The President of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce says the more we move away from our reliance on the U-S the better.

Joshua Knaak is responding to Tolko Industries plan to curtail a number of operations through early September that will impact about 700 workers. Knaak says we have China and Japan as expanded partners, but we need to expand further. “If you just look at exports of Canadian softwood lumber, it has been declining since 2016 particularly if you look at it through what we are exporting to the U-S, which really gets back to that softwood lumber dispute. So, there are a number of factors, but I think it’s incumbent on government to look at which ones they can deal with.”

Knaak says the government has taken steps to address issues, but a major issue is that lumber is not at its peak price. “So, just increasing production doesn’t necessarily solve a problem. What will solve a problem is increasing exports and increasing trade. “We have seen government take steps to increase the use of wood with the mass timber now being allowed for up to 12 story construction and there’s no question that, that makes construction more effective and more affordable than concrete. Unfortunately it’s new process right now and its something that builders and developers are still working before it’s going to be adopted.”

He adds that making communities that rely on the forest industry more desirable to live in, that would help create new jobs and reduce the reliance on a single sector in those municipalities.