Courtesy X: @rparmar_bc

By Cheryl Jahn

New Forests Minister “gets to work”

Nov 28, 2024 | 3:46 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Ravi Parmar is the new Minister of Forests.

“As a new Minister Of Forests, you do not have a guy who wants to spend the next six months developing the next flashy vision roadmap framework, you name it. I want to get to work.”

And he didn’t waste time “getting to work” meeting with civic officials and others in this region, days after taking the job.

“So I was in Prince George last week. I was in Vanderhoof. Had some incredible meetings with local government leaders up there. Mayors of Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, as well as Houston, and then had dinner with the mayor of Prince George and had an opportunity to sit down with my brothers from the Steelworkers and really get down to the issues at hand.”

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One of those in attendance was Vanderhoof Councillor Brian Frenkel, who says he was pleasantly surprised.

“We talked to him about how part of their platform was increasing the community forest size, doubling the size that should be done on rural communities that have lost significant assets like sawmills. That was one of the issues we said. That communities should be back at the forefront of making decisions on the land base.”

And Minister Parmar is the first to admit, with several mill closures in the region and two more mills closing in the very near future, one in Fort St. John and another in Vanderhoof, his portfolio will not be an easy one.

“It is going to be a tough file. This is going to be a really tough file, but I believe in the sector. I believe forestry in B.C. can continue to be an incredible thing for our economy and continue to deliver in big ways for workers and families right off the top.”

And the minister says he has a trio of priorities as he gets settled into the role.

“One is restoring confidence in B.C. forestry sector. The second is standing up and fighting for workers each and every day and every decision we make. And the third is honouring all the commitments that we’ve made as a government over the course of the last number of years, whether that is the Declaration of Rights, of Indigenous peoples, whether that is biodiversity. And so it’s now upon me as Minister to take those three pillars and start taking action.”

He says, in reference to the latter, he has already contacted his federal counterparts to help address the ongoing softwood lumber dispute, which has now been exacerbated by the recent threat from President-Elect Donald Trump to place 25 per cent tariffs on softwood exported.