VANCOUVER, B.C. — In the last 24 hours, secret documents have revealed that David Eby’s forestry policies could leave BC taxpayers facing lawsuits worth billions of dollars. None of that cost appears in the NDP’s budget or its election platform.

British Columbians deserve to know the full extent of the damage. The NDP’s accounting failures already reach into the billions of dollars, and this latest revelation shows the hole is deeper than anyone was told.

Forestry companies in BC hold tenure, which gives them the right to harvest in specific areas. Those rights are granted by the provincial government, and companies have built their operations, investments and jobs around them. According to the documents, first reported by Rob Shaw in Northern Beat, the NDP government is planning to end those tenures. Asked repeatedly yesterday, Eby could not clearly explain why he was hiding this plan from voters.

Taking away harvesting rights that companies hold in good faith opens the province to massive lawsuits. Those legal costs could run into the billions of dollars, and British Columbians would be left to pay them.

The NDP’s budget does not account for this liability. That means the province’s books do not reflect the true state of BC’s finances, and the NDP’s platform does not add up. As the President of the Council of Forest Industries said, “we have no clue of the magnitude of the impact.”

We’ve seen this act before, with leaked documents from the Premier’s Office exposing that for over 6 months – including during budget debates and votes – David Eby hid $4 billion in increased costs for his Massey tunnel replacement.

A Conservative government will open the books, find out exactly what the NDP has left behind, and chart a realistic path back to balance.

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Media Contact:
Alex Shiff, Director of Media Relations
media@conservativebc.ca