FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
QUESNEL, B.C.: The NDP government cannot stand by while good-paying forestry jobs in the Cariboo are put at risk.
The curtailment at Quesnel River Pulp (QRP) puts workers, families, contractors, and local businesses at risk and raises a serious question: what is the NDP government doing to keep B.C. jobs here and make sure our communities can compete?
“People in the Cariboo are tired of excuses while good-paying jobs disappear,” said Sheldon Clare, MLA for Prince George-North Cariboo. “Workers should not pay the price for government policies that make our mills less competitive. Victoria and Ottawa need to stop adding costs and start fighting to keep these jobs here.”
“Alberta and B.C. are competing for the same investment and jobs,” said Ward Stamer, Shadow Minister for Forestry. “If Millar Western can continue operating in Alberta while QRP is idle, the BC NDP needs to explain why and what it is doing to close that competitiveness gap. QRP is a warning. We cannot wait until a temporary curtailment becomes a permanent closure.”
Clare and Stamer are calling on the B.C. NDP to protect forestry jobs and investment in the Cariboo. Victoria can’t control tariffs or global markets, but it can control the industrial costs it puts on B.C. businesses. The province should immediately:
- Modify B.C.’s industrial carbon-tax regime to match Alberta’s approach.
- Use BC Hydro to reduce industrial electricity costs.
- Reduce provincial policies and regulatory costs that undermine forestry competitiveness.
“British Columbians shouldn’t have to watch good-paying resource jobs disappear while the NDP government sits on its hands,” said Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. ““We have the resources, workers, and expertise to be an economic powerhouse. We need a government that fights for jobs and investment instead of driving them out of B.C.”
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Media Contact:
Erika Acuzar
Conservative.Communications@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-1372
