Vancouver, BC – Kim Haakstad, President & CEO of the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) issued this statement in response to today’s Forestry Summit convened by the federal and provincial governments: …We are pleased to see the federal and provincial governments working together with urgency to ensure predictable access to logs, streamline regulations, and create conditions for companies to invest, innovate, and keep people working… British Columbia is the highest-cost forestry jurisdiction in North America. Combined with uncertain wood supply and prolonged trade disputes, many forest products companies are now on the brink of closure. …we need a coordinated federal–provincial work plan that strengthens competitiveness and sustains jobs in forest-dependent communities. COFI is urging that the new working group includes industry to focus on the priorities that keep mills open and people working… The path forward requires regulatory efficiency, more collaboration, and faster action from all levels of government.