Cariboo North Liberal MLA Coralee Oakes is calling on the Provincial Government to help truckers and other businesses that are tied to the forest industry.
Oakes says there were programs that they put in place when they were in government in 2008 when Canfor closed in Quesnel…
“That look at how you could do employment insurance top-ups, how you can help small businesses with retooling of equipment so perhaps they can take advantage of other types of opportunities that are moving forward in our communities.”
Oakes says perhaps they can help with fire mitigation.
She says they’ve been asking for months for help…
“Here is the road map of what can be done and a specific part of that was working with the Federal Government. Please before we head into a federal election, get these asks in, and there were things that could have happened that are now delayed until after the federal election.”
Oakes also questions why BC can’t go to a stumpage system that is like Alberta’s.
Oakes feels that stumpage can be changed for value-added products such as pellets, specialty wood and bio energy.