More than 100 semi trucks arrived in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon to draw attention to B.C.鈥檚 forestry workers struggling in the face of significant job losses.
You can see everyone start to cheer as the logging trucks come by. They been circling for around 15-20 minutes now.
鈥� Kat Slepian (@katslepian)
Hundreds of people gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre to watch the trucks loop a section of the downtown core. High log prices and a declining timber supply have prompted several recent mill curtailments and closures in B.C., affecting thousands of workers.
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鈥� TransLink BC (@TransLink)
The convoy began in the wee hours, leaving Prince George and stopping to pick up truckers in Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile, Merritt and Hope, on their way to the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention.
The drivers were met with dozens of supporters as they drove through communities impacted by recent mill closures, honking as people waved from the roadside.
The trucks, many with flags and handpainted banners, pulled up to Hope at about 1 p.m.
Several people gathered on overpasses over Highway 1 to cheer them on.
鈥淵ou get to hear everything they鈥檙e going through there,鈥� said Shari Stephens, who works at the Flying J Truck Stop in Hope, as she waved at the trucks passing underneath the overpass.
In Vancouver, Stuey Wheeler, who owns a logging equipment business in Delta, was out with his family to cheer on the convoy.
鈥淲e have about three builds left in the shop but after that we don鈥檛 really have anything on the books,鈥� he told Black Press Media.
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The convoy members are calling for an immediate change to stumpage rates in B.C., which are based on what companies pay for logs through BC Timber Sales, and to bring back an agreement that ties timber in a given region to specific sawmills.
A spokesperson for the province said Forests Minister Doug Donaldson and Parliamentary Secretary Ravi Kahlon, who is the MLA for Delta North, were meeting with convoy leaders Wednesday afternoon.
Whole families are here at the logging truck convoy in Vancouver today with signs that say 鈥渓ogs=jobs鈥� and 鈥渇orestry feeds my family.
鈥� Kat Slepian (@katslepian)
The B.C. government announced for out-of-work loggers, in part by transferring from money a fund meant to spur economic diversification in rural communities.
- with files from Jessica Peters and Ashley Wadhwani
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