Forest Products Association of Canada President and CEO, Derek Nighbor, is demanding government action to stop the B.C. port strike.
In a statement, Nighbor said: “FPAC’s members include manufacturers of wood, pulp and paper, and forest bioproducts that made up over 17 per cent of all outbound cargo shipments through the Port of Vancouver in 2022. “With huge volumes of forest products flowing through these facilities daily, B.C. ports are considered critical infrastructure by the sector. As such - the impacts are immediately felt, and have already resulted in mill shutdowns and curtailments, layoffs, and tens of millions of dollars in lost or disrupted sales. What's more, the ripple effect of a disruption at such a central cog in the supply chain will harm all Canadians through inflationary impacts and product shortages - not just those who depend on a functioning supply chain to sustain their employment.
At a time when affordability issues are uppermost in the minds of Canadians, protracted disruptions to our critical supply chains cannot be tolerated. FPAC calls on the federal government to end this work stoppage immediately.”
FPAC provides a voice for Canada’s wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. As an industry with annual revenues exceeding $73 billion, Canada’s forest products sector is one of the country’s largest employers operating in over 600 communities, providing 205,000 direct jobs, and over 415,000 indirect jobs across the country. FPAC and its members are committed to collaborating with Indigenous leaders, federal and provincial governments, labour partners, community groups, and other rightsholders and stakeholders to secure and advance the sector’s environmental, social, and economic potential for the long-term.
