EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on Parliament Today, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Parliament Hill.
The federal government says its housing agenda can “drive transformation” in the forestry sector as it continues to feel the squeeze of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
That was among the messages relayed by Natural Resources Canada assistant deputy minister Glenn Hargrove to the House natural resources committee on Wednesday. Hargrove touted a $1.25 billion aid package for the sector unveiled by Prime Minister Mark Carney in August, noting $700 million of that, which will flow in loan guarantees through the Business Development Bank of Canada, will start to roll out this week.
While there have been many pulp, paper, and sawmill closures across the country in recent years, Hargrove said the department sees a “huge opportunity” to “divert” Canadian products away from the U.S. and into the feds’ efforts to boost homebuilding. He noted that the recently launched Build Canada Homes agency has been ordered to focus on prefabricated or modular homebuilding, echoing a theme that CEO Ana Bailão stressed earlier this month.
At the same time, Hargrove explained that the feds are looking to diversify where Canada sends its wood products amid trade tensions with Trump, namely to Asia, Europe and the Middle East. According to the official, about 76 per cent of Canada’s $37 billion in forest product exports were shipped down south in 2024, a figure that rises to 89 per cent when looking at softwood lumber exports.
B.C. is especially impacted, as fresh data suggests provincial forest exports heading to the U.S. totalled $3.3 billion in June. The province’s next hottest destinations are China at $1.2 billion and Japan at $359 million, a figure Hargrove hinted the feds want to increase by teeing up a trade mission he will lead “in a couple of weeks” to Tokyo.
“We also need to do what we can to protect our access to the U.S. market, which is, as we know, our largest market,” he said. “If we can work on all those fronts, we can grow opportunities for the sector and really have a prosperous and sustainable future for their industry in Canada.”
But U.S. market access remains an open question, given that Trump halted negotiations between both countries last week over Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s since-yanked anti-tariff ad. While Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney were largely cordial on Tuesday during a dinner at the APEC summit, the pair’s first run-in since Trump pulled the plug on trade talks, the state of negotiations is still up in the air.
B.C. Premier David Eby has defended Ford’s ad, signalling he’s not willing to back down on his own anti-tariff blitz planned for November. The province will target its efforts online, whereas Ontario ran commercial TV ads on major U.S. networks. B.C. is also gearing up to open a forest trade office in the U.K. in a push to boost exports to Europe.
That move could point to schisms in the Team Canada approach to dealing with Trump.
When Ford defended his ad this week, he urged Carney to prioritize key Ontario sectors like the auto industry in trade talks with the president. Eby, who has been urging the PM to pay equal attention and the “same respect” for the forestry sector in B.C., is expected to take part in a summit on the matter next week. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed that he’s among the federal ministers who will take part in those Vancouver talks.
On Wednesday, Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, defended the feds’ approach of trying to negotiate steel and aluminum tariff relief deals in early trade talks, saying the White House wanted to pursue deals in those sectors first while not "jettisoning the others.”
The envoy told senators at a Wednesday committee meeting that Trump and Carney had some exchanges at the APEC Summit, a sign that communication channels remain open between both nations, but said the uncertainty around talks restarting means the feds are now preparing for next year’s review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) “in a clear-eyed and pragmatic manner.”
Rookie wants a ‘look’ at target
Back at the natural resources committee, several CPC MPs took aim at the government’s environmental policies to argue they are or could hamper development in the long run.
CPC MP Jonathan Rowe raised the feds’ commitment to protect 30 per cent of Canada’s lands by 2030 under ex-PM Justin Trudeau, pressing the department on whether it has "analyzed how much productive force in Newfoundland and Labrador and throughout the country could be locked up under that plan.” The rookie MP also wondered what the target means for resource-driven communities.
Hargrove said that while that promise is under the purview of Environment and Climate Change Canada, conservation and economic development efforts can “co-exist.” Rowe pushed back that such a target can “greatly impact” the forestry sector, suggesting that sticking with the target means parts of Canada’s land could be off limits for harvesting at a time when the country needs more wood for homebuilding.
The comments came as Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin is expected to table an updated climate plan with fresh targets before December. Dabrusin, along with Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, began two days of talks with their G7 colleagues in Toronto Thursday.