Williams Lake Mayor SPS Rathor at 2026 Council of Forest Industries Conference in Vancouver, BC

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

From Left to Right:
Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull, Cariboo RD Vice-Chair (and Area "E" Director) Melynda Neufeld
100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney and 
Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor

City of Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor attended the annual Council of Forest Industries (COFI) conference in Vancouver from April 8 to 10, 2026. The mayor joined other Interior elected officials, producers and delegates to strongly advocate for the forest industry while at the conference.

The City of Williams Lake continues to urge the Minister of Forests to assign a senior official with decision making authority to be the primary point of contact focused on the Cariboo region with a mandate to deliver timely solutions to stabilize the forest sector in the BC Interior.

In a letter to the Minister, the City called for implementation of a proposed pilot program to enable operational timber pricing flexibility that will recognize the real price of timber harvesting and transportation costs to address areas of specific operational challenge such as steep slopes or far distances. The current pricing model provides a price for large area tenures and does not account for areas that are more expensive to harvest, resulting in these unharvested areas becoming fire hazards. This proposed pilot could bring relief to several Cariboo Chilcotin-based forest operations. While the Minister of Forests has indicated support for the proposed pilot, it has yet to be implemented.

“We are hearing from the forest community that there is not a Provincial sense of urgency in developing new strategies that could bring relief to the industry,” says Mayor Rathor. “I attended the COFI Conference to advocate for the Williams Lake Region, and there is a clear need for extra capacity within the Ministry of Forests to ensure a timely response. It is critical that there is action and commitment to address these challenges. We want an assurance that the Ministry is moving at a pace that will see hard-working producers feel heard and respected with solutions that will make a difference now, not years from now.”

The City will also continue to advocate for a review and serious consideration of offers of support to BC Timber Sales so that they can reach their annual sales targets. Consistence in meeting sales targets will provide more certainty and stability to producers. As well, First Nations and licensees have been calling for mechanisms that allow for more collaborative permit development within BCTS operating areas.