B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson said his party would speed up issuing harvest permits and reduce regulatory costs in an effort to increase “sustainable access” to timber in B.C.’s beleaguered forest industry. … To the province’s key industry group, the Conservative platform appears to get at more of the issues it has been asking for government to address than the NDP policy promises, which aim at industry transformation. “(However) overall, we continue to see a bit of a lack of urgency that’s needed to stem the tide of forest mill closures,” said Kim Haakstad, CEO of the Council of Forest Industries. …The NDP’s Ravi Parmar said much of the Conservative policy resembles measures the previous government was already working toward, such as establishment of a biomass strategy.” Parmar added that the NDP remains committed to reaching a 45 million cubic metres per year in annual timber harvest. [to access the full story a Vancouver Sun subscription is required]