The BC Council of Forest Industries is expressing “significant concern” about the impact of rail transport disruptions as a result of the CN Rail strike.
COFI, representing mills throughout the province including here in the Cariboo, issued a statement late yesterday.
President and CEO Susan Yurkovich said as 90 percent of forest products are sent to export markets in North America and around the world.
“We rely on critical transportation infrastructure and reliable rail service to get our products to market and serve our customers.”
Yurkovich says the industry doesn’t need another challenge right now.
“A disruption of this critical transportation network will adversely impact BC forest companies at a time when we are already facing significant challenges and increased competition from around the globe.
It will create further hardship for the workers and communities who are already feeling the impacts of mill closures and curtailments.”
Yurkovich says forest products make up 10 percent of all rail traffic that moves through Western Canada, and in many cases, rail service is the only economic transport option.
She urges all parties to find an immediate resolution to the strike.
– with files from George Henderson, My Cariboo Now