B.C. veneer manufacturer touted by premier in Japan ‘in hospice’ due to lack of wood

A British Columbia manufacturer that says it’s facing closure is accusing the provincial government of hypocrisy after the premier recently touted a product it had a hand in.

B.C. Veneer Products makes value-added veneer wood products in Surrey, things like doors, windows, musical instruments and more.

It also provided the wood fibre that UBC designers used to fabricate a soccer ball out of innovative “wood leather,” something which Premier David Eby promoted while on a June trade mission to Japan.

“I’m the guy providing all the veneer for that, and I don’t know how much longer I can help out with the wood leather thing because without any help from the government… this business is done,” explained owner Jeff Gunia.

The problem, Gunia explained, is the company hasn’t been able to secure more logs — fibre, in industry speak — to keep his plant and its 17 employees working.

The forestry company he works with on Vancouver Island has already reached its maximum allowable cut for the year.

The operator has another block it can harvest in January, but Gunia says that will be too late.

“Between now and then, my business will die if the government doesn’t allow him just to go in and take out 15 truckloads to keep me and 17 people busy. It’s a simple 15 truckloads,” he said.

Gunia said his company’s troubles are particularly galling, given the emphasis the premier and the province have put on promoting value-added wood products, rather than shipping out raw logs or lower-value timber products like two-by-fours.

“The government is just being very hypocritical,” he said.

“Turning wood into veneer is the absolute most top value-added you could have. These guys boast value added, but they’re letting a veneered plant die, which is where all the value is. It’s an absolute shame.”

The Opposition BC Conservatives accused the NDP of failure on the forestry file, pointing to job losses, an unstable fibre supply and accusing the government of lacking a strategy to support local manufacturers

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“This is a government that will promote a soccer ball, but not the people behind it,” BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said in a statement.

“British Columbians deserve a government that supports local success stories, not one that lets them fail quietly after the cameras are gone.”

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said he plans to reach out to Gunia to learn more about his companies challenges.

“The work that B.C. Veneer, as well as many other value-added operators are doing in British Columbia, is exactly what we want to see,” he said.

“Finding ways to be able to help support those value-added operators is a big priority for me. One of the first decisions I made as Minister when I launched my review of BC Timber Sales was to double the percentage of volume available through BC Timbers Sales from 10 to 20 per cent … for value-added consumers.”

Parmar added the soon-to-be-released review of BC Timer Sales includes several recommendations to more efficiently distribute fibre, including a “virtual log sort” model that would allow companies like B.C. Veneer to directly purchase logs.

He said he’s also looking at ways recently announced federal funding to support the industry could be used to move logs from northwest B.C. down to the Lower Mainland, where they can be accessed by value-added producers.

Gunia said he’s keen to talk to the minister, but that he needs immediate solutions, not promises.

“This business is in hospice right now …the government just doesn’t really want to do anything except listen and say, ‘We hear you, but we can’t help you,’” he said.

“So I am gonna die in the next three or four months if I don’t get some fibre immediately.”

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