Boundary-Similkameen NDP candidate Roly Russell says he’s disappointed with comments about the local forest industry from incumbent Conservative Donegal Wilson.
In an interview with Vista Radio, Wilson said she has been advocating for Interfor, whose Grand Forks mill was shuttered last year before reopening with a single shift.
“Unfortunately, when I met with the [forests] minister and advocated for what Interfor needed, the message I got back is ‘If they don’t reopen, we’re just going to send a transition team to Grand Forks,’” Wilson said. “And so I had to spend a lot of time explaining that transitioning is not jobs. That’s not the future of the community.”
Russell, who was Wilson’s predecessor as MLA, said the statement frustrated him.
“I feel like turning this into a partisan talking point is a little bit gross because we’re talking about the well-being of families in our communities,” he said. “Going to polarized partisan battles over these kinds of issues makes it harder for us to support families, not easier. And I think she knows the work that I have delivered on for forestry workers, industry, and the community.”
Russell said a transition team is one tool government has at its disposal, but nobody in the Boundary wants a transition plan instead of a working sawmill, nor does the government: “We want the mill running. We want more value coming out of every log that we’re bringing in from the forest and a real backstop for families if the market does turn.”
Russell said he helped build and deliver BC’s Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program, which brought $650,000 into the Boundary following the closure of the Vaagen Fibre Canada sawmill in Midway.
Wilson also said government needs to do more to reduce regulation and allow more wood to be harvested. But Russell quoted one logger who said there is no point cutting more wood if prices don’t make it worthwhile. Russell said while it is fine to point out ways that the regulatory system can be streamlined, the situation is more complex because of American softwood tariffs on Canadian producers.
“There are other issues we have to deal with to make the markets work to be able to access that fiber,” he said. “So I don’t think government should be telling people that they have to grow food or cut trees regardless of how much they’re making for it. We need to make sure the markets are healthy and thriving, which is more complex than polarized talking points.”
The third candidate in Boundary-Similkameen is OneBC’s Keith Pomeroy.
Listen to Juice FM for updates every 15 minutes once the polls close on Saturday. Updates will also be posted at mygrandforksnow.com.
