B.C. forestry needs action, not another lost paycheque

2026-09-12 · Provincial Conservative · B.C. forestry · Rural jobs

B.C. forestry is not a museum piece. It is paycheques, contractors, truckers, mill families, First Nations partnerships, value-added manufacturers, homebuilding materials, wildfire resilience and local tax bases. That is why the latest B.C. Conservative forestry push is worth treating as a practical voter-resource issue, not only as another Victoria news release.

The immediate trigger is public and source-checkable. On September 4, a group of forest-sector organizations wrote to Premier David Eby saying the sector is at a breaking point and asking for a Forestry Crisis Action Group led by the Premier’s Office. The letter says international trade pressures are real, but many survival factors are provincial: costs, regulations, permitting, fibre access and whether economically viable wood can move to mills before workers lose another shift.

The Conservative Party of B.C. amplified that request in its September release, with Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay and forestry, labour and finance critics arguing that government should listen to the sector and move faster. Some job-loss and revenue numbers in the party release come from the sector letter and COFI analysis, so they should be read as attributed sector or party-position claims. The core fact remains broader and safer: forestry groups, unions, contractors and manufacturers are asking for urgent provincial coordination.

There is also common ground voters can use. The B.C. government’s August 27 release says it is exploring a Working Forest Landscape Model and says one intended result is to identify where sustainable timber production can be prioritized to help stabilize an economic land base contributing to an annual harvest of 45 million cubic metres, while also improving biodiversity and ecosystem outcomes. In plain English, even the government accepts that predictability, jobs, investment confidence and stewardship have to be planned together.

That is where Conservatives can make a positive case. The question is not whether B.C. should choose workers over forests or forests over workers. The question is whether the province can make timely, measurable decisions that keep responsible mills supplied, speed wildfire-salvage opportunities, support local logs moving to local facilities, protect skilled workers in their communities and still honour consultation and environmental standards. A serious opposition should press for deadlines, public scorecards and ministerial accountability.

For voters, the checklist is simple. Ask every MLA and candidate whether they support a crisis table with workers and employers at it; whether permit backlogs and cost increases are being measured publicly; whether salvage timber can be moved before it loses value; whether value-added manufacturers have predictable fibre; and whether forestry policy is helping rural communities build homes, fund services and keep young families working close to home.

A confident Conservative message should be constructive: B.C. can be pro-worker, pro-resource, pro-environment and pro-community at the same time if government stops managing forestry as a slow paperwork problem and starts treating it as a province-building sector. Forestry helped build B.C. The next step is making sure it can help rebuild affordability and opportunity in B.C. towns today.

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