A C$246.5m softwood lumber aid package for Canada’s timber industry has been labelled “inadequate” by company bosses and the British Columbia provincial government.
The federal aid, announced by natural resources minister Herb Dhaliwal, has been granted in response to US duties imposed on Canadian softwood lumber imports.
British Columbia’s forest minister Mike de Jong says that only C$180m of the funding is directly related to the softwood dispute, of which C$53m is earmarked for the province. The rest is to help fight the mountain pine beetle epidemic and to aid the pulp industry in Quebec.
The Industrial Wood & Allied Workers Union of Canada wants more cash to finance early retirement packages for many of the industry’s ageing workers and to keep younger people employed.
Mr de Jong and industry representatives are lobbying the federal government for further aid.
Meanwhile, Canfor is planning to keep its mills running at full capacity, despite the effects of the duties. But it will introduce cost-cutting measures, possibly including layoffs, in order to maintain the level of production.
