Editorial cartoon of a mill worker facing a jammed sawmill conveyor while a politician offers an empty money bucket
Cartoon: money arrives at the mill gate while the fibre-and-permitting jam remains unresolved.
The BC NDP says David Eby would create a two-year, $120-million Forestry Jobs Protection Fund and promise faster permitting and consistent access to fibre. The Canadian Press reported the missing part plainly: no details were provided on how the government would deliver that fibre and permitting fix.

Money is not a fibre plan.

On October 14, the BC NDP promised a new forestry package: a permanent Forestry Competitiveness stream inside the B.C. Manufacturing Jobs Fund, a two-year $120-million Forestry Jobs Protection Fund, and a task force with industry, labour and ministries. The party also said it would retrofit mills, support mills at risk of closing, seek non-U.S. markets, speed permitting and ensure consistent access to fibre.

Some of that may be useful. Workers and communities facing curtailments do need immediate support. U.S. tariffs and weak global markets are real pressures. But that is exactly why the provincial part of the problem has to be specific. A fund can buy time. It cannot tell a mill where the wood is coming from, when a permit will be approved, or which minister is accountable when files stall.

The Canadian Press campaign roundup carried by Global News made the accountability gap explicit: Eby said the NDP would ensure consistent fibre access and speed up permitting, but no details were provided on how an NDP government would do so. That matters because forestry has already spent years hearing promises about transformation while closures, curtailments and job losses pile up.

COFI’s August statement on an indefinite pulp-mill curtailment said B.C. can improve conditions at home even though it cannot control market cycles or trade disputes. COFI said mills need more predictable and economic access to wood supply, plus a regulatory and cost environment that keeps operations open and attracts investment. It also listed at least 21 B.C. lumber mills closed permanently or indefinitely since 2023, four pulp mills closed or curtailed in nine months, and more than 15,000 forestry jobs lost since 2022.

In September, a broader forest-sector coalition asked Premier Eby for a Forestry Crisis Action Group led by the Premier’s Office. Its requested mandate was not another vague conversation. It called for economically viable wood to move, costs reduced, regulatory barriers removed, fibre supply stabilized, operating businesses protected and skilled workers retained.

The coalition also asked for a public crisis action plan within 30 days, responsible ministers, firm timelines and regular public reporting on timber brought to market, permits advanced, barriers removed, facilities kept operating, jobs protected and revenue generated. That is the ledger voters should demand now.

Eby’s $120 million announcement names the pressure. It does not yet answer the delivery question. Before voters are asked to treat another fund and task force as a rescue plan, the NDP should publish the mandate, eligibility rules, regional targets, permitting deadlines, fibre metrics, B.C. Timber Sales harvest targets and quarterly reporting schedule.

Forestry communities do not need a campaign cheque with a blank operating manual. They need wood moving, permits decided, mills retained and a public scorecard that shows whether Eby’s government is fixing what it actually controls.

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