BC’s Finance Minster says $13-million in new money for forestry workers in this year’s budget is to help out in the short term.
Speaking on the NL Morning News, Carole James, says the government hasn’t forgotten about forestry workers across the province who are hurting with the downturn.
“Everything from support for job training, for skills training, for individuals and communities, grants for communities that were really hurting. But there’s more long term work that needs to be done,” she said.
“That helps in the short term, and we want to make sure that we’re supporting those workers and their families.”
Budget 2020 has $844 million for forests ministry operations in the next fiscal year, while provincial revenue from forest products is projected to be $867 million.
“The dollars that have gone in are a start. It’s something that has taken years to get here, sadly it’s not going to be fixed overnight but we’re doing what we can both in the short term and the long term,” James added.
“But we also want to make sure that we help the industry become sustainable, that we look at how we expand the industry because forestry has built British Columbia and we want to support those people.”
Long term, James says there are plans to bring together First Nations, unions, businesses, and workers to talk about what can be done to revitalize and expand BC’s forestry industry.
“To talk about how we include everything from the bio-economy, the waste left in the wood and what we can do with that to make sure that there’s an industry there,” added James.
“Our capital builds, we have record investments in schools and hospitals and housing. We’re looking at where we can use wood in those builds, so that we can expand the opportunities for forest workers.”
Existing relief programs – including retirement bridging for laid-off workers who are 55 or older, retraining younger workers, and assistance offices in communities like Clearwater – that are currently in place are being funded out of the current budget, which runs until March 31.
