On February 3, 2026, NDP Member of Parliament Gord Johns addressed the House of Commons, demanding the federal government take action and provide vital supports for Crofton pulp workers and members of PPWC Local 2. From the outset, Johns showed genuine commitment to the Crofton workers’ cause. He stepped forward with a clear focus on what mattered most: fairness for workers, dignity for families, and pragmatic solutions to protect the future of a community in transition. This will have repercussions for the forest industry in British Columbia and the rest of Canada for years to come. Watch and read his comments below, and please share the web page link widely online.
In Solidarity,
Geoff Dawe
President, Public and Private Workers of Canada (PPWC)
Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak to the closure of the Crofton mill on Vancouver Island and what it exposes about the state of Canada’s forest sector and the Liberal government’s failure to act when forestry workers need help most.
Today, February 3, the first round of layoffs at Crofton takes effect. Workers are emptying lockers and families are losing paycheques. Mortgages, rent and grocery bills do not pause while the government deliberates. Communities are being told to wait. I am raising this tonight because Geoff Dawe, the president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada, contacted me directly. His concern was simple and alarming. Workers losing their good-paying union jobs cannot access the federal supports that they were promised and deserve. Crofton is not in my riding, but when hundreds of Vancouver Island workers are thrown out of work overnight, riding boundaries mean nothing. It demands a national response.
I reached out immediately to three federal departments about removing barriers to workers’ support that simply should never have existed in the first place. I acknowledge those ministers and officials who responded, but let me be clear that workers should not need an MP running interference just to get help when mills close.
I also want to recognize British Columbia’s minister of forests, Ravi Parmar, who is working around the clock, North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas and Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples, who are doing everything they can on the ground, despite the absence of a serious coordinated federal response. When governments fail to intervene during a sectoral crisis, the outcome is predictable: economic shock, a mental health crisis, population loss and entire communities shaken to the core. This moment is a real-time stress test for employment insurance, labour market development funding, softwood lumber relief and federal-provincial coordination. Right now, the system is failing that test.
Let me explain. The government announced $1.2 billion for the forest sector. Workers quickly discovered that only $50 million of that is actually for them. That is less than 5%, not for income replacement, not for retraining and not for communities trying to survive closures. The $50 million for tens of thousands of workers is not support; it is neglect. In British Columbia alone, nearly 50,000 direct forestry jobs are at risk. These are mill workers, fallers, truck drivers, equipment operators, indigenous workers and workers in single-industry towns.
Forestry has sustained generations of families in my home province. British Columbia produces roughly 45% of Canada’s softwood lumber exports, yet under the $450-million labour market adjustment envelope, British Columbia receives only about $70 million while Ontario receives roughly $230 million. That is indefensible. It is not proportional and it abandons forestry communities in British Columbia.
When the auto sector faces crisis, Ottawa intervenes. When steel faces unfair trade action, Ottawa steps in, and rightly so. Forestry workers are asking, though, why they are treated as expendable. What is missing is a new dedicated round of forestry relief, including softwood lumber supports that reflect the scale of this crisis and treats British Columbia fairly. Many affected workers are between the ages of 55 and 64 years old, too old for retraining and too young for retirement. Employment insurance replaces just 60% of income. These severance clawbacks block access to support entirely.
Workers are not asking for charity; they are simply asking for action. They are asking for employment insurance replacement rates to at least 80% and EI duration to be extended to 104 weeks. They are asking for no waiting periods and no severance clawbacks. They are asking for bridge-to-retirement supports for workers aged 55 to 64. They are asking for guaranteed apprenticeship completion and long-term mental health supports. They are asking for mobility assistance where local jobs do not exist.
Crofton is the test. Layoffs are happening today and the excuses will not pay the rent. Delay is not neutral; it is harm. The government must act, and it must act now.
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Gord Johns: Mr. Speaker, feelings are not enough. The layoffs are happening today. I am urging the government not to abandon the families and workers at Crofton. Forestry workers do not need more reassurance; they need action. If the government is serious about preventing further job losses and supporting workers who have already lost their jobs, it must deliver real sector-specific relief now, including softwood lumber relief funds that are proportional to British Columbia’s role in this industry and comparable to what auto and steel received.
This means stabilizing existing mills, securing fibre supply, resolving the softwood lumber dispute with the United States and diversifying markets through a team Canada approach with provinces, labour and industry. Workers are losing their jobs today, and support must be timely and fair. Many have paid into employment insurance for decades. EI at 60% is not enough. Waiting periods delay income at the very moment families are losing paycheques, and severance clawbacks punish workers for benefits they have earned.
Will the government act now? Will it help the workers and families of Crofton, B.C. right now?
