Prince George lumber manufacturer and philanthropist John Brink will be named to the Order of British Columbia.
He is one of 15 upon who Lt. Gov. Janet Austin will bestow the honour at Government House in Victoria on June 28. Established 30 years ago, the OBC is the highest form of recognition the Province can extend to its citizens.
Known as lumber industry leader and innovator, Brinks moved to Canada from the Netherlands in 1965 and, a decade later, started Brink Forest Products. Since then, he has grown the business into the largest secondary wood manufacturer in North America.
Over that time, he pioneered finger-jointing in Canada, a process of gluing together shorter pieces of lumber, which were considered waste products.
Unwilling to use glue that was potentially toxic, Brink created an environmentally conscious adhesive. Thirty years later, this glue survived a regulatory challenge and finger-jointing and lamination were solidified as an industry in North America.
In the 1980s, Brink went to B.C. Supreme Court and successfully argued that lumber grading rules were not being applied fairly across North America. The fight came at a cost, as some of his raw material suppliers canceled supply contracts in light of the litigation. In the end, the court decision leveled the playing field across the continent.
Brink is the longest serving director on the B.C. Council of Forest Industries. He was involved in all five of Canada's softwood lumber disputes with the United States, representing the secondary re-manufacturing industry. In 2001, he was the founding president of the B.C. Council of Value Added Wood Processors, an organization that represented eight associations and up to 800 members.
On the philanthropy side, Brink and the College of New Caledonia jointly purchased a building for a trades and technology program that, in 2002, officially opened as the John A. Brink Trades and Technology Centre.
On Friday, Brink received an honorary doctorate of law degree from the University of Northern British Columbia in recognition of his more than 50 years of commerce, philanthropy and community involvement.
