With numerous layoffs and shutdowns across British Columbia, the President of Steelworkers Local Union 1-417 says the challenges the industry is facing are not new.

Marty Gibbons says every operation they represent are experiencing timber supply issues.

“And unfortunately the previous BC Liberal Government mismanaged our forests. We had a bug kill epidemic that many mills were struggling to process the timber,” he said.

“There’s really been no long term plan for forestry in this province. The crisis we are going through today is a crisis that was actually encouraged by previous governments without any sort of long term planning for forestry.”

Gibbons says while the current government has promised that a timber supply plan is coming, they are yet to see any details on that.

“Markets are still actually healthy,” Gibbons added. “The Canadian dollar is a huge issue for exporters, but it’s actually helping us out. Our main issue in the Interior is log supply.”

He says many forestry workers often feel like they are being ignored.

“All the talk about pipelines and all the talk about the oil patch and it just feels like forest workers are ignored,” he said. “These resources that we require have been mismanaged for decades and now workers are paying the price. Maybe it’s because we’re a tougher breed here, but families are suffering, and we are out of work.”

A number of mills in the province have announced temporary closures and shutdowns, most recently the Aspen Planers sawmill in Merritt, which is laying off 50 people.