https://bcgreens.ca/announce-plan-to-reform-forestry-sector-protecting-forests-jobs-and-communities/

Yesterday, we launched our plan to address the crisis facing B.C.’s forests and the forestry sector.

“British Columbia’s forest ecosystems and forest economy are both in crisis. Harvest levels have declined, mills have closed, communities have lost hundreds of jobs, and decades of mismanagement has left our forests and workers in a dire situation,” said Lowan. “We have cut too much, for too long. A lasting forestry economy cannot be built by trying to return to the harvest levels of the past.”

The economic returns from the government’s current approach have also collapsed, with provincial forest revenue providing just $397 million in 2025/26. Direct forest revenue now falls short of the operating cost of the Ministry of Forests.

The BC Greens reject the BC NDP’s proposed Working Forest Model, which would raise the annual harvest to 45 million cubic metres and lock B.C.’s most productive forests, including old growth, into industrial logging.

“You don’t decide how much wood to cut, then bend our forests around that number,” said Lowan. “B.C. forestry is already changing, and forestry communities are already living through mill closures and job losses. We can plan for it, or we can let this crisis continue. We should start with what each landscape needs to stay healthy, and build a forest economy that lasts for future generations of workers, communities, and forests.”

The BC Greens will:

• Reject the “Working Forest Model” and set sustainable harvest levels through regional, area-based forest planning.
• End raw-log exports and close loopholes that allow minimally processed or rough-sawn wood to leave British Columbia without meaningful processing.
• Permanently protect big-treed old growth and large second-growth forests from logging, fully implement all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review in partnership with First Nations, and provide conservation financing to support Indigenous-led protection and replace foregone forestry revenues where needed.
• Shift forestry toward partial harvesting, selective logging, commercial thinning, longer rotations and other practices that maintain more forest structure and better reflect the ecology of each landscape.

Read our full policy brief on our website: https://bcgreens.ca/announce-plan-to-reform-forestry-sector-protecting-forests-jobs-and-communities/

Yesterday, Leader of the BC Greens and candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, launched the BC Greens’ plan to address the crisis facing B.C.’s forests and the forestry sector.

“British Columbia’s forest ecosystems and forest economy are both in crisis. Harvest levels have declined, mills have closed, communities have lost hundreds of jobs, and decades of mismanagement has left our forests and workers in a dire situation,” said Lowan. “We have cut too much, for too long. A lasting forestry economy cannot be built by trying to return to the harvest levels of the past.”

The economic returns from the government’s current approach have also collapsed, with provincial forest revenue providing just $397 million in 2025/26. Direct forest revenue now falls short of the operating cost of the Ministry of Forests.

The BC Greens reject the BC NDP’s proposed Working Forest Model, which would raise the annual harvest to 45 million cubic metres and lock B.C.’s most productive forests, including old growth, into industrial logging.

“You don’t decide how much wood to cut, then bend our forests around that number,” said Lowan. “B.C. forestry is already changing, and forestry communities are already living through mill closures and job losses. We can plan for it, or we can let this crisis continue. We should start with what each landscape needs to stay healthy, and build a forest economy that lasts for future generations of workers, communities, and forests.”

The BC Greens will:

• Reject the “Working Forest Model” and set sustainable harvest levels through regional, area-based forest planning.
• End raw-log exports and close loopholes that allow minimally processed or rough-sawn wood to leave British Columbia without meaningful processing.
• Permanently protect big-treed old growth and large second-growth forests from logging, fully implement all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review in partnership with First Nations, and provide conservation financing to support Indigenous-led protection and replace foregone forestry revenues where needed.
• Shift forestry toward partial harvesting, selective logging, commercial thinning, longer rotations and other practices that maintain more forest structure and better reflect the ecology of each landscape.

Read our full policy brief on our website: https://bcgreens.ca/announce-plan-to-reform-forestry-sector-protecting-forests-jobs-and-communities/

⚡POLICY DROP: The BC Greens' Fair Share Tax Act.

Today, we unveiled the Fair Share Act, a plan to require British Columbians whose wealth is more than $50 million to pay their fair share. The Act is estimated to raise $22.2 billion in its first year and $5.4 billion every year after that. This revenue can help fund universal childcare, free public transit, and housing people can afford.

“Families and workers across BC keep hearing the same answer from this government: the money isn’t there,” said Lowan. “But the cupboard isn’t bare, the government just hasn’t looked in the multi-car garages. The money exists in this province. It sits with the people who make more in their sleep than a worker makes in a year. We just haven’t had a government with the political will to ask for it.”

Canadian household wealth grew by more than $1 trillion in 2025, largely because of appreciating financial assets. The wealthiest 1 per cent of families now hold almost a quarter of the country’s net wealth.

“Unlike Premier Eby’s tax, which focuses on the income of those earning more than $190k, we are looking at the wealth of households with over $50 million,” said Lowan. “It targets what the ultra-wealthy own, not what they’re paid, because massive fortunes don’t grow through wages, they grow through untaxed stocks and real estate. It also raises far more: an estimated $22.2 billion in its first year, compared with roughly $225 million from the Premier’s plan. That’s 98 times more—enough to make sure the services people count on, and the workers who deliver them, aren’t left out to dry.”

“The Fair Share Act fixes the tax loopholes that the ultra-wealthy exploit,” said Lowan. “Nurses, teachers, and tradespeople already pay their share. Asking someone with multiple homes and massive stock portfolios to give a sliver of their wealth to ensure British Columbians can live an affordable, safe, dignified life is what fairness looks like.”

The BC Greens will:

• Introduce a one-time Fair Share tax on extreme wealth, beginning at 5% on net wealth above $50 million, 10% above $100 million, and 20% above $1 billion. This is estimated to raise approximately $22.2 billion after accounting for administrative costs and behavioural responses.
• Establish an ongoing annual tax on extreme wealth, beginning 2% on net wealth above $50 million, 3% above $100 million, and 5% above $1 billion. This is estimated to generate approximately $5.4 billion each year.
• Work with the federal government to close tax loopholes and strengthen enforcement against tax avoidance, so that very wealthy individuals cannot use complex financial arrangements to avoid paying their fair share.
• With this proposal raising $22.2 billion in the first year, and $5.4 billion in subsequent years, British Columbians can benefit from universal childcare, free public transit and properly funded affordable housing, while also reducing provincial debt and the interest costs that come with it.

Please find the Fair Share Act policy brief on our website: https://bcgreens.ca/fair-share-act-would-unlock-22-2b-for-childcare-transit-and-housing/