B.C.’s Forests Minister says a decision on the proposed $60-million sale of timber cutting rights from Canfor to Interfor could come early in the New Year.
Under Bill 22, Doug Donaldson has the ability to approve or reject the sale, and he says there’s been a lot of feedback from the affected communities.
“We already had an example of how that repositions the government as the land manager in the deal between Conifex and Hampton in Fort St. James where they were very concerned about a commitment that Hampton made to build a new mill there,” he said on NL Newsday.
“So I made that a condition of that sale, that a new mill must be built within 36 months in that community. So that’s the kind of the thing that Bill 22 allows us to do.”
Doug Donaldson, says he hasn’t seen the final proposal just yet, but adds if the deal does go ahead, he’s not ruling out issuing conditions.
“Every situation is different and so what I will be looking at is how the proponents of the transfer of the licence took in public interest considerations expressed by workers, expressed by communities and expressed by First Nations.”
The transfer was proposed in June after Canfor announced the closure of the Vavenby sawmill, which put 176 people out work.