Hundreds of logging trucks from the B.C. Interior convoyed down to Vancouver as part of a rally in September (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

B.C. FOREST CRISIS

Organizer of B.C. Interior logging truck rally says province hasn’t acknowledged movement

Nov 29, 2019 | 4:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — Howard McKimmon doesn’t know how much longer the forest industry in Merritt can last.

“If something happened to our current mill that’s here now [Aspen Planers], the impact on Merritt would be devastating,” said McKimmon, the owner of Howard McKimmon Trucking in Merritt.

Aspen Planers is the only mill operating in the Nicola Valley. It too, however, has been impacted, now down to one shift.

Three years ago, Tolko in Merritt shuttered due to a reduction in the annual allowable cut. Only barren land is left where thousands of logs used to sit.

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More than 20 mills in B.C. have closed or curtailed production this summer, motivating McKimmon to organize a logging truck rally in September. But two months since it happened, he hasn’t heard anything back from the province.

“We really haven’t gained any ground at all with the provincial government,” he said. “They haven’t really even acknowledged our movement or addressed any of our concerns.”

The province, however, contends it has put some wheels in motion following the rally.

“Since then, we’ve been working with various associations representing contractors to, first of all, try to streamline the process around how they can access contract work,” said B.C. forest minister Doug Donaldson. “As well, and significantly, we ensured that the latest amount of forest enhancement in B.C. — grants over $10 million — were targeted to areas where we’ve seen a curtailment in activity.”

Shelley Stewart owns a logging truck company in Merritt and has experienced the devastating effects from the forestry crisis.

“2019 is the first year that I had to lay off all of my employees,” said Stewart, who owns Bar S Ventures. “I have 28 employees and in July we laid everybody off for nine full weeks. When we did return to work Oct. 1, we were put on quota, so I still had to reduce shifts.”

Like many in the industry, McKimmon is pushing for the province to reduce the stumpage rates to fall more in line with provinces like Alberta. Until then, he says more people will keep leaving B.C.

“Mills around the province are crippled. People out of this province have left town to go to Alberta to because they’re doing the same job there as they could be doing here in B.C.”