Shawn Crowley
The relationship between Canada and the US has soured over recent months, with the Trump administration picking fights around the globe with increased tariffs. While CUSMA is set to be renegotiated later this year, Canada and the US still honour the free trade agreement that covers the vast majority of products that traverse the border. …“We fully understand that Canada is looking to diversify its markets. I think right now over 75% of Canada’s exports go to one country, so it’s logical that you would do that,” Consul General Shawn Crowley said. “In the US, we are doing the same thing.” …In BC, there is hope that Ottawa will push Washington on a new softwood lumber deal. …“There was talk of quotas, but they mentioned that a month before the countervailing duties were going to go into effect. That is not enough time. You have to do it a year ahead of time.”
The Canadian and American economies are woven together tightly. So when Donald Trump slapped 25% tariffs on Canadian imports last year, many economists—myself included saw a disaster looming. …The most exposed sectors were those most dependent on US demand: steel, aluminum, autos, energy and lumber. …In our worst-case scenario, we expected it would shrink Canada’s GDP by 2.6 per cent, leading to a moderate recession and shaving nearly $2,000 a year off income for every Canadian. So far, however, that doomsday scenario hasn’t materialized. This was possible because of the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement. …Avoiding the worst of the tariffs doesn’t mean we’ve won or even survived the trade war. Communities across the country are still hurting. …Regions in Quebec and British Columbia are under strain, with key industrial sectors—steel, aluminum, copper, lumber—are facing additional tariffs under Section 232 authority.
MONTREAL, Quebec – Domtar announced a curtailment in its lumber production. Due to challenging market conditions, US tariffs, and ongoing economic uncertainty, the company will temporarily reduce its lumber production by 150 million board feet for the first quarter of 2026 across its facilities in Quebec, Ontario and the United States. “The demand for lumber in North America remains weak, requiring us to adjust our production levels in line with market conditions,” said Luc Thériault, CEO, Wood Products, and President – Canada, for Domtar. “While this decision is necessary, we are fully aware of the impact it will have on our employees, contractors, suppliers and the communities in which we operate.” Domtar will continue to monitor market conditions and adjust its production plans accordingly. Domtar has a workforce of nearly 14,000 employees in more than 60 locations across North America.
Environmental group Greenpeace is calling for more transparency on the part of Canada’s largest pulp and paper company, saying it has received millions of dollars in government funding without providing the public with details of how that money is being used or sharing its plans for the future of Canada’s forests. In a report entitled 
North Cowichan’s mayor wants the federal government to extend its temporary Employment Insurance program to include workers at the Crofton pulp mill who will be working until mid-April. In letters to Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu and Jeff Kibble, MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, Rob Douglas said the temporary EI measures that Ottawa introduced last summer in response to major economic conditions across the country, including mill closures, are set to expire on April 11. That’s just three days before approximately 60 workers, who are being maintained at the Crofton mill for operational considerations beyond its closure in early February, will receive their layoff notices on April 14. …Douglas said that, on behalf of the community, he is requesting that the federal government extend the temporary EI measures or implement an exemption mechanism to ensure that all Crofton mill workers affected by the closure are treated equitably.
VANCOUVER ISLAND — About 100 unionized forestry workers on the north Island who’ve been on strike since June have reached a tentative agreement with La-kwa sa muqw Forestry Limited Partnership. The United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 and the LKSM Partnership announced in a joint statement that the agreement is subject to a ratification vote by the union, and no details are being released. “The USW bargaining committee has advised that they will be recommending that its members accept this agreement,” said the joint statement. The deal was reached with the assistance of the BC Labour Relations Board. …LKSM LP is the former Western Forest Products mid-Island forest operation, which remains majority-owned by Western Forest Products. The LKSM partnership is made up of the Tlowitsis, We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum and K’ómoks First Nations, all members of the Nanwakolas Council. …The operations cover about 157,000 hectares near Campbell River and Sayward.
Logging contractor Ron MacFarlane feels fortunate to have work for his eight-person crew, cutting mostly second-growth Douglas fir on a cut block …on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, while business in his industry is otherwise “flatlined.” “We’re busy until March, and then we’ll see from there,” MacFarlane said at the Truck Loggers Association annual convention. …Difficulties in getting the province to speed up permits to cut more of that timber has put the industry “in a state of crisis,” said Peter Lister, executive director of the Truck Loggers Association. “I’ve never seen it as bad. …it is really on the edge of collapse.” …For forest-management executive John Mohammed, however, Parmar is still missing a connection to short-term actions the industry desperately needs to free up some of the cutting permits companies have sitting on the shelf because they are uneconomic. …Mohammed said Parmar could take the risk of lowering [coastal] stumpage rates … to help economics.
British Columbia’s Forests Ministry has entered into a memorandum of understanding with China on modern wood construction, a development that the province hopes will bolster the provincial lumber sector as it seeks alternatives to the U.S. market. The five-year, non-binding agreement with the Chinese government also involves the Canadian federal Department of Natural Resources and is among the first reached with Beijing after the arrival of Prime Minister Mark Carney in China this week. On the other side is China’s housing and development ministry, with the memo agreeing on co-operation on the integration of modern wood construction into China’s urban renewal and rural revitalization strategies and exploring “practical approaches” for green developments. University of British Columbia political ecologist and China scholar Juliet Lu said the MOU is “relatively low-hanging fruit” in Carney’s attempt to rebuild trade momentum with Beijing…
Day 1 of the TLA Conference featured the Politics over Lunch session, a wide-ranging and candid discussion of BC’s political landscape and its implications for the forest sector. Moderated by Vaughn Palmer, the luncheon brought together Rob Shaw, Political Correspondent with CHEK News, and Richard Zussman, Vice President of Public Affairs at Burson. The pair examined shifting government priorities, with Zussman arguing that economic growth and jobs are increasingly shaping policy decisions amid trade uncertainty and fiscal pressures, while Shaw highlighted inconsistent communication around those priorities. They explored the BC Conservative leadership race, the challenges of translating regional resource issues into urban political discourse, and ongoing uncertainty surrounding land use and DRIPA. Discussion also touched on the province’s projected $11-billion deficit, and the gap between government rhetoric and forestry realities. Delivered with humour and frankness, the session offered delegates a clear-eyed view of how politics, policy, and economic pressures are colliding in BC’s forest sector.
With Canadian lumber producers facing crippling American duties and tariffs, Canadian sawmills that want to stay in business may have to develop markets outside the U.S. Since North America is the only major lumber market that still uses imperial measurements for lumber, this would require retooling logging and sawmill operations to metric. Some B.C. mills are already partway there. With Japan and China becoming saturated, Canadian lumber exporters will need to develop–or redevelop–markets beyond the Indo-Pacific. “We did this before,” said Rick Doman, chairman of Forest Innovation Investment (FII). In the 1990s and early 2000s, Canadian sawmills produced lumber for those markets, he said, but eventually lost them. “The North American market got so strong that we left those markets, and really the Nordic countries took over those markets,” Doman said. But the U.S. has since erected trade barriers in the form of duties and tariffs.
BLUE RIDGE, Alberta — A fire at Blue Ridge Lumber in Woodlands County started on Saturday, Jan. 10 and was contained in the evening on that day, West Fraser confirmed with the Whitecourt Star. Woodlands County posted a message on social media on Monday, Jan. 12 that there were no injuries “Emergency response procedures were immediately activated, and all employees were safely evacuated,” the statement reads. Firefighters from Blue Ridge, Goose Lake, Anselmo and Whitecourt responded. The social media post states that West Fraser is investigating the cause of the fire, as well as how much damage was done and when mill operations can re-start. …The Blue Ridge Lumber mill falls under West Fraser and has a forest management agreement with the Alberta government. The mill is located north of the Hamlet of Blue Ridge.
Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP is again ranked as a Tier 1 firm in Dispute Resolution in British Columbia by The Legal 500. We are included as one of four firms in British Columbia ranked as Tier 1. We are also the only firm in Tier 1 that received a Client Satisfaction accolade. Partners Irwin Nathanson, K.C. and Stephen Schachter, K.C. are included in the Hall of Fame category once again. They are the only two partners from the same firm included in this category. Partner Karen Carteri continues to be recognized as a Leading Partner, particularly for her work in complex shareholder and partnership disputes. Clients describe NST as a firm that “whole-heartedly embraces and delivers a hands-on and effective approach” while offering particular praise for partners Karen Carteri, Emily Hansen, Julia Lockhart and Kayla Strong. 
A letter from the Carleton-Victoria Forest Products Marketing Board to New Brunswick’s natural resources minister points to frustration building within the province’s forestry industry. The board’s general manager Kim Jensen, says some prices are the lowest they’ve seen in a decade. Jensen writes that US tariffs have been hard on the entire sector, including mills, but there’s been little support for private producers. “I have already heard from landowners who have changed their mind about having their woodlots cut,” she states. “Is the government’s long-term plan for the private forestry sector to just disappear? Because that is what is happening. Under your watch.” …Natural Resources Minister John Herron acknowledged that prices have declined since October. …But Herron didn’t mention any possible provincial support.” …J.D. Irving said 97% of the company’s lumber is under contract and not impacted by the price changes cited in the letter.
The National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) released its 
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade is “irrelevant” to him and Americans don’t need Canadian products. “It expires very shortly and we could have it or not,” Trump said while touring a Ford plant in Michigan. “It wouldn’t matter to me. I think they want it. I don’t really care about it.” Trump statements have rattled Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory review this year of the future of the continental trade pact, known as CUSMA. The president told reporters that “Canada wants it” but the United States doesn’t need anything from its northern neighbour. The three countries have started domestic consultations on the review and Dominic LeBlanc, the minister in charge of Canada-U.S. relations, is set to meet with U.S. counterparts in mid-January to launch formal CUSMA talks. The trade pact has shielded Canada and Mexico from the worst impacts of Trump’s tariffs.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities has announced a new collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology to address the far-reaching social, economic and environmental impacts of pulp and paper mill closures across the United States, particularly in the rural South, where these mills have long served as economic anchors. The Endowment and Georgia Tech are developing an integrated decision-making dashboard to help policymakers, community leaders and industry stakeholders quantify the effects of mill closures and identify data-driven pathways to offset them through the sustainable use of forestry residues… Over the past decade, nearly 50 paper mills have shut down nationwide … resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and disrupted local supply chains that once connected family forest owners, loggers, sawmills and manufacturers… As markets for timber and forestry byproducts contract, landowners face reduced incentives for active management – conditions that can increase the risk of wildfire, invasive species and forest conversion to other uses.
ATLANTA — A proposed amendment to the Georgia Constitution would end sales taxes on timber, a major industry battered by mill closings and storms. House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration said a bipartisan group of legislators want to help protect “a cornerstone of the state’s rural economy.” “The timber tax cut is necessary because Georgia timber farmers are facing severe economic hardship following the closure of multiple sawmills in Georgia and significant losses in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” said Efstration, R-Mulberry, the sponsor of House Resolution 1000. “Georgia is a national leader in forestry, and I want to help this state’s rural economy and the livelihood of many Georgians.” Georgia’s forestry industry was the largest in the nation in 2021 based on harvest volume and product export values of nearly $4 billion, according to a report by the Georgia Forestry Association. But timber producers have suffered in recent years. 
