The Crises in Our Forests

On Monday, November 25, 2019, the forest management company Mosaic began shutting down its Vancouver Island harvesting operations because of “very challenging pricing and market conditions.” Approximately 2,000 people - contractors, union and non union workers, are being let go “of ahead of the usual winter shutdown.” Mosaic plans “to resume harvesting when the market outlook improves,” but some see this as the symptom of a much larger industry problem. That same day, Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee planned to hold an event in Campbell River’s downtown community centre. Two hours before this was to begin, the city of Campbell River cancelled it because of “the number of people anticipated, the strong potential for highly-charged emotion, and lack of time to establish a security plan for this booking.” This morning’s program is about the crises in our forests.