Forestry industry workers in the Bulkley Valley and beyond are striking back against potential logging deferrals on 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forest around the province.

On Nov. 18, dozens of logging trucks and other vehicles made three loops of Smithers from Pacific Inland Resources via Railway Ave., Toronto Street, Hwy 16 and Tatlow Rd. honking horns and sporting signs such as 鈥淔orestry feeds my family鈥� and 鈥淏C is built on forestry.鈥�

Organizers said the demonstration was to raise awareness of how important the industry is to the Bulkley Valley and the devastating impact it could have the local economy.

They said they were impressed by the turnout and emotionally touched by the show of support from the community.

鈥淲e represented our industry well today,鈥� said co-organizer Shari Smaha.

Primarily at issue, is the uncertainty of not knowing what the impact could be.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know, lack of transparency and information coming from the government has kind of put everybody into a tailspin, because nobody knows how it鈥檚 going to affect us,鈥� Smaha said.

While no permanent deferrals have been announced, Rick Fuerst, another co-organizer, worries the impact could be far-reaching.

鈥淓ven if you look at it at first blush there鈥檚 potential for massive job losses, in some places 50 per cent of the cut could be gone,鈥� he said.

鈥淭here was zero consultation with anybody from industry, anybody from communities, anybody from our Indigenous communities around us. They put this kind of ad-hoc panel together and made this decision for all of BC, but specifically for 100,000 people with good-paying jobs in this industry and we didn鈥檛 have a voice.鈥�

In addition to raising public awareness and drumming up community support, the forestry industry workers were also looking for support from the Town of Smithers.

Mayor Gladys Atrill attended the rally.

鈥淭he people that are here are residents of the town and the valley and they have a concern so I鈥檓 interested in what they say,鈥� she said.

鈥淚鈥檓 getting a sense that it might be a little early for massive concern, but at the same time I鈥檓 not making my living the way these folks are, and they鈥檙e feeling it in a more visceral way and I think we really need to respect that.

鈥淲hat I heard today was do we recognize the significance of forestry in our local economy? The answer is, of course, we do, it is significant, it鈥檚 a part of the history, it鈥檚 a part of the culture and it鈥檚 part of the economy.鈥�

Ideally, Fuerst would like to see the deferrals scrapped altogether, but would settle for a seat at the table.

鈥淲e just want to have a voice, we want to have a rational conversation about these issues, and help forestry move forward, but everybody needs to be included, we can鈥檛 make these decisions in Victoria and just drop them on the rest of the province.

鈥淲e tend to see ourselves up here as kind of a forgotten part of the province, it seems once you leave the greater Vancouver area that a lot gets forgotten. These politicians in Victoria need to realize that the economic benefits of our industry, we put billions of dollars into the economy every year; 30 per cent of our exports are forest products, 15 per cent of our overall economy comes from our forest industry and it seems to get short-shrift.鈥�

One of those politicians, Nathan Cullen, the NDP MLA for Stikine, said he understands the frustration, but that the old-growth issue is part of a cumulative anxiety.

鈥淭hat uncertainty existed before we were elected, after the pine beetle and after the fires, the certainty for a lot of communities as to whether there would be jobs there was not there,鈥� he said.

鈥淧eople watched 30,000 jobs disappear over the last 20 years, between 2000, 2016, so everyone鈥檚 got those stories, many people were displaced, and they were abandoned, the government wasn鈥檛 all that concerned about them, so I understand that worry.鈥�

He promised, though, the conversations forestry workers, companies, communities and First Nations want to have are coming and the old growth piece is just part of a larger plan to transform the industry.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been work over a few years now to derive more value, be more value-focussed rather than just volume-focussed, to be thinking about workers and communities first,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to work with local communities to make it make sense and for those that are affected there will be another puzzle piece dropped in about supporting folks and continuing the transformation of the industry that鈥檚 overdue from a lot of people鈥檚 perspective.鈥�

And, at the end of the day, he said, his government would be there for anybody who is displaced by that transformation.

鈥淚 understand anxieties based on that feeling of abandonment when the sector went through a major downturn from 2000 on, we鈥檙e a very community- and people-focussed government so we鈥檙e going to be there for folks.鈥�

He said there would be a support package rolled out when it is needed, but could not say exactly what would be in it.

鈥淚 think there鈥檒l be a broad range based on the minister鈥檚 consultations with workers and companies to know what鈥檚 likely going to be needed,鈥� he said. 鈥淒eferrals haven鈥檛 been announced, the maps are out there, but they鈥檙e contingent upon those conversations with rights and title holders so you wouldn鈥檛 go out and do a retraining or compensation package where nothing has happened yet.鈥�

Two other rallies had been planned for Nov. 18, but were cancelled due to the flooding taking place in the south. Both were to be convoys 鈥� one from 亚洲天堂 Lake to Vancouver and the other from Campbell River to the Legislature in Victoria.

Smaha said those will likely be rescheduled and anticipates there will be other local rallies all over the province like the one in Smithers.

editor@interior-news.com
Like us on and follow us on