By Tommy Osborne

Canfor closures

“They’re sick of everything:” local union reacts to Canfor closures and curtailments

May 31, 2024 | 4:41 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Sawmill and pulpmill closures have been impacting Northern B.C. communities, which has hundreds of workers concerned about their livelihoods and the future of forestry in the north.

“Up here in the north, it’s not looking very good. We’re not getting a lot of support,” said Jonathan Blacker, 603 Unifor Acting President and Machinist for Northwood Pulpmill.

It’s impacted Prince George too, as a production line closure at the Northwood Pulpmill will impact 220 jobs. However, Blacker says it’s likely the real number of jobs lost will be more than 220 jobs due to how this will impact other parts of the industry.

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“I know some are leaving the province, right? They’re going Alberta. They’re sick of everything, the uncertainty of the forest industry (…) It’s going to be tough, and then there’s the domino effect, now we’re not going to have as many career drivers or how that’s going to affect the loggers, the front line guys. Like they’re not going to cut the wood, now they’re going to get laid off or what have you, and they’re going to have to move to another province,” Blacker said.

While some workers are leaving, what does the future hold for other workers who are trying to stay in Prince George or Northern B.C.? Blacker says there could be opportunities in other industries like the mining industry, but even that has its ups and downs. Plus, many of these jobs are camp jobs, meaning workers likely wouldn’t spend much time in their own community.

“We’re from Prince George, they (workers) go to work, and they go home and they see their family, right? And now, possibly you’re going to have to leave town to go make the money that we make. You might have to leave and go do a camp job, and then you just you miss out with family now,” he said.

What’s made this process harder for the workers is that at the moment, there still aren’t concrete details laid out by Canfor or the government, as Blacker says it’s all been quite vague up to this point.

“I talked to a government official about a bridging to retirement program that’s still ongoing, but the pot is getting a little low so they need more, more funding.”

While Blacker’s, along with many workers, outlook on the forestry industry is quite bleak, Blacker believes there is still opportunity to create forestry jobs, and it starts with creating more product manufacturing. More importantly, he emphasized that in his opinion, the province shouldn’t ship raw logs elsewhere.

“Nothing should leave our province if it’s not a product. If it’s a sheet of pulp or a sheet of paper or a two by four, two by six whatnot. It shouldn’t be raw material for other areas or other countries to produce and then sell back to us,” he said.

Pattison Media is owned by Jim Pattison industries, a majority shareholder in Canfor.

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