“There’s no shortage of things that need to be done, it’s just whether the province agrees to do them.”
–Merlin Blackwell
Two B.C. cabinet ministers toured the Thompson Okanagan this week, trying to reassure community and business leaders about the impact of proposed U.S. tariffs.
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar and Jobs Minister Diana Gibson visited the region to talk trade diversification and provincial assistance during a time of global economic uncertainty sparked by American aggression.
“What I’m hearing is a lot of nervousness associated with the threat of tariffs and making sure we hear that from workers and community leaders,” said Parmar.
His trip included stops in Canoe, Vernon, Salmon Arm, Kamloops, Merritt, Barriere and Clearwater. The communities are just some of the ones hard-hit in recent years by mill closures and layoffs in the forestry sector — partly due to what forestry companies have said are unhelpful NDP government policies that have tied up much-needed timber in old growth reviews, Indigenous consultation, red tape, and prohibitive forestry policies.
“I know there’s a lot of folks who want us to step up on forestry, who want us to do more, who maybe have been disappointed in the actions we’ve taken so far in forestry,” said Parmar. “And it’s important for me to hear that.”
Forestry has also been hard hit by ongoing American softwood lumber duties, which the U.S. Department of Commerce is proposing to almost double as part of preliminary rates released this month.
“This first thing must be stabilization of what we have left of our forest industry.”
Merlin Blackwell
The Council of Forest Industries has warned the softwood lumber duties, combined with general tariffs, could be catastrophic for B.C.’s forestry sector, and also expressed disappointment the March 4 provincial budget failed to provide dedicated financial support for the sector.
“This first thing must be stabilization of what we have left of our forest industry,” said Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell. “A lot of the conversations were, how do we keep this alive and keep things going?”
Parmar continues what he’s called his listening and learning tour around the province since being appointed forests minister in November. He’s so far scored high marks for his willingness to travel rural B.C. and meet both proponents and critics of the NDP’s forestry policies — including getting grilled by 300 people at a community town hall in Vanderhoof after the community lost 500 jobs with the closure of its Plateau Sawmill.
But patience on the listening, versus acting, is wearing thin.
Fix known problems first, mayor says
Blackwell said Parmar has been very approachable, and responsive, to invitations to visit rural B.C., where the NDP have almost no MLAs. But he said there’s a long list of immediate things the forests ministry and New Democrats are well aware need to be fix, including BC Timber Sales, stumpage, fibre supply and other critical issues.
“Fix those things and then get on with your learning tour,” said Blackwell. There’s lots of things you can do out the gate…
“There’s no shortage of things that need to be done, it’s just whether the province agrees to do them.”
The government is in the middle of a review of BC Timber Sales. Eby has also promised a sustainable annual harvest of 45 million cubic metres of wood a year — but the March budget projects declines well below this level and no one is clear how the premier intends to meet that mark.
Critic calls for forest sustainability review
Parmar celebrated the opening of the Canoe mill kiln, which received $14 million from the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund — part of provincial money allocated back in 2023.
“I find it a little bit disingenuous when the minister comes around and toots his own horn and says we’ll give you a few million dollars back from your own money,” said Opposition BC Conservative forestry critic Ward Stamer, the former mayor of Barriere who is now the Kamloops-North Thompson MLA.
Stamer worked for decades in the forest sector, and said Parmer’s listening exercise is a waste of time when government knows full well from companies, unions, workers and associations what is wrong with its own policies.
“Are they listening?… I’m not entirely convinced.”
Ward Stamer
He said the government should be doing a larger forest health and sustainability review with all partners, change its own growth strategies, reduce wildfire fuel loads around communities, cut red tape, provide more certainty on fibre, simplify the stumpage system and ensure not only value-added forestry is supported but also the entire chain starting with the truck loggers who transport the trees from the woods.
“Are they listening?” he asked. “I guess this is what this tour was all about. But I’m not entirely convinced.”
Clearwater has grown so frustrated at the forests ministry for removing permanent initial attack crews, it intends to create its own volunteer force to be available when necessary for the high-risk community in case of a wildfire, said Blackwell.
Wine sector optimistic about interprovincial trade: minister
Meanwhile, Jobs Minister Gibson’s tour took her to wineries in Kelowna, as well as aerospace companies and trade diversification meetings in that city, before moving on to Merritt. She said her goal was to discuss how businesses could shift products away from the U.S., work with the province to find new overseas markets, and boost exports to other provinces as the B.C. government pushes for the elimination of interprovincial trade barriers.
“The entrepreneurs and businesses that are creating manufacturing jobs across this region are just so inspiring,” she said. “They are full of creativity and grit.”
Gibson said “pivoting” was a top topic of conversation, especially in the wine sector, which she said appears excited about the prospect of lowered interprovincial trade barriers on alcohol and a ban of U.S. liquor in government liquor stores.
“Some of them are very optimistic because with the pulling of American product off the shelf, it creates a real moment for them to get some of that market share back from American wineries and spirits,” she said.
Resource development could be ‘game-changing’
Blackwell said communities like his could generate immense job growth if the government follows through with its promise to fast-track natural resource projects. He pointed to Taseko’s proposal for the Yellowhead open-pit copper mine project project, 150 kilometres northeast of Kamloops, which he said could hit official environmental review soon and should be put on the government’s priority list for the more than 600 jobs it would provide.
“That would be game-changing for our section of the valley,” he said. “That number of jobs and economic input would put us back to having (the equivalent of) two mills in town.”
“That number of jobs… would put us back to having (the equivalent of) two mills in town.”
Merlin Blackwell
The two ministers found themselves largely fish out of political waters in the Okanagan and North Thompson area, as part of a rural British Columbia where New Democrat MLAs are almost non-existent.
“One of the big criticisms is there’s not many MLAs past hope,” said Blackwell. “And that was what I said in election time — come see us in rural B.C., we don’t bite.”