Environmental groups and forestry unions have joined forces in court to prevent raw logs being exported from British Columbia (BC) crown lands.
The Sierra Legal Defence Fund is asking the BC Supreme Court to overturn a three-year permit which allows 1.3 million m3 of timber to be exported annually from the province’s north-western region.
The fund is acting on behalf of the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers’ Union of Canada, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ Union of Canada and the David Suzuki Foundation. It argues that the Forest Act only allows such exports if logs are surplus to BC timber processing requirements.
The provincial government says the export permit is the only way to preserve logging jobs in the north-west.
