Resource Based Communities in Crisis

WHEREAS recent changes to policy, legislation and regulations have encouraged companies to disinvest from British Columbia; to export raw logs rather than process them domestically; to demand tax concessions from municipalities and wage and benefit concessions from their employees; AND WHEREAS as a result of these policies and developments many communities are now suffering the effects of insufficient investment; mill and plant closures; declining or stagnating employment; lost opportunities and lost revenues, while in others the short-term burst of output due to processing of beetle-wood will soon be followed by a prolonged fall down in harvesting levels; AND WHEREAS in spite of the huge stake that British Columbians and all Canadians have in a just and fair settlement of the softwood lumber dispute with the US and in long-term trade in lumber and other resource-based products, the federal government has recently ignored the concerns of industry, workers and communities and agreed to a hastily-concocted framework agreement with the US government on lumber exports: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we urge the BC government to reject any softwood lumber agreement with the US that does not include: - Full repayment to Canadian producers of all of the illegal duties imposed by the US government on Canadian lumber since May, 2002; - Legislative action by the BC government to require that a significant portion of the duties paid by BC firms since May 2002 be collected and dedicated to a fund that will ensure investments in new plants and equipment in BC; worker training, retraining and skills development; adjustment programs such as early retirement, pension bridging and apprenticeship programs; infrastructure development and community adjustment programs in British Columbia; - Clearly-stated protection against any future US attempts to direct Canadian forest policy through trade measures, taxation or legislative oversight; - Clearly stated protection against US incursion or interference in British Columbia forest policy, including, but not limited to, annual allowable cut determinations, conservation objectives and raw log export restrictions; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that action by the BC government to reduce raw-log exports and to ensure that all forest production provides clear and demonstrable benefits to the people of BC and to BC; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BC government put in place a comprehensive transition program to deal with the short and long-term implications of the Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation and other emerging forest health issues on the industry, workers and communities; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the government review all its programs, policies, legislation and regulations with an eye to ensuring that there be clear and demonstrable benefits to the people of BC and to BC communities from all resource extraction, resource-based processing and other resource-development initiatives.