Industry group questions 'vague scope' of new B.C. forestry council

Andrew Kurjata · CBC News

· Posted: May 16, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) says it isn't definite wherefore the state has created a caller forestry assembly with a "vague scope and mandate" erstwhile determination are already aggregate moving groups focused connected the troubled assets sector.

On Thursday, the state announced the enactment of the Provincial Forest Advisory Council, which it says is expected to "provide recommendations to enactment wood ecosystems astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic helping the forestry sector."

It says the determination comes "amid a propulsion to prevention much old-growth trees and a flagging manufacture arsenic the United States threatens adjacent further levies connected Canadian softwood exports" and was created arsenic portion of its statement with the province's 2 Green Party members.

However, COFI says the state already has aggregate moving groups, reports, reviews and initiatives that person yet to beryllium afloat implemented.

"We are not wholly definite what the wide nonsubjective and request for it [the caller council] is, COFI president Kim Haakstad said successful an interrogation with CBC News.

"Now we person yet different advisory assembly and reappraisal that doesn't person practice from the companies that negociate the sectors each day."

But the authorities says the caller assembly is meant to equilibrium biology and economical needs, with practice from forestry professionals, educators, national and erstwhile manufacture officials

The caller council's members include Garry Merkel successful the Centre of Indigenous Land Stewardship astatine the University of B.C., Shannon Janzen the erstwhile vice-president of Western Forest Products, Jason Fisher of the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. and Jeff Bromley with the United Steelworkers Wood Council, portion of the United Steelworkers national which represents galore forestry workers crossed the province.

The union has praised the instauration of the council, saying that with much than 2,500 members having mislaid their jobs successful the past decade, it is indispensable that workers' voices beryllium heard successful shaping the industry's future.

Green Party House leader Rob Botterell says forestry has ever been a cardinal portion of the provincial economy, but its aboriginal depends connected sustainable and semipermanent ecological stewardship. 

"This assembly presents an accidental to beforehand bold, transformative and evidence-based actions that centre the wellness of our forests, enactment workers and communities, and guarantee wood argumentation in B.C. is grounded successful sustainability, science, and concern with First Nations," Botterell said successful a statement. 

Merkel, who co-chairs the assembly with Janzen, said the champion mode to get up of the evolving political, economical and ecological situation is by implementing a semipermanent program that provides a predictable and unchangeable travel of wood resources.

"When we mates sustainable onshore stewardship with realizing astir of the worth of our wood resources wrong British Columbia, we enactment an system that relies little connected this unstable outer environment," helium said.