Elected officials on Vancouver Island at the local, provincial and federal levels are calling for urgent action to support British Columbia's struggling coastal forestry sector.
At a news conference Monday, Conservative MLA for North Island Anna Kindy, North Island-Powell River MP Aaron Gunn, along with eight Island mayors, urged B.C. Premier David Eby and Prime Minister Mark Carney to address the matter, highlighting mill closures, job losses, and the decline of rural communities as key concerns.
The media event followed the release of a letter addressed to both the provincial and federal leaders outlining the concerns in their communities. The letter was signed by Kindy, Gunn and mayors of Sayward, Gold River, Port McNeill, Powell River, Campbell River, Port Hardy, Port Alice and Alert Bay.
“Families across northern Vancouver Island are witnessing their way of life disappear," said MLA Kindy outside the legislature in Victoria. "In Port McNeill alone, curtailments at Western Forest Products have devastated livelihoods and forced many out of their communities. We need urgent leadership to cut red tape, restore investor confidence, and ensure our world-class forestry workers can continue providing for their families.”
Harvest volumes on the B.C. coast have collapsed by over 40 per cent since 2019, with over 5,400 jobs lost since 2022, according to the letter dated Sept. 22. Since 2018, nine coastal mills have closed, and the remaining operations have resorted to measures such as importing logs from the United States. Meanwhile, permitting timelines that used to take weeks now take years, creating delays that further drive up costs and force investments and jobs out of our province.
The officials say this is leading to a loss of investment, declining family and community-supporting jobs, and a growing dependence on imported fibre – all resulting from federal and provincial government policies that "prioritize ideology over common sense."
The letter calls for the government to streamline permitting, restore legal and regulatory certainty, abandon ideological, one-size-fits-all land-use frameworks and support a predictable fibre supply.
Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl said U.S. tariffs are not the root cause of this crisis.
"While other jurisdictions face similar trade pressures, B.C.’s coastal forestry sector has been uniquely harmed by regulatory uncertainty," Dahl said. "We are one pulp mill closure away from the total collapse of coastal forestry.”
“Government needs to streamline permitting, restore legal and regulatory certainty, abandon ideological, one-size-fits-all land-use frameworks like 30x30, and support a predictable fibre supply so Canadians can get back to work," Gunn said.
“British Columbia already has the best forestry workers anywhere in the world. They deserve government policies and support that allow them to succeed.”
