NDP’s Reckless Forest Policies put Jobs at Risk

Carole James continues her dishonesty with forest dependent communities with claims that raw log exports are rising. And her vague commitment to further tax and restrict log exports puts jobs at risk.

April 18, 2009

Carole James continues her dishonesty with forest dependent communities with claims that raw log exports are rising.  And her vague commitment to further tax and restrict log exports puts jobs at risk.

The fact is that there is already a tax and restrictions on log exports.

As a result, log exports from provincially controlled crown lands have actually declined by 25 per cent since 2001. Three-quarters of current exports are from private lands that are under federal control, and Carole James knows this.

She also knows that with the global economic downturn and collapse of the U.S. housing market, there simply aren’t the markets for all of the wood products produced in B.C.

While 95 per cent of the timber harvested in B.C. is processed right here in British Columbia, there are times when exporting logs makes sense. It’s a last resort to keep our thousands of loggers and truckers working.

And yet even with the global challenges we’re facing in B.C. today, Carole James still wants to make it even harder for forestry dependent families by adding new taxes and restrictions.

This is not a surprise. They also want to implement policies that would jeopardize the stability of the Softwood Lumber Agreement and risk a trade war with the United States that would put thousands of jobs at risk. James’ environmental platform alone is estimated to result in 60,000 jobs being eliminated in our resource communities.

More attacks on jobs aren’t the answer for our forest industry. We need to pursue innovation, grow new markets, and most importantly, create stability to succeed.

Forestry dependent communities simply can’t afford Carole James’ dishonesty and her reckless, job-killing promises.