Skeena Bulkley Valley MP calls for federal support for BC's forestry workers

The ongoing crisis in forestry communities across the province has brought Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen into the conversation, with the NDP MP calling on the Federal government to become involved and provide support for those affected by a string of job losses.

“What we need now is swift action from the federal government to support workers, starting with help to carry over the gap from these shutdowns”

The job losses have been piling up across the Northwest and Northern BC in recent months, with Fort St. James the latest community to impacted by mill closures, with Mr. Cullen making note of their situation as part of his call for Federal action today.

The BC Forest industry is
facing some challenging
times this summer

“These are tough times for folks and the closure of the mill in Fort St. James will be a big loss to the community. Unfortunately, we just haven’t seen help for forestry workers from the Liberal government. Mr. Trudeau promised to solve the ongoing softwood lumber dispute but didn’t even bother mentioning it when he recently met with the US President and Congress”

You can review his full statement on the dire straits of forestry workers here.

Doug Donaldson
Minister of Forests, Lands,
Natural Resources &
Rural Development

Last week Premier John Horgan named a new parliamentary secretary to provide assistance to current Forests Minister Doug Donaldson, with the Premier appointing Ravi Kahlon to the position of Parliamentary secretary for forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development.

Mr. Donaldson has been feeling some heat in recent months as the litany of bad news on the provincial forestry continues to roll on, with many impacted by the closures wondering what assistance the province is set to provide and what planning is in mind towards securing a viable forestry industry in British Columbia.

For more items of note on Mr. Cullen's work out of Ottawa see our House of Commons archive here.

Provincial notes from the Legislature can be explored here, while some background on the forestry industry can be reviewed here.