Trudeau says he will continue to fight for Canada’s ‘world class’ forestry industry

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he and his Liberal government will protect the country’s forestry industry from a hike in tariffs if Donald Trump is elected as the US President in November.

The comment was made while the Prime Minister took questions from reporters in Nanaimo, where Liberal MPs are hosting a three-day caucus retreat.

Trudeau said he and his government will continue to fight for Canada’s “world class” forestry industry.

“When Donald Trump was president he brought in crippling tariffs on steel workers and aluminum across the county in addition to other things that made life difficult for Canadian workers,” Trudeau said.

“We stood up for Canada and we not only defended our steel workers and aluminum workers and forestry workers successfully, we also made sure that the American people and American administration understood that things that hurt Canada also hurt their jobs and their future.”

Justin Trudeau pledges to ‘fight’ for Canada’s forestry industry.

‘Paying more for lumber from Canada makes no sense for the American people.’#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/hqnFWKYCE1

— KelownaNow (@KelownaNow) September 11, 2024

The comments not only come after the first US presidential debate, which featured talk about Trump and Kamala Harris’ stands on trading and tariffs, but it also comes amid the shuttering of at least a half dozen sawmills in BC.

In May, Canfor announced it would be shuttering operations in Prince George, Bear Lake and Houston. Those closures impacted around 400 jobs.

BC’s Ministry of Forests said the closure was caused by the “many challenges” facing the industry in North America, including low market prices and high interest rates.

In July, AP Group said it would be temporarily closing its mill in Merritt, impacting 100 workers.

Earlier this month, Canfor said it would be shutting down a mill in Vanderhoof and another in Fort. St John, affecting about 500 workers.

Those 1,000 lost jobs are in addition to the 10,000 forestry jobs lost in 2023.

The Prime Minister is not the only politician that has said they will fight to protect the country’s forestry industry and jobs.

In response to those mill closures this spring, both the Conservative Party of BC and BC United began slamming the BC NDP and blamed their policies for the closures.

When Canfor announced its first closure this spring, the company not only blamed declining harvest levels but also the provincial government’s policy and regulation changes.

However, Bruce Ralston, minister of forests, told KelownaNow this was not the case and the government had ensured the company access to a fibre supply.

John Rustad, leader of the BC Conservatives, called the Canfor closure “tragic” and claimed that BC’s forestry and resource sectors were in a crisis and the NDP were to blame.

BC United leader Kevin Falcon and BC United shadow minister for forests Mike Bernier called on Premier David Eby to provide immediate relief for forestry workers.

In an interview with KelownaNow, Falcon said that the NDP government doesn’t “care much about what happens east of Hope,” claiming that they are a very “urban government.”

Falcon also said the NDP had turned their back on BC’s forestry sector for the national forestry sector.

Ralston said the government was working on “local initiatives” to bring “predictability and confidence” to the province’s forestry operations. He also said they were working to speed up salvage logging permits and that BC was “determined to support” forestry workers.

The Prime Minister shared a similar stance.

Trudeau said that high lumber costs, mill closures and lost jobs were not only impacting BC but all of Canada and even America.

“When we talk about softwood lumber, the reality is Americans are facing a housing crisis as well, Americans are facing challenges with the rising cost of housing and paying more for lumber from Canada makes no sense for the American people,” Trudeau said.

The Prime Minister said he was bringing that argument forward to the American government as well as trade tribunals.

“We’re going to continue to fight for the great jobs in Canada’s world class forestry industry, (which) has demonstrated both the principles of sustainability, responsible work practices and building a better world with great Canadian, including BC, lumber,” Trudeau said.