Lumber industry, B.C. government to launch softwood lobbying campaign

The B.C. Lumber Trade Council and provincial governmentsay they will launch a lobbying campaign to try to convince American consumers, politicians andlumber buyers that an equitable softwood lumber deal is required.

Susan Yurkovich, the president of the council, and B.C. ForestsMinister Steve Thomson say an agreement on softwood lumber is neededto avoid the damage that will result from import restrictions intothe U.S. and higher prices.

Yurkovich and Thomson, who met with federal Foreign AffairsMinister Chrystia Freelandon Mondayin Ottawa, say no budget hasbeen set for the lobbying effort.

But if the past is any indication, such a campaign can be expensive.

Mike Apsey, a former deputy minister in B.C. and forestry sector official, wrote in a book in 2006 that the lumber industry spent $40million on lawyers, lobbyists and consultants in the 1990s to defendits interests, not including public funds.

Yurkovich says the Canadian softwood industry would rather workco-operatively with the U.S. sector to grow the lumber market.

She says the U.S. industry can't currently meet softwood lumber demand on its own, adding that it supplied about 32 billion of the47 billion board feet of U.S. demand last year.