Monday 25 February 2019

Higgs's softwood lumber pitch falls on indifferent ears in U.S.

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Replying to and 49 others
I crossed paths with the Southern Yankee lawyer Wilkins in 2003 when he was the Speaker of the  House in South Carolina years before he became an Ambassador up here and tried to have me arrested by the RCMP


https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/02/higgss-softwood-lumber-pitch-falls-on.html





https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/higgs-returns-from-washington-1.5032579 


Higgs's softwood lumber pitch falls on indifferent ears in U.S.

Premier went to meeting of U.S. governors to gather support for easing tariffs


Premier Blaine Higgs returned Monday from a winter conference of U.S. governors. (Jonathan Collicott/CBC)



Softwood lumber was on Premier Blaine Higgs's mind when he travelled to Washington for the National Governors Association meeting over the weekend, but he found others had little interest in talking about the issue.

"Softwood lumber wasn't something that was being discussed a lot," Higgs told reporters when he landed at the  Fredericton airport on Monday after three days in the U.S. capital.

The winter meeting of the governors takes place with hundreds of guests, including leaders from business, non-profits and governments around the world.







Before HIggs left for the meeting, he said he would be willing to give way on the province's forestry policy to help ease some of the punishing tariffs on softwood lumber coming from New Brunswick.

New Brunswick was the only Atlantic province not exempt from softwood lumber tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Support closer to home


While softwood lumber tariffs were not high on the radar of most people at the Washington meeting, the New England governors were more receptive to the province's plight, Higgs said.

He singled out Janet Mills, the Democratic governor of Maine, who assumed office after last year's mid-term elections.

"She recognizes the sensitivities on both sides of the border," said Higgs.

He said the lumber industry in Maine and New Brunswick are heavily integrated and there's a lot of trade between them.

"We as Atlantic Canada, and the eastern U.S., you know kind of always had a market and a business here that needs to be protected."

National focus needed


Higgs said he felt the issue has now been raised but he wished Canadians at the Washington meetings had come up with a more national focus for the issue.

"I think B.C. has the large portion of the business, and so it's getting more of a focus and we're being drug into it," said Higgs.

In Washington, Higgs planned to meet with David Wilkins, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada and now a lobbyist being paid $40,000 a month by the province to lobby the Trump administration on softwood lumber tariffs.

Higgs said he would decide after meeting with Wilkins whether the province would keep him on, but after returning didn't commit to Wilkins one way or the other.

"[Wilkins] was very helpful, he gave me good information," Higgs said.

"He offered obviously to continue his assistance in that regard. I said 'We'll talk more about that.'"
With files from Michel Corriveau and Radio-Canada.


CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices




40 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.



 David Amos
David Amos
 Surprise Surprise Surprise










cheryl wright 
cheryl wright
omg. 40k a month and we are not making any headway on our tariffs etc? why are we paying for a service that is not getting results???? does anyone else think this is beyond the scope of reasonable??












cheryl wright 
Marc Martin
The Irvings sent him already ?


Lou Bell
Lou Bell
@Marc Martin He was there fighting for the 50 + % who are paying over 20 % tariffs ! What did Gallant/ SANB do ????











Jim Johnston 
Jim Johnston
The answer is to sell off the forests to industry and let them pay for the management of it while getting some land taxes. NB would be better off even we sold the land for $5 an acre.


Marc Martin
Marc Martin
@Jim Johnston

They already manage it. If they owned it we wouldn't have any wood left anywhere.












Buford Wilson 
Buford Wilson
Blaine is a tireless advocate for the interests of New/Nouveau-Brunswick.

The effects are already being felt in the economy.


Marc Martin
Marc Martin
@Buford Wilson

Bahhaha thanks for the good laugh..











cheryl wright 
Marc Bourque
" $40,000 a month by the province" and not getting results! Me thinks he should get canned!












Greg Quinn 
Norman Albert Snr
Higg's still working for the man/family? When we start turning a profit for this government on resources then he will be working for the people of NB


David Amos
David Amos
@Norman Albert Snr YUP



Marc Martin
Marc Martin
@Norman Albert Snr

Of course he does, its the second time in 2 week he travels for them...

Rosco holt
Rosco holt
@Norman Albert Snr
Why is it a surprise?

Most knew he would, even before he was elected.









 Ray Bungay 
Ray Bungay
I am all for that idea! Tax payers would save a bundle in salaries, benifits, worker compensation payments by letting the private sector take care of it all. Use the money gained to help pay the debt down.


David Amos
David Amos
@Ray Bungay Methinks you are commenting on the wrong article N'esy Pas?



Marc Martin
Marc Martin
@David Amos

I think he is..










 Greg Quinn 
T Brown
$40,000 a month for the former US ambassador to Canada. We wonder why this province is in the financial mess it's in. In all honesty it's time for a major shake up in government policy. First government need to get out of the buisness of being in business. Sell NB Liquor and Cannabis NB. Privatization of Motor Vehicle and sell NB Power. Government needs to be govement. Just these areas alone would be enough to save billions. Government gets into buisness and tax payers foot the bill of endless debt from such. Fortis has no problem making money but NB Power is billions in debt. Province with less than a million population and it owes 14.4 billion that cost seven hundred million last year just to service. Wow what a mess of a province.


David Amos
David Amos
@T Brown Methinks Mr Higgs and many other folks should Google "David Wilkins David Amos" sometime N'esy Pas?










Greg Quinn
maude windsor
NB has fallen under another tree because Higgs cannot undo all the poking at trump that justin trudeau is and was and has doing! fact is NB when economically astute always had resiprocity with the 13 colonies...now USA. NB needs to become more compatible with USA softwood lumber business....leave trudeau to his kindergarten.


Greg Quinn
Greg Quinn
@maude windsor - Alward's timber supply deal was the catalyst that landed us in this situation where we're cutting more crown wood just to line american coffers through tariffs they justified because that deal made it too hard to argue that NB forestry wasn't subsidized - it was a complete backfire.

Les Cooper
Les Cooper
@maude windsor Higgs is trying. can't fix **** over night. We can't even figure language out in NB. No one takes NB serious lol

David Amos
David Amos
@maude windsor Methinks Yankees don't care about Trudeau and most think New Brunswick is a town in New Jersey N'esy Pas?











Greg Quinn 
daryl doucette
Time to start charging Mr. Irving for our wood. Charge what the tariffs are. Money then stays here in New Brunswick instead of going to USA.


David Amos
David Amos
@daryl doucette Methinks its kinda late for It appears to me that most of the Crown's woods have been mowed down That is why the Irving Clan is chasing after the private woods lots now N'esy Pas?











 Ronald Parker 
Ronald Parker
I wonder how that guy that NB is paying 40,000 per month doing on this file? Not good I guess.


David Amos
David Amos
@Ronald Parker FYI I crossed paths with that Yankee lawyer in 2003 when he was the Speaker of the House in South Carolina years before he became an Ambassador up here and tried to have me arrested by the RCMP


daryl doucette
daryl doucette
@Ronald Parker it is amazing the money the " connected" people make...$40,000 dollars a month? For WHAT? Going to a few meetings and yackkin a bit, shuffling some papers....no wonder we are so far in debt....the " Powers that Be" just continue to milk us dry.....










 Ronald Parker 
Rosco holt
Simple, Higgs has to reverse the crtownland giveaway his party gave frorestry.


David Amos
Content disabled.
David Amos
@Rosco holt YUP


maude windsor
maude windsor
@Rosco holt crown land is a historic way of managing forests in what is now NB...but what management practices would still allow us to access forests, snowmobile trails, camps (remember those beans!)....for private lands do not allow public access.

Sean Onuaillain
Sean Onuaillain
@maude windsor
That is not the issue. The issue is that the Irvings and about two other major wood harvestors in NB were given unprecendented access to crown land by the Alward/Higgs argreement (long before Trudeau was elected PM). It is that agreeement that the U.S. says is an unfair subisidy to the lumber companies. And the one that is driving private wood lot owners out of business. They are harvesting wood that the citizens of the province own and giving us tenths of pennies on the dollar.

David Amos
David Amos
@Rosco holt Methinks its strange that one YUP to you can get through but not two N'esy Pas?



Rosco holt
Rosco holt
@maude windsor
Government has abandoned forest management and policing to companies.

Owning a property that has a river and seeing how disrespectful people can be (littering, cutting trees, destroying/ damaging property, stealing, poaching, etc...).

I don't blame private property owners for not allowing public access to their lands. Blame those who disrespect private property.












Ronald Parker 
Paul Bourgoin
I was just censored for telling the truth about the handling and management of our forests.


David Amos
David Amos
@Paul Bourgoin Of Course


Harold Benson
Harold Benson
@Paul Bourgoin Try using innuendos and insinuations. Sometimes they work better.










 Matt Steele
Matt Steele
There is very little chance that the U.S. will give anything to Canada . The U.S. views the Canadian Prime Minister , Justin Trudeau , as a weak ineffectual leader ; and do not take him seriously . The Canadian oil , auto , and forestry industries are in crisis....yet all Trudeau is focused on is spending taxpayer cash , increasing the National debt , getting his Quebec business buddies out of legal jams ; and more gun control for an already heavily regulated sport . Oct. 2019 cannot come soon enough !!


Rosco holt
Rosco holt
@Matt Steele
You think Scheer is better?
He'll get on his knee to kiss up to his idol Trump, like he and his Cons wanted to do with NAFTA.

David Amos
David Amos
@Rosco holt YUP

Donald Bowser
Donald Bowser
@Matt Steele the tariffs were a result of Alward's decision to increase subsidies and give away the last of crown forest. So this really has nothing to do with the Feds as the province controls all issues related to natural resources. If we want to discuss ineffectual - look at how feeble this effort was by the Premier. He needed to show concrete action on reversing the bad decisions that led to the tariffs.


David Amos
David Amos
@Donald Bowser So says a political critic who does not respond to emails from candidates before and after elections N'esy Pas?

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