Conservative MPs braved the rain in Prince George Tuesday to call on the federal government to get a softwood lumber deal done.
Cloverdale-Langley City MP and Shadow Minister for Pacific Economic Development (PACFICAN) Tamara Jansen was joined by Prince George politicians at the federal, provincial, and municipal level outside of Canfor’s Northwood Pulp Mill.
Earlier this month, Canfor announced the mill would be permanently closing, with around 300 employees impacted by the decision.
“Long before I entered politics, my husband and I spent 30 years building a business, we know what it feels like to be responsible for the livelihoods of other families, we know what it’s like to lie awake at night, wondering whether there’s enough work to keep everyone employed,” Jansen said. “We also know that there were some problems we could solve ourselves, and others that depended on governments simply doing their job, and that’s what I see here today.”
Jansen said the closure isn’t an isolated story, with closures and curtailments across the province over the last several years.
Jansen also gave a message directly for Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“The people of Prince George have been patient, they’ve weathered very difficult years, they’ve continued investing in their businesses and their communities, they’ve waited for the assurances they were promised,” she said. “Now, it’s time for your government to make resolving the softwood lumber dispute the priority it should have been all along. It’s been 10, 11 years, and nothing has been done. Remove the industrial carbon tax, remove the red tape, all these things that are making us less and less competitive.”
Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer echoed that sentiment, and called on Carney to get a softwood deal done with the United States.
“We got one done within 79 days when we formed government,” Zimmer said. “I still remember sadly the promise that Justin Trudeau made, that Obama and him, he was going to come to Ottawa, going to sign this softwood lumber agreement. That was ten long years ago, and it still hasn’t happened. Well, fast-forward to today, well that’s what Mark Carney promised all of you, was that look, ‘Donald Trump’s the problem, and I’m going to be the solution,’ what’s that gotten us so far? Just another mill closure in Northern B.C.”
When asked about negotiating with Donald Trump, who is set to impose more tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, the Conservative MPs said Carney himself said he could get the job done.
“Mark Carney was very clear that he had the chops to do exactly that, and somehow or another, here we stand in front of another closed mill,” Jansen said. “Where are those promises that he made? He told Canadians that he knew how to negotiate, and here we stand again, 300 people out of a job.”
“This government’s been in power for 10, 11 years now, this problem didn’t just surface under this current Prime Minister, even though he made some big promises” Zimmer added.
One of the municipal politicians who joined the press conference was City Councillor Brian Skakun, a former employee of Canfor.
“When PG Pulp shut down, I knew a lot of the folks that lost their jobs, and I know a number of folks here that are going to lose their jobs, and it doesn’t have to be that way,” Skakun said.
“Jimmy Pattison and the board, in my opinion, are more concerned about the shareholders of the corporation than the shareholders of our community, which is the taxpayers and their families. I really think if Jimmy Pattison really wants to live by his decision, then I would encourage him to come out to these mills when they’re shut down, and hand out the last cheques to each employee personally, and say ‘I’m sorry for what’s going on’.”
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