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COFI urges CN Rail and striking workers to find resolution

The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) is voicing concern about the impact rail transport disruptions from the strike at CN Rail will have on the already ailing B.C. forest industry.

“Ninety per cent of the forest products we produce are sent to export markets in North America and around the world,” COFI president and CEO Susan Yurkovich said in a statement issued yesterday. “We rely on critical transportation infrastructure and reliable rail service to get our products to market and serve our customers.”

According to the statement, forest products account for about 10 per cent of all rail traffic in Western Canada. Many of COFI’s members are in rural areas where rail service is the only feasible option to transport their products.

“A disruption of this critical transportation network will adversely impact BC forest companies at a time when we are already facing significant challenges and increasing competition from around the globe,” Yurkovich said. “It will create further hardship for the workers and communities who are already feeling the impacts from mill closures and curtailments.

“We urge all parties to find immediate resolution,” Yurkovich said.