By The Canadian Press

B.C. premier tells truck loggers he wants to reconnect communities with forestry

Jan 18, 2018 | 4:17 PM

VICTORIA – Premier John Horgan says he wants to reconnect British Columbia communities with the province’s forest industry.

He claimed previous Liberal government policy allowing forest companies to ship timber to mills of their choice hurts some communities and small contractors.

Horgan told delegates at the Truck Loggers Association’s convention in Victoria that he wants to fix the broken social contract between the industry, government and communities.

However, he didn’t promise any changes in policy, saying his government is awaiting recommendations of an industry sustainability review from former Liberal cabinet minister George Abbott within the next month.

In 2003, the former Liberal government dropped long-standing provisions that required companies harvesting timber from public land to mill near the harvest location.

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Horgan said back then just eight per cent of B.C.’s lumber exports were raw logs, but that figure rose to 23 per cent by 2017.

The Canadian Press