provinces will likely wait for the text of a final deal or — better yet — a treaty.

Muhammad Zain Ul Haq and Sophia Papp

Muhammad Zain Ul Haq, a 23-year-old university student and climate activist in British Columbia may be deported to Pakistan in less than a week. Haq who helped spearhead campaigns for campus fossil fuel divestment and to save Canadian old growth forests, has been arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience about 10 times in Canada. In 2022, the Canadian Border Services Agency revoked his temporary student visa and issued an exclusion order alleging that he was not making adequate progress toward his degree at Simon Fraser University. At that time, he had not yet been convicted of any charges. Now, he’s facing a removal date of April 22—Earth Day. Haq’s story has drawn attention from climate activists who have questioned the speed with which the CBSA mobilized to remove Haq from the country, alleging that the government seems eager to remove someone they have identified as a movement leader and a thorn in their side.

TERRACE, BC — A complex legal case continues in a Vancouver Supreme Court courtroom to decide the ownership of Skeena Sawmills and the adjacent Skeena Bioenergy pellet plant. The two businesses were placed into receivership last fall after amassing debts they could not pay. Over a number of hearing dates, the court has been asked to approve a pathway to restore the two facilities to the owners, the Cui family, who asked for them to be placed in receivership in the first place. That pathway involves creating a new company into which unwanted debts and other obligations would be placed. That company would then be declared bankrupt and those debts and obligations wiped out, returning the sawmill and pellet plant to the Cui family under an agreement made with receiver Alvarez and Marsal Canada. …But the agreement presented to the court has drawn opposition from creditors, businesses, First Nations and the provincial and federal governments.

David Eby

The Province is partnering with forestry manufacturers to build a strong forest-products sector and support good jobs in B.C. through significant capital expansion in their operations. “While workers and businesses in the forest sector have faced significant challenges over the past few years, there are tremendous opportunities out there in producing made-in-B.C. sustainable forest products,” said Premier David Eby. “That’s why our government is working together with the sector to help them transition to high-value product lines that make the best use of every tree harvested, while creating and protecting good, family-supporting jobs. …Through the $180-million BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), the Province has committed as much as $70.3 million to forest-sector transition and diversification…. Through the BCMJF, the Government of B.C. is contributing as much as $9.5 million to A-1 Trusses’ significant expansion that will create 125 jobs as the company diversifies its product offerings to include prefabricated wall panels and floor cassettes. 

The B.C. government and the Council of the Haida Nation have signed an agreement officially recognizing Haida Gwaii’s Aboriginal title, more than two decades after the nation launched a legal action seeking formal recognition. The province announced last month that it had reached a proposed deal with the Haida, which Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin called a “foundational step in the reconciliation pathway of Haida Nation and B.C.” On April 6, the nation announced that more than 500 Haida citizens had voted 95 per cent in favour of approving the Gaayhllxid/Gíhlagalgang “Rising Tide” Haida Title Lands Agreement. “This does not mean that the government is granting us anything. We have always held our inherent rights and title to our lands,” said Tamara Davidson, a representative for the Council of the Haida Nation. …it does not impact private property or government jurisdictions…

Forestry, by its very nature, is intimately interconnected with the land and its custodians – the First Nations peoples whose stewardship spans generations. For far too long, Indigenous voices have not been at the forefront in discussions concerning the management and utilization of forest resources. In recent years, however, the forestry sector has witnessed a significant shift toward inclusivity and recognition of the Indigenous voice to help shape its future. This transition was highlighted by the participation of First Nations in the Japan mission delegation from B.C., including members from the BC First Nations Forestry Council (BCFNFC). BCFNFC CEO Lennard Joe noted, “First Nations people are no longer bystanders; we are emerging as leaders in the global conversation on forestry and reconciliation. As we step into the room, we carry with us the weight of responsibility and the power to shape a more sustainable future for our generations.”

A dwindling supply of wood fibre and the B.C. government’s move to create a “paradigm shift” in the forestry industry is leading to a “vicious cycle” that is scaring investment away from the province, warned private equity experts and industry leaders Thursday. The comments, made at the BC Council of Forest Industries annual meeting in Vancouver, came following a year in which about 32 million cubic metres of wood was harvested — nearly half of what it was five years ago, said COFI’s president and CEO Linda Coady. …Andrew Mercier, who was appointed as B.C. Minister of State for Sustainable Forestry Innovation about three months ago, said he has been relentlessly touring the province to understand what is ailing forestry. …“There’s a short-term crunch here,” he conceded. …While industry says bad policy pushed B.C.’s forest industry to suffer unnecessary losses, others have suggested the situation is of their own making.

Kurt Niquidet

The forest sector in B.C. may have shrunk dramatically over the past 20 years, but it remains an important pillar of the economy, providing one out of every six manufacturing jobs in B.C., according to a study released by COFI, in advance of this week’s COFI conference. The forest sector still supports 49,000 jobs, the study found, and contributes $17 billion annually to B.C’s gross domestic product. …But it’s a sector that has been battered by a declining timber supply, high operating costs, and American softwood lumber duties, all of which have contributed to major sawmill and pulp mill closures in recent years. …“In the short term we are faced with a critical shortage of timber for BC mills. Left unchecked, reduced access to fibre supply will drive further losses in the investment, infrastructure and workforce needed to meet those new opportunities,” said Kurt Niquidet, VP and Chief Economist at COFI.

Mayor Shane Brienen says he expects to learn more about Canfor’s plans to build a sawmill here while attending the 2024 Council of Forest Industries convention this week. The company closed its existing mill here last spring, citing its age and unprofitability, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and ongoing economic uncertainty. Although Canfor announced last fall it would build a new mill to produce higher value lumber, a project that would take between 28 to 32 months, the company has been largely silent since then. But rumours have now been spreading of a delay in demolishing the old sawmill, a necessary step to allow the construction of a new facility. “I have a feeling the teardown is delayed,” said Brienen. But, added Brienen, he has not heard that Canfor is shelving its building plan. Brienen did add that the overall ongoing forest industry situation in B.C. is challenging.