Kim Haakstad

PRINCE GEORGE, BC — The announcement from Canfor on July 14, that it will close Northwood Pulp Mill by the end of this year is yet another gut punch to the city’s forestry-dependent economy. …A city whose backbone was built on mills that once thrived throughout the surrounding forests will be left with a skeleton crew of just three sawmills (PG Sawmill, Lakeland Mills and Carrier Lumber’s Tabor Sawmill), one pulp line (Intercontinental Pulp), one paper-making line (PG Pulp and Paper Mill) and one secondary finger-joint lumber manufacturer (Brink Forest Products), which has already curtailed operations while waiting for a turnaround. …Kim Haakstad, CEO of the BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI), said there is no replacing those mills — the economic lifeblood of many communities. She said BC has not done enough to make the industry profitable for forestry companies, many of which have operated in the province for decades.