How forestry could shape B.C. election's outcome in the north
Communities hit hard by closures, cuts and curtailments, with sector losing over 40,000 jobs since early 1990s
When Mike Egli goes to vote in the British Columbia election later this month, one issue will weigh heavy on his mind: forestry.
Egli, who co-owns Vanderhoof, B.C.-based logging contractor Dalchako Transport with his brothers, fears his business could be part of a new wave of closures in the industry across northern B.C.
He said he's looking to the government to help the region's dwindling forestry sector, which supports many communities in the area.
"We need the forest industry. That's what we have to keep these towns alive," he said. "I'm not sure what can be done on the government level to help them, but they need to work with the mills."
Over the past few decades, sawmills have closed and thousands of people have lost their jobs in the north. Industry players say they're pulling out of the region because of environmental factors and the high cost of operating in the region.
After recent announcements of more planned closures put hundreds more northern B.C. jobs in jeopardy, forestry could now define the election in northern B.C. — and the province's three major parties have taken note, pitching policies that aim to prolong the industry, including measures to cut costs, change forest management and invest in the sector.
Latest curtailments, closures
Statistics Canada data shows B.C. has lost more than 40,000 forestry sector jobs since the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, researchers say forests in northern B.C. can no longer support big industry players, in part because of the effects of invasive beetles and climate-driven wildfires.
In the summer, the U.S. doubled tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, making it harder to sell Canadian forestry products in that market.
This month, Western Forest Products announced it was temporarily curtailing lumber production at all its B.C. locations; while another Vancouver-based logging giant, Canfor, said it intended to close mills in B.C. due to rising costs and the lack of sustainable timber supply.
The jobs of more than 500 workers were put in jeopardy when Canfor announced it would shut down or sell the Plateau Sawmill in Vanderhoof and another mill in Fort St. John by the end of the year.
Egli said the announcement caught him by surprise.
"Our whole business revolved around Plateau and Canfor," Egli said. He estimates the contractor will have to lay off about 75 workers — leaving their futures, and Egli's, uncertain.
"We're doing what we can to find other work, but there is a shortage of work right now," he said.
'We're seeing our whole industry die'
Vanderhoof, about 80 kilometres west of Prince George, is one of many northern B.C. towns feeling the effects of the forestry downturn.
About 170 kilometres further northwest, in Houston, B.C., Mayor Shane Breinen says many of the towns that dot the region are heavily dependent on forests.
"They built our communities because they needed workers in these mills," Breinen said. "When you look at a community, almost everything in that community is there because of the industry."
He estimates about a third of Houston residents lost their jobs when its local sawmill shut down last year — the second big mill to close down in the region in a decade.
Breinen, who was slated to run as B.C. United's candidate for the Nechako Lakes riding before the party cancelled its election campaign, said provincial policy needs to change if forestry is to be revitalized in towns like Houston.
"We're seeing our whole industry die," said Breinen, who is no longer running in the election. "[Forests] are a renewable resource and we do feel if it's managed correctly, and the proper steps are made, it can go much better for all of us."
Parties' plans for forestry
B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad, the incumbent MLA for Nechako Lakes, calls the region home. His constituency office is in Vanderhoof, and according to his party's website, he worked in the forestry industry as a technology consultant.
Rustad did not respond to requests for comment for this story. But at a Sept. 26 campaign stop in a Vanderhoof bakery, he said he recognizes the challenges forestry faces.
"Our forest sector is being decimated," he said. "It is not because the wood is not available, it is because we cannot obtain permits."
In their forestry platform released last month, the Conservatives have vowed to end stumpage, a fee on the timber each business harvests, in favour of a product tax system they say will drive down the cost of forestry in B.C.
The party also says it will protect two-thirds of province's forests from logging, promote harvest in already-damaged forests, and boost the biofuel industry, which produces energy from organic materials.
Andrew Mercier, who was appointed the B.C. NDP's sustainable forests minister in January and is running for re-election in Langley-Willowbrook, said wildfires, punishing U.S. tariffs, and the effects of pine beetle infestation have made market conditions challenging.
He said the NDP plans to double community forests, which put local governments, including municipalities and First Nations, in control of forest licences, which are usually issued provincially.
"Communities in Vanderhoof, in Prince George, in Grand Forks … they know what's going on in the forest and they know what needs to be done for stewardship," he said.
The NDP also plans to review stumpage fees, make it faster for companies to get forestry permits, and advocate against U.S. tariffs.
The party's candidate for Nechako Lakes, Murphy Abraham, did not respond to request for comment.
Douglas Gook, the B.C. Green Party's candidate for Nechako Lakes, said his party will prioritize moving forest tenure, or the right to log areas, to First Nations and local communities.
In their platform, the Greens have committed to expanding community-managed forests and stopping clearcut logging in favour of selective harvests that thin out forests.
They also intend to establish a chief ecologist to help set forest policy, and to continue reducing the annual allowable cut — the amount of timber that can be harvested from public land each year.
"Time is very much overdue to move on with progressive, forward-thinking policy so that our children will have a future in the forest industry in the Interior," Gook said.
Vanderhoof voices
In Vanderhoof, hair salon owner Denise Rodts says she believes having someone from the region in the premier's office will help solve forestry's ongoing problems.
"[Rustad] represents the north very well and he grew up here," she said. "Up here, we don't seem to have a voice ... so it is pivotal, for many of us, that he gets to represent B.C."
But the local government says Rustad has been slow to communicate. Vanderhoof Mayor Kevin Moutray said Rustad has not sat down with the municipality to speak about the community's needs, despite requests to do so.
"It's a frustration, because I'd love to be working with the local MLA on these problems," Moutray told Daybreak North on Tuesday, adding that he wants leaders to expand community forest agreements.
Moutray said the only local candidate who had reached out to him was Abraham of the NDP, and that he had also sat down with David Eby in his capacity as premier at the Union of B.C. Municipality meetings in Vancouver the week before the election campaign began.
Whichever candidate wins on Oct. 19, longtime Vanderhoof Coun. Brian Frenkel says the province needs to build a better relationship with northern B.C. residents.
"The bottom line from a local government standpoint is you've got to talk to your local government. We have a finger on the pulse of what's going on in the forest," he said.
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With files from Daybreak North, Radio-Canada and Benoit Ferradini