Indigenous-led forestry driving rural investment, says B.C. First Nations Forestry Council CEO

Moe Kabbara, Transition Accelerator president; Gary Mar, Canada West Foundation president and CEO; Lisa Raitt, co-chair of Coalition for a Better Future and vice-chair of Global Investment Banking, CIBC; Sehanandoah Johns, West Fraser Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer; and Lennard Joe (Suxʷsxʷwels), B.C. First Nations Forestry Council CEO spoke on a panel, Reclaiming Canadian Competitiveness in Forestry and Beyond, at the Forest Products Association of Canada policy conference Oct. 22. / MEANS & WAYS PHOTO

The future of Canada’s forestry and resource sectors depends on empowering Indigenous communities, strengthening rural economies and modernizing regulatory systems, say business leaders.

“Most of forestry, why it doesn't make the front page of the news is we're very rural,” said Lennard (Suxʷsxʷwels) Joe, CEO of the B.C. First Nations Forestry Council. “It’s a business that just keeps going. You don't see vocal foresters and so … First Nations have the ability to create these rural ecosystems. The rural ecosystem isn't just forestry, but it’s the businesses, it’s the health, and the involvement of the communities.”

Joe was speaking at the Forest Products Association of Canada’s policy conference in Ottawa where he underscored that First Nations play a central role in sustaining those rural economies.

Joe described British Columbia’s Indigenous-led governance and economic development model as an example of what’s possible when governments and industry work collaboratively with First Nations. Noting B.C. has 204 recognized First Nations speaking 32 distinct languages, everyone came together to create the First Nations Leadership Council.

Circular economy

‘The rural ecosystem isn't just forestry, but it’s the businesses, it’s the health, and the involvement of the communities,’ says Lennard (Suxʷsxʷwels) Joe, CEO of the B.C. First Nations Forestry Council.

That collaboration has led to concrete policy advances, he said, including adopting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Joe added that Indigenous-led forestry is driving rural investment. “We have 10.5 million cubic meters under First Nations tenure in British Columbia,” he said. “That’s 50 per cent of all First Nations tenures in Canada… just managing our tenures alone is a $1.2 billion industry that creates a circular economy.”

He argued that Indigenous communities bring long-term commitment and stability to local economies: “You’re going to have someone who really just can’t invest and walk away, and you’re going to have continual investment,” he said.

Panelists agreed that regulatory reform and active forest management are essential for both environmental and economic resilience. Shenandoah Johns, West Fraser's Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer, connected the issue to wildfire risk and economic opportunity: “Indigenous nations need to experience economic reconciliation,” she said. “Active land management actually does reduce wildfire risk and, by extension, protect houses.”

Johns warned that slow and fragmented regulation is holding back progress. “We need certainty, and we need to eliminate duplication and inefficient systems,” she said. “In the forest industry, we’ve got provincial regulators sitting on one side of a stream saying thumbs up … and federal regulators on the other side saying, wait a minute, you need more conversation.”

It takes courage

Lisa Raitt, co-chair of the Coalition for a Better Future and CIBC Vice-Chair, Global Investment Banking, tied these issues to broader economic competitiveness and political accountability. “What it comes down to is courage — courage of politicians and bureaucrats,” she said. “Regulations are just risk management. And if the regulations don’t make sense for the mission we now have, we have to amend our risk appetite. And that takes a lot of courage.”

Raitt warned that failing to reform Canada’s regulatory system carries its own consequences. “A nondecision is a decision,” she said. “Not wanting to go forward with regulatory reform — well, that’s your decision, isn’t it? Because we’re at that point.”

She also stressed the importance of the forestry sector to rural communities across the country: “That’s for all of these communities across the country that are knitted together by the forestry sector — they have to raise their voices to make sure politicians know that we are at a point where action is necessary.”

Gary Mar, CEO of the Canada West Foundation, highlighted the broader importance of forestry to Canada’s rural landscape. “The point is not how many jobs are necessarily in the forestry business — it’s that they are all located throughout rural Canada,” Mar said. “That surely must be important. … This is an integral part of rural economies and that’s why it’s important.”

Sell to grow

Mar called for improvements in trade infrastructure to ensure rural industries can access global markets. “If you can’t move it, you can’t sell it. And if you can’t sell it, you’re not growing our economy,” he said.

The discussion also turned to opportunities in mass timber production. Johns said that Canada is falling behind its Nordic counterparts. “Their mass timber industry is five times what ours is in Canada — that’s not acceptable,” she said. “They’re harvesting more, and their forests are healthy and sequestering carbon naturally. That’s a natural solution to climate change.”

Joe pointed to the sector’s potential to anchor rural development. “Mass timber requires effective sawmilling and infrastructure that actually meets the form and function of forest operations,” he said. “It’s a value product … and the spin-offs of that are amazing.”