Ottawa’s decision not to include softwood lumber among the industries that will benefit from $1 billion in tariff relief funding sparked frustration from B.C. Premier David Eby, who said softwood lumber in the province has been “decimated” by U.S. tariffs.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take, really, to get the bureaucrats and the ministers in Ottawa to recognize that softwood lumber employs more people in Canada than steel and auto parts combined,” Eby said Monday.
“In my conversations with the prime minister, I’ve been pretty clear: I really feel like B.C.’s projects are not getting the attention of the federal government that they deserve.”
Eby said he does not know why the industry would have been overlooked, though he hopes a separate funding announcement just for softwood lumber is in the works.
The premier also said he doesn’t understand why the federal government continues to push a new oil pipeline from Alberta in spite of opposition from Eby and Coastal First Nations to plans that would change the existing tanker ban.
“Again and again, we do see B.C. kind of left out of these conversations,” said Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, who noted Carney has only four cabinet ministers representing ridings in provinces west of Ontario.
“This government has to continue to work to keep the interests of British Columbians in mind. I think there is a sense of taken-for-grantedness of the votes in the province.”
The federal government announced it will establish a $1-billion loan program for tariff-affected companies in the steel, aluminum and copper industries. Federal Industry Minister Melanie Joly said this comes with an additional $500 million for Canada’s regional tariff response fund, which she said forestry companies can apply for.
B.C. Forestry Minister Ravi Parmar said he noticed Joly mentioned that she is working with the forestry sector, which is facing tariffs and duties of about 45 per cent.
“I’m waiting for that phone call from Minister Joly any time to be able to have those conversations,” he said.
Jeff Bromley, wood council chair with the United Steelworkers, said 150,000 workers across Canada make their living off forestry.
“I wish they would have included a broader program that would have helped our forestry industry,” he said.
Eby said he intends to fight for more support and recognition for the industry, although did not detail what that could look like.
Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote said he feels Eby has been doing a good job of advocating for B.C. on federal issues like tariffs, but “for some reason isn’t being heard.”
Trevor Halford, interim B.C. Conservative Party leader, said Eby was to blame for being left out of decisions on this issue and others, including the proposed Alberta pipeline.
“I think there’s a huge disconnect in the relationship between the premier and the prime minister,” Halford said.
Eby reaffirmed his opposition to the proposed Alberta pipeline, in the wake of Carney’s comments to The Canadian Press that the pipeline is “more probable than possible.”
The premier maintained the project is not real, as there is no private sector proponent.
“We haven’t seen anything to indicate that this project is any further along than it was when it was first announced well over a year ago now, with much hype and not a lot of material reality,” he said.
Valeriote saw the prime minister’s comments as part of a strategy to appease Alberta.
“Mark Carney’s trying to make a bargain here with Alberta, but I don’t see that it’s going to benefit the rest of the country and maybe not [even] Albertans,” he said.
If the project moves forward, Prest said Eby could do little to stop the proposed pipeline, which would fall under the federal government’s jurisdiction.
“I think the premier does have to take this seriously,” he said.
“This project is by no means a done deal, but I think the prime minister is trying to create the appearance that it is so that these other actors feel a greater compulsion to come to the table and to negotiate some way forward for it.”
The federal government would be required to conduct environmental assessments, along with a constitutional responsibility to consult with First Nations, if it intends to build the pipeline.
