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By Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: Forestry crisis now hitting NDP-held ridings

Sep 13, 2019 | 5:10 PM

FOR MOST OF LAST YEAR, as sawmills have been shutting down across the province due to the ongoing forestry crisis, the NDP government has paid little attention to hard-hit communities. Towns throughout B.C. have been suffering the loss of thousands of jobs. Families have had to worry about their livelihoods being suddenly taken away from them. And all the while, the government has refused to even acknowledge the crisis.

For the first time since the crisis began, mills in Lower Mainland communities are beginning to close and forestry jobs are being lost — from Surrey and Maple Ridge. I certainly find myself wondering if we will see a much prompter response from this government now that people in NDP-held ridings are being directly affected.

In August, Horgan and his hand-picked parliamentary secretary for forestry made a few feeble attempts to address the crisis. More recently, the forests minister, who has been missing in action for most of the crisis, took it upon himself to write Ottawa for help — mere weeks before the start of the federal election. It is beyond frustrating that the hardworking people of rural B.C. had to wait so long for even the weakest show of support from the NDP, and yet that is the reality we have seen.

Last week, the industry was met with more bad news as West Fraser announced curtailments at five sawmills and Teal-Jones announced it is immediately shutting down its coastal logging operations in B.C. Teal-Jones has two lumber mills and a shake-and-shingle mill located in Surrey and this news means that more than 500 jobs in the city are likely to be lost. It is clear that we are now seeing the forestry crisis affect jobs in the Lower Mainland — where 40 per cent of forestry jobs are, in fact, located.

It is obviously very concerning to see this ongoing crisis intensify as it reaches the most densely populated region in the province. The problem has simply become too large for John Horgan and his government to ignore any longer. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the government should have been active months ago, working in hard-hit communities and cutting back on the strict regulations and high stumpage fees that have been major contributors to the industry’s struggles — measures that our BC Liberal Caucus formally recommend back in June.

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In the past year, forestry-dependent towns have seen huge percentages of their workforce become unemployed — towns like Mackenzie, where 600 workers in forestry-related jobs were laid off in a town of 3,700 people. If a city like Surrey had lost the same proportion of jobs, we would have seen more than 77,000 job losses — and you can bet that this would have prompted swift government action.

Hard-hit communities understandably feel ignored by the NDP, who have been left to fend for themselves during the worst forestry crisis in 40 years. British Columbians deserve better. They deserve a premier that governs for the entire province, not just NDP-held ridings.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.