Prince George, January 17
Rally for Forests and Forestry Workers
Tuesday, January 17 – 6:30 pm
Canada Games Plaza
Organized by: Stop the Spray BC,
Supported by: Conservation North and Stand Up for the North Committee
For information: James Steidle 1-778-327-8949 or james.steidle@gmail.com
A community rally is planned to protest the recently announced closure of the pulp line at Canfor’s Prince George Pulp & Paper mill.
The closure will result in the loss of 300 jobs and will be a big blow to workers and the community at large. It follows a large number of other mill closures and curtailments in the region over the last two decades which have hit communities hard.
The rally will be held at the Canada Games Plaza at the Civic Centre in downtown Prince George at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, January 17. The timing coincides with the attendance of BC Premier David Eby at a dinner during the annual Northern Resource Forum in Prince George at which he is expected to speak on the government’s forest policy.
James Steidle, spokesperson for the rally and founding member of Stop the Spray BC, says that, instead of mill closures, “our forests and those who work in the forest industry need local jobs, local decision making, and long term planning using secondary growth forest.”
According to activist Jenn Matthews, the purpose of the rally “is to send a message to Premier Eby and the BC government that the province’s forest economy should work for BC workers and communities, as well as for the biodiversity of the forest, not for the benefit of large corporations such as Canfor.”
Michelle Connolly, of Conservation North, comments that the solution to the fibre supply “is not to raze every last stick of old growth and decimate the last of our forest habitat. A solution is needed that supports management in degraded (previously logged) areas.”
“The critical question,” says Peter Ewart of the Stand Up for the North Committee, “is who makes the decisions about the forest resource. Too often, these decisions are made in the boardrooms of globalized corporations at the expense of workers and communities. That needs to be turned around so that workers and communities have more control over their economic future.”
Rally organizer James Steidle calls on everyone to come out and have their voices heard.
Everyone is welcome! Bring your family! Support our forests and forestry workers!
