Nechako-Lakes MLA John Rustad is calling on Premier John Horgan to replace Forests Minister Doug Donaldson rather than give him some help in the form of an NDP backbencher.
On Friday, Horgan appointed Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon parliamentary secretary to assist Donaldson "in working with communities and stakeholders in the Interior as the forest industry faces significant challenges."
In a statement issued the same day, Rustad, the B.C. Liberals' critic for forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development, had some sharp words.
"John Horgan has assigned a former NDP political director to babysit his ineffective forestry minister just two weeks after demoting him by removing his responsibility for wildfire recovery," said Rustad in reference to a July 11 Order in Council reassigning those duties and functions to the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
"That demotion didn't go far enough, as Minister Donaldson has dragged his feet for two years, unable to help British Columbians that rely on the forestry sector. He has to go."
Rustad likened the move to Horgan's decision to call on former B.C. Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom to help Donaldson when the controversy over caribou recovery in the B.C. Peace blew up. The government has since put a proposed moratorium on hold while it seeks further public input.
In a response provided Monday, Kahlon said accused the B.C. Liberals of "trying to play partisan politics on this file and called the move "despicable."
"When they were in government they knew that mills would be closing and they did absolutely nothing to protect those workers," he added.
"It's also curious that MLA Rustad refers to adding a Parliamentary Secretary for Forestry as 'babysitting' because that was actually his role for a number of years and that's not a very professional way to address his former minister."
Kahlon went on to say he is looking forward to "working with the communities and workers to ensure that we are providing the right kind of support and effectively promoting this vitally important industry."
The government has launched a public engagement process on the future of the forest industry in the Interior. In includes a series of meetings with stakeholders across the region as well as a chance for the public to have their say through an online portal.
Noting that process does not end until the fall, Rustad has said it will do little to help laid off sawmill workers in the interim and outlined measures in his party's five-point plan to revive the industry.
"Forestry-dependent communities lost 6,600 direct jobs in 2018," Rustad said Friday. "Appointing a Parliamentary Secretary to the file is the first job John Horgan has created in the forestry sector since coming to power two years ago."
