The BC Liberal leader is promising more efficient stumpage fees if elected government.

Speaking in Merritt, Andrew Wilkinson indicates that his government would adjust stumpage on a monthly basis.

He says changes would be made within a year of the his party taking office.

“We’ve known for a long time that Alberta adjusted stumpage monthly. And for some reason, the NDP have locked us into this annual revision of stumpage that means there are huge lags and delays when the price of lumber goes up and down. That means the pricing of stumpage is inappropriate within months. It’s just way off the market price,” Wilkinson says.

“So that can be improved. And the way to do that is to work with our partners in Ottawa, and while we’re solving the softwood lumber agreement, make sure that whatever we’re doing is going to kill two birds with one stone: address the softwood lumber dispute, and also address the issue of market pricing and stumpage. It can be done, we’ve done this before, and for some reason the NDP have neglected it in their three years.”

The NDP has maintained that keeping stumpage fees the same, through good and bad market conditions, has prevented the United States from making legal claims that B.C. is subsidizing the lumber industry.