Provincial leaders are at odds on how to address challenges in the province’s forest industry.

The discussion comes in light of the recent announcement of the pending closure of a Williams Lake pellet plant on Nov. 26 and the previously announced West Fraser Mill closure in 100 Mile House on Nov. 6.

B.C Forest Minister Ravi Parmar said his thoughts are with the workers and their families impacted by Drax’s closure of the Lake City pellet plant. He said he spoke with Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor to “express how determined I am to support their community and the impacted workers.”

Parmar said resources are available, such as employment assistance and skills training opportunities through WorkBC, and Employment Insurance, among other supports, through Service Canada.

“Our forest sector has been operating against a backdrop of challenging market conditions over the past couple of years, the end of the beetle kill harvest and unprecedented wildfires, all exacerbated by the impact of Trump’s tariffs and duties,” said Parmar in an emailed comment.

But while Parmar points at the Trump tariffs, MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson Ward Stamer, Conservative forest critic, said the ministry was unwilling or unable to make the wholesale changes needed to address the U.S. trade tariffs, despite knowing they were coming.

“Another domino is falling in our forest industry,” said Stamer of the closure of the pellet plant.

The information from Minister Parmar said programs like the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund have secured hundreds of millions in investment into local forestry operations, and work is already underway through value-added accelerators and fibre flow forums to support the sector.

The province is also looking to expand its international markets to make the forest sector more resilient in the face of U.S. trade actions.

But Stamer said the province needs to be doing a lot more, including work on forest health, which could help address a lack of fibre.

He pointed to a number of opportunities for changes which he believes could support a more sustainable industry in the long term, like going back to using fish culverts instead of much more expensive bridges in more instances, enabling more trade between forestry companies in multi-species stands, looking at fuel reduction in some protected areas for forest health purposes and to reduce wildfire impacts.

“Let’s be proactive. Let’s go in there and clean it up, even if we have to be super careful in how we do it,” he said.

“I’m not an environmentalist, but I’m also pragmatic,” said Stamer, noting his goal of sustainability for the long term.

He wants to see companies able to access forests impacted by fires and more biomass plants providing the energy and heat the province needs. He pointed to Sweden as an example where a similarly sized land base has been able to maintain a high-producing forest industry and uses biomass for a large amount of heating and electricity.

He said he wants to see the province able to get the full value out of every tree cut.

“We should be getting a whole lot more out of our natural resources,” he said.

The shut down is being attributed to a combination of external market and supply chain pressures, making operations at the location “no longer commercially viable” according to comments from Caroline Bleay, communications manager for Drax in Canada.

The Drax-owned wood pellet plant, which produces wood pellets for heating from wood fibre, announced the planned closure of the Williams Lake facility to staff and the public on Nov. 26, impacting 30 direct employees and a number of contractors.

Rathor said the city had reached out to the company after hearing rumours of a potential closure, but hadn’t gotten a response.

The city worked for over a year to support Atlantic Power’s Williams Lake Biomass Plant to secure viable contracts in that company’s efforts after the company came to the city to announce a possible closure, citing rising fibre costs and what they saw as a nonviable agreement with BC Hydro. Rathor said the city would have worked to try and help Drax as well had they been in the know.

“We’re very disappointed that we didn’t have the opportunity to assist this business and hope that the business community knows that we are available to support businesses to navigate these challenging times that we find ourselves in,” said Beth Veenkamp, manager of economic development for the city.

The closure will result in a loss of nearly $400,000 in tax and utility revenues to the city, as the council begins 2026 capital budget discussions.

The spectre of the loss of revenue was raised at the Nov. 25 committee of the whole meeting at city hall as budget talks with staff got underway. Coun. Scott Nelson encouraged council to aim for a zero per cent tax rate increase by cutting capital costs and deferring projects.

Nelson suggested council seek cuts to staff’s draft capital budget while also wanting the city to go ahead with promised projects like a new pickleball facility, which he championed at the Nov. 18 council meeting, aiming for breaking ground next year, despite not having a design plan, funding or knowing what the project might cost.

Read more: Williams Lake council moves ahead on pickleball court project

While some details were provided for Drax closing the Williams Lake plant, the provincial forest industry situation is at the heart of it all, according to Bleay.

The loss of a bid on a key local fibre supply was one of the factors which led to the decision to close, she said.

The fibre they lost in the bid process made up 50 per cent of the Williams Lake plant’s annual fibre supply.

Bleay said the curtailment at area sawmills, including the closure of a West Fraser sawmill in 100 Mile House, are impacting fibre supply as well.

Employees of the Williams Lake plant were sent home on Tuesday evening, with all employees then gathered at the plant for the announcement of the closure on Wednesday morning. Bleay said this was meant to ensure the safety of staff so everyone could be on site at once for the announcement.

Mayor Rathor said the city is reaching out to the province to see what they might be able to do.

He said having been a worker at a local mill during his career, he is thinking of the workers and concerned for how people are going to make ends meet.

Rathor said the loss of the business will also be a big hit to the city’s budget.

“I’m standing with the workers, with our local community, with local businesses,” he said.

Bleay said employees are being supported with severance, well-being resources including career counselling, and are being encouraged to apply for positions at other locations across the company.

“The team there is very close, very safety-oriented,” said Bleay, noting the employees will be looking out for one another.

She said the employees have done an excellent job producing top quality pellets at the site.

The Williams Lake pellet plant will close when the current contracts and fibre supply run out, which is expected to happen at the end of the year. The plant will then be put into care and maintenance mode and there is no decision yet on what the long term plans are for the site, noting it will remain in Drax ownership for “the foreseeable future.”

Bleay said the decision to close the plant is not a reflection of the community, which has been amazing.

“We’ve been a part of this community for a very long time,” she said.

Drax is an international company, with a parent company in the United Kingdom.

The Williams Lake Tribune has reached out to the Ministry of Forests for a response to the announcement.

Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to specify the date of a city council meeting and include a link to a previous story

Internationally-owned Drax announced the pending closure of its Williams Lake plant in a press release on Nov. 26, citing the curtailment of area sawmills and the loss of a bid for “key local supply.”

The release states these have led to a significant reduction in fibre availability and the operation of the plant is therefore no longer viable.

The plant will cease operations after a wind-down when fibre runs out, which they expect to occur by the end of 2025.

“The decision to cease operations weighs heavily on us, as we recognize the uncertainty it creates for our dedicated employees and their families,” says Matt White, executive vice president of pellet operations for Drax.

The closure will impact 30 employees, according to the release, who will receive a severance package, well-being support and all are being encouraged to apply for open positions at other Drax sites.

The closure comes after extensive work by Atlantic Power, the city of Williams Lake and other levels of government took place over the last two years to secure an affordable fibre supply for the Atlantic Power Williams Lake Biomass Power Plant.

The city said the closure will mean a $400,000 loss of taxation revenue for the city.

Industrial Update: A ‘clear path’ for Atlantic Power Williams Lake

More to come.

The foundation is asking the city of Williams Lake to work with them on the 40th anniversary event on April 2, 2027, which will mark 40 years from the day Hansen rolled into Williams Lake on his Man in Motion World Tour.

Bridgitte Pinchbeck presented on behalf of the Rick Hansen Foundation presented to the city council at their regular meeting on Nov. 18.

On March 21, 1985, the Man in Motion World Tour began, with the goal of raising funds to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

On the tour, Hansen rolled his wheelchair across 34 countries over 26 months and was estimated as having covered 40,000 km. The tour raised $26 million.

“That’s quite a feat for its time,” said Pinchbeck.

Since then the Rick Hansen Foundation has raised more than $400 million to increase awareness, support programs, change attitudes and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

But the work is not done, said Pinchbeck, noting one in four Canadians still faces barriers to full participation.

“We are rallying Canadians to continue the journey that Rick began, ensuring accessibility is not an afterthought but a foundation for a strong community,” she said.

Pinchbeck invited the city and community to get involved in helping celebrate and mark the anniversary and continue to build towards Canada’s stated goal of becoming barrier-free by 2040.

“I’m inviting you to be involved,” she said.

A public engagement campaign for inclusion and an invitation to give $40 for the 40th anniversary, national storytelling initiatives, and participation in a free national webinar on breaking down barriers on Dec. 3 were some of the aspects Pinchbeck wanted council to consider taking part in.

“It will be time well spent, an investment in our city,” she said of the webinar, which council later promised to share and look at.

A film project was also discussed, with more details to be announced.

Pinchbeck asked the city to work with the Rick Hansen Foundation to make more accessible change in the city, and for the city to be present on the webinar for a special announcement on Dec. 3.

She said she’d love to have a project the city could undertake which could be completed by April 2, 2027.

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to reflect new information brought forward by the Rick Hansen Foundation.

Irvine Charleyboy was acquitted on Nov. 7 of all historic sexual abuse charges following a trial in B.C. Supreme Court.

Charleyboy, a former chief of Tsideldel, walked out of the courtroom with charges dismissed while the Crown’s witness was comforted by supporters.

Charleyboy had been on trial in Williams Lake all week, charged with indecent assault and acts of gross indecency , which had been alleged to have taken place between 1974 and 1980.

Madame Justice Marguerite Church read out the charges and reiterated the undisputed background facts which established a connection between the accused and the Crown’s sole witness in the trial and a timeline of their association.

The complainant made a statement to RCMP in 2018 regarding the allegations of sexual abuse. She was a minor at the time.

The alleged incidents included that Charleyboy had touched her genitals and breasts, made threats of sexual violence and exposed himself to her.

Church noted Charleyboy is now 80 years of age, his admission of historic binge-drinking, his having become sober in 1990 and his ongoing denial of the allegations.

“This trial involves allegations of sexual offences and the central issue in this case is the credibility and the reliability of the complainant,” said Church.

In her decision, which took more than 30 minutes to read to the court and public audience, Church went over the “heavy burden” on the Crown prosecutor to prove the charges “beyond a reasonable doubt” and the evidence must be considered in the context of all of the evidence.

She noted the court must not fall prey to rape myth stereotypes around the expectations of the behaviour of victims of sexual offences.

Church also acknowledged that when considering testimony involving experiences from childhood, children view the world differently than adults and may not recall details around location, frequency and time the same way an adult would.

She said on the whole, she found the witness to be “sincere and forthright,” calling her “candid” and “fair” as well.

Despite these acknowledgements, in her decision, Church said the witness having brought forward additional evidence not previously mentioned in her 2018 statement to police raised some questions for the judge around the witness’ reliability.

She said while she found the witness to “be doing her best to be truthful,” she found some of the evidence to be “implausible.”

One instance she questioned was testimony by the witness that Charleyboy pulled the complainant’s hips from behind into contact with his groin area, which Church found implausible because the witness did not specify Charleyboy crouched down to do so, despite her being much shorter, as a young child, and he being over six feet tall.

Church dismissed some of the Crown’s assertions around the reliability of Charleyboy’s evidence, including his denials that he had any opportunity to perpetrate the alleged abuse due to his lack of contact with the witness.

Instead, she said, “his evidence is not wholly unbelievable.”

Church said she did “not necessarily believe all of Mr. Charleyboy’s testimony” and “found (the witness) to be a sincere witness,” but had reservations around the reliability of some of the witness’ testimony.

Church said she was left “not knowing whom to believe or what to believe with respect to the allegations. In those circumstances, the Crown has failed to discharge its burden and establish the allegations in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Final submissions were made at the end of a four-day trial in a Williams Lake Supreme Court involving historic sex abuse charges against a former Tsilhqot’in chief.

Ervine Charleyboy, former Chief of Tŝideldel First Nation, is facing charges of indecent assault and gross indecency in relation to alleged historic sexual abuse.

Eighty-year-old Charleyboy has pleaded not guilty to both charges now before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church.

He took the stand in his own defence on Nov. 5, day three of the trial being overseen by Justice Marguerite Church.

The charges stem from incidents of alleged sexual abuse between 1976 and 1980.

The Crown’s only witness, whose identity is protected by a publication ban due to the sexual nature of the crimes, described incidents of touching her genitals, exposing himself and sexual dialogue and threats of sexual violence.

Under questioning by his defence lawyer, A. Zipp, Charleyboy spoke of attending St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School from the time he was six years old until he left after Grade 8.

Charleyboy said he suffered abuse at the residential school and admitted to having challenges with alcohol until he became sober in 1990.

Under Zipp’s questioning, Charleyboy stated he had never touched the witness for the prosecution, and never drank or was drunk at his home.

Under cross-examination by B.C. Prosecution Service Crown Counsel, P. Konge, Charleyboy appeared frustrated at times, and refused to make any concessions related to any kind of physical contact with the witness and appeared to provide contradictory evidence in relation to alcohol, its possible effects on his behaviour or memory.

He accused the witness of using him and provided confusing statements regarding past dealings with her.

Konge worked on establishing a timeline with the help of Charleyboy, on where he lived during those years and the names and ages of his biological children, in order to clarify some of his statements around his behaviour and interactions with minors.

At one point, Charleyboy struggled to recall his biological children’s names and ages, describing one daughter as “in her 40s” and then asserting she must have been born before 1969, in order to try to reaffirm his faithfulness to his then-wife.

Under cross-examination, while still insisting alcohol abuse had not affected his memory or behaviour, Charleyboy acknowledged he would sometimes binge drink to the point of blacking out. Wednesday’s trial day ended with discussions around points of law and trying to clarify Charleyboy’s position on certain items, after his confusing testimony.

Final Submissions

On Nov. 6, Zipp and Konge made their final submissions to the court.

Zipp argued the evidence provided by the prosecution did not establish his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and the charges should be dismissed.

He said there was a late disclosure of evidence and inconsistent evidence. He also accused the witness of having “significantly embellished her evidence,” which he believed undermined the witness’s credibility.

Zipp said “the truth never changes” and called the witness “completely unreliable” and said the evidence given by the witness was “rife with reasonable doubt.”

He said the witness for the prosecution had buried or ignored the allegations when it suited her.

Konge told the court that Charleyboy held a position of trust with the witness, who was a minor at the time of the alleged incidents, and clarified some points of law for the benefit of the public in attendance.

She said reasonable doubt must be derived from reason and the court must look at the evidence in its entirety, citing a previous case involving historic abuse.

Konge used the timeline to highlight points both the witness and Charleyboy in his defence agreed on, and said other parts of his evidence were “not plausible.” She said his refusal to provide reasonable concessions during his evidence “leaves the impression he was making his evidence up as he went along.”

She argued the only substantive change to the Crown’s witness’s evidence was where incidents occurred, which she said were “minor” given the historic nature of the abuse.

“You can be uncomfortable talking about sexual abuse and still be credible,” she said and said the witness’s denial or lack of disclosure of the abuse in prior situations did not discredit her.

Justice Church adjourned court for the day and said she would have a decision on the matter at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7.

Former Chief Ervin Charleyboy was back in B.C. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 to face charges of indecent assault and gross indecency. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Charleyboy removed his trademark black cowboy hat to enter court, revealing his short-cropped grey hair. The accused sat in the prisoner’s dock dressed in Wrangler blue jeans, cowboy boots and a black coat, wearing headphones to help him hear the court proceedings.

It was the second day of Charleyboy’s trial, being overseen by Madame Justice Marguerite Church.

The witness in the case, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, alleges Charleyboy sexually abused her as a minor over a period of more than three years, from 1974 to 1980.

Her testimony and statements to police allege years of childhood abuse, which included touching her genitals and breasts.

The case for the Crown is being presented by B.C. Prosecution Service’s P. Konge, who has called one witness for the prosecution.

Charleyboy’s defence lawyer, A. Zipp, spent the morning of Nov. 4 questioning the witness in order to push back on her assertions that Charleyboy abused her for years.

Zipp suggested it was impossible for the abuse to have taken place without anyone else knowing and wondered at the witness’s inability to specify which season it was when incidents of abuse took place, though the abuse is said to have taken place over multiple years and nearly 50 years ago.

He then questioned the woman’s recollections from her childhood and suggested it was impossible for their heights to line up in order for him to have pulled her hips into his groin area, as she had described, noting Charleyboy is six feet, two inches tall.

The witness, however, spoke firmly and reaffirmed her description of events and disagreed with Zipp’s assertions, which he put forward regarding her recollections of the alleged abuse.

Zipp suggested the abuse “just didn’t happen.”

Zipp also brought up an earlier instance where the allegations of abuse were reportedly brought to light by the witness’s biological father in dealings with the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD).

The witness admitted to denying the abuse took place at the time of the dealings with MCFD, at least in part due to the options she said were presented by the MCFD, which could have resulted in her having her children taken from her or her becoming unhoused at the time.

Zipp informed the court on the afternoon of Nov. 4 that his client will take the stand in his own defence on Nov. 5, as the trial continues.

The charges have not been proven in court.

Charleyboy is a former chief of Tsi Del Del First Nation, one of the communities of the Tsilhqot’in National Government.

Read More: Former Tsilhqot’in chief on trial in Williams Lake for historic sex abuse