Just Letting Her Rip and Hoping for the Best Didn’t Work Out: Raw Log Export Controls in British Columbia, 1871 to 1947
Date
2024
Authors
Lang, Dave
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Abstract
Raw log exports from British Columbia have been a popular political football for more than 120 years. Governments of all stripes have denounced them while in opposition, but continued to allow them when in office. Whether and to what extent raw logs are exported is determined by the balance of power between government, capital, and public opinion. Government, motivated perhaps by public opinion, perhaps by concern for the long-term benefit of British Columbians, has introduced some modest raw log export controls, found a politically and economically acceptable balance between allowing and restricting raw log exports, and worked diligently to keep the issue quiet. Capital has fought for the right to export logs as it sees fit. The public, guided by a sense that exporting natural resources in their raw state is no way to build an economy, has consistently opposed the practice. The result has been more than a century of a three-way tug of war which has left none of the stakeholders particularly pleased.
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British Columbia, Forestry, Raw log exports