Ravi Parmar

VICTORIA — B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar couldn’t wait to change the subject this week when confronted with a federal government report that said the troubles of the whole country’s forest industry are mostly homegrown. …Parmar pivoted to the NDP government’s preferred blame line for the ruinous state of the once-dominant industry. “I would also argue that duties and tariffs compound that and make it very challenging. Yes, Trump and tariffs. And when that fails, blame wildfires and the pine beetle infestation. Anything but admit the provincial government’s regulatory regime in driving up production costs and restricting access to marketable fibre. But there was no downplaying the final report of Canadian forest sector transformation task force. …“Over the past two decades, Canada has experienced declining production, capital flight, prolonged mill closures, and weakened investor and workforce confidence,” said the executive summary of the report.