Joel McKay

PRINCE GEORGE – Operations at the Canfor’s PG Pulp Mill coming to a close at the end of March could hit the economy in a big way say commerce and industry experts. …Todd Corrigall, CEO at the Prince George Chamber of Commerce said when the pulp line does shut the impacts will stretch well beyond those affected and into small and medium size businesses in the city. …Natural resource expert Joel McKay said he believes Northern BC as a whole needs to come together to find a solution in the transition away from forestry. See video here

Resource companies in Western Canada had a good year in 2022, which means provincial and federal governments had a good year, thanks to royalties and taxes. But a series of federal and provincial government policies that are deliberately squelching growth in certain sectors, such as metallurgical coal and lumber – B.C.’s two most valuable exports – will mean lost opportunities for Canadian companies, analysts say. …Lumber prices dropped to US$360 per thousand board feet in December. The break-even price for most sawmills in B.C. is US$450 to US$500, said Russ Taylor. …“There are going to be a few more [permanent] curtailments because of all this endless government policy. Primarily it’s the old-growth deferrals, all the caribou habitat protection that they have to still implement, they have all these tenure transfers … and then they’re introducing core landscape planning. Now there’s a commitment to preserve 30 per cent of B.C. forests by 2030.”

A once dormant log yard has come back to life at the far western end of Keith Ave. in the light industrial sector of the city. For the past months it’s been the collection point for companies selling small-diameter logs to interior processors. That’s thanks to a new venture by a business arm of the Lax Kw’alaams Band that owns the Poirier yard. Carl Sampson who is the chief operating officer for Lax Kw’allams Business Development, said the logs are destined for the Kalum Logistics site, owned by the Kitsumkalum First Nation’s economic development arm. From the Kalum Logistics location just across the Kalum River adjacent to Kitsumkalum, the logs will be sent east to various locations, he said. …Kim Haworth, the general manager of the City of Terrace-owned community forest, one of the companies sending logs to the yard, is excited about the opportunities now opening up.

Rob Shaw

Hopes are high in B.C.’s forestry sector that Premier David Eby might be ready to offer up some sort of financial assistance to a beleaguered industry that is shutting down mills and laying off hundreds of people. …Eby is set to speak to the Natural Resources Forum in Prince George and the BC Truck Loggers convention in Vancouver. He’d get standing ovations at both if he committed to some sort of government assistance. Instead, more than likely, he’ll …stall for time by making vague promises about boosting the “value-added” sector of the industry through “innovation.” It sounds good, but it never happens. It requires forest companies to invest millions in retooling their mills to produce those new “value-added” products, and they seize up with hesitancy because they can’t get straight answers out of the province on key issues of forest policy. …Someone should break the cycle of dysfunction between the New Democrat administration and the major players of B.C.’s forestry sector. 

Chuck LeBlanc… president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada… says having to field concerns from his junior comrades and see their furrowed faces, which once beamed with ambition, weighs on him. …The layoffs were more than just sad news for the workers — the whole of Prince George underwent a period of mourning. Joel McKay, CEO of Northern Development Initiative Trust, called the news devastating. Eby and MLA Shirley Bond couched their sorrow in the same expression. …“It was not a matter of if but when,” said Brink, the CEO of Brink Forest Products. …Brink ascribes the industry’s woes to the mountain pine beetle infestation in 2001. …Then, in 2017 and 2018, wildfires engulfed forests in the Interiors. To preserve the remaining trees, the government slashed the annual allowable cut. …But Ben Parfitt, at the Centre for Policy Alternatives, says the plight of forestry companies is a reckoning of failed government policies.

Additional coverage in CKPG Today by Jack Clark: Union representing laid-off workers reacts to PG Pulp closure

About 20 northern Alberta municipalities and industry associations are joining forces to lobby for better rail freight service for their region. The Community Rail Advocacy Alliance plans to lobby the federal and provincial government and talk to CP and CN in hopes of improving what its members say is inconsistent access to rail cars in northern Alberta. Members include the Alberta Forest Products Association, the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, Grande Prairie, Edson, High Level, Slake Lake, Whitecourt, Peace River, Mackenzie County, Northern Sunrise County, County of Northern Lights and the Municipal District of Peace. Industry associations are frustrated about rail access for their members. Municipal councils are concerned about the effects on their communities. “One of our local industry partners had to reduce shifts and of course now you’re talking about people’s jobs,” Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara said. 

A rally is in the works to protest the recently announced closure of the pulp line at Canfor’s Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill. The closure will result in the loss of 300 jobs and Canfor is blaming a lack of fibre for its pulp operations. …Canfor said the specialty paper facility at the mill will stay open. Organizers of the rally say the closure will be a big blow to workers and the community at large. The rally… coincides with the attendance of BC Premier David Eby at a dinner during the annual Northern Resource Forum in Prince George at which he is expected to speak on the government’s forest policy. …Rally organizers from Stop the Spray BC supported by Conservation North and Stand Up for the North Committee said they the rally will be an opportunity for everyone to have their voices heard.

In June 2019, the We Wai Kai First Nation signed an incremental treaty agreement with B.C.’s provincial government. While making the announcement, the province said this first step toward a treaty would bring the community early economic opportunities, increased participation in the local forest economy and long-term benefits.  Over three years later, We Wai Kai Chief Ronnie Chickite says B.C. has yet to hand over any of the 30 square kilometres of land in the Lower Campbell River area of Vancouver Island that was promised in the initial agreement.   …Chickite describes the land in question as “rich in forest.” He says the First Nation selected the parcel specifically for forestry because it’s an ideal site to harvest valuable fir and cedar trees.   …Chickite says the We Wai Kai purchased a logging company as part of its plan to start a new timber operation on Vancouver Island. 

The permanent closure at the Canfor’s Prince George Pulp and Paper’s pulp line will put 300 mill employees out of work and those lost wages could take $30 million out of the local economy,  And that’s just the immediate impact. Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad says that for every job lost at the mill, local contractors, suppliers, retail stores and service providers will also feel the pinch once the mill closes in March.   “It’s obviously incredibly challenging and very difficult for the families and workers affected and it’s not just the direct jobs, the forest sector has a 2-to-1 ratio in the jobs that are going to be impacted in our community and that’s really tough for so many people,” said Rustad.  …“If you carry on with the approach of not being able to make money eventually you get to place where you might be putting people’s pensions at risk,” said Rustad.