Stop the Spray BC, the Public Private Workers of Canada Local 9, and Community Futures are hosting a forum on the Future of Forestry in our Region.
The forum will take place at UNBC’s Canfor Theatre tonight, starting at 6:30.
The speakers will include:
- Ben Parfitt, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- Mike Morris, Prince George-Mackenzie MLA
- Liam Parfitt, Owner of Freya Logging
- Jasmine Thomas, Councillor with the Saik’uz First Nation
Stop the Spray BC Founder James Steidle added they recently got Mackenzie Mayor Joan Atkinson to speak as well.
“One of the key points she wants to bring up is logs are leaving that town daily,” Steidle said.
“They’re getting hauled down the highway outside the community and they’re not being processed locally in Mackenzie to help that community. That’s a failure of government policy and that’s kind of the stuff we want to talk about tonight, and put pressure on the government to create some change in how we regulate and govern forestry to make sure that communities are benefitting, because right now we’re getting hurt really badly by what’s happening, and things have got to change.”
Steidle added there will be a question and answer period, as well as a panel discussion.
Prince George Mayor Simon Yu and PPWC Local 9 President Chuck LeBlanc will also be providing introductory remarks.
Steidle said they’ll be hosting more of these forums in the future.
“We’ve got to keep the pressure up, and that’s the thing, I think everybody in this town needs to come together and we need to send a message to the government,” Steidle said.
“The way the forestry is being run and who it’s being run for is not working for us, and we need to change the policies, we need to have a good hard look at how the publicly owned timber, the public logs, how those are benefiting the community. Are they going to benefit the community? Are they going to benefit the workers, or are these public assets just out there to benefit large corporations that are cutting and running out of our town?”
Can’t make it to our event tomorrow?
Watch remotely via zoom: https://t.co/6wTLozdxt5
— James Steidle (@JamesSteidle) February 27, 2023
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