This page contains annotated news stories and press releases with commentary about land reform and the democratic process in British Columbia. Our comments are shown in red.
It's amazing how Rich Coleman, Minister of Forests, never really answers the question- put very clearly to him. How does privatizing forest land, and allowing large logging corporations to sell off BC forests as real estate- how does that create forest jobs?
While BC faces massive layoffs in the forest industry, the government continues to promote raw log exports and yet Colman tells us there is nothing he can do. (Except continue to deregulate and privatize our forests, and make sure our province stays vulnerable to every blip in the global economy).
Blues Notes This Week In Quotes
May 02, 2008
By MURRAY LANGDON
The following is a snapshot of activity in the B.C. Legislature this week, with excerpts from "blues," the first draft of Hansard, the official record of all that is said on the floor of the House.
Wednesday, 2:24 p.m.
Leonard Krog, NDP MLA: "This Forests Minister has told us that selling off B.C. forest lands is a strategy to protect jobs. A thousand jobs lost - 1,000 people on this island who are not going to have their mortgage payments met or their rent payments made. They're going to be facing EI. The only thing that this government has delivered is a do-nothing round table. My question to the minister: Were 1,000 jobs lost yesterday enough of a wake-up call?"
Rich Coleman, Forests Minister: "Well, you know, on Vancouver Island there are seven sawmills and three reman plants run by Western Forest Products. They curtailed some of their logging yesterday. Some of it is going to go back as early as May 20, some on June 2 and some of it as late as June 24. They have actually told the people what days they can expect to come back to go back logging. This is what happens in the marketplace, honourable member."
