Mayor says VCF response to Council concerns inadequate

By Spencer Hall

Mayor Owen Torgerson says the response provided to Valemount Council by the Valemount Community Forest (VCF) after calls for increased transparency on the company’s operations is not sufficient.

Torgerson sent a letter to VCF on June 12th and received a response from VCF on June 20th.

The exchange of letters comes after a petition calling for more transparency surrounding VCF operations was presented to Council on May 27th. Petition author Simon Heiniger collected 361 signatures between May 3rd to May 25th.

The petition was created after the owner of local cedar mill Cedar Valley Holdings (CVH), Jason Alexander, announced the company would close at the end of June, leaving about 14 locals without a job. According to Alexander, the Community Forest has been sending usable cedar to pulp mills in Prince George, while Cedar Valley struggles to access a sufficient supply of cedar.

The Goat has been unable to independently verify these claims with VCF or any Prince George-based pulp mills, despite multiple requests to VCF for confirmation. As of writing on July 25th, the cedar mill is still operating but has not reached a resolution with VCF.

In his letter to VCF, Torgerson outlined the six requests within the petition, which included the creation of a formal guarantee that timber harvested locally would be prioritized and made available to local manufacturing and value-added businesses. The petition also called on VCF to make sure all harvested timber be used to its highest possible value by prioritizing milling, manufacturing, and secondary processing over low-value exports or waste. 

“Council, as representative of the community, has responsibilities of openness, accountability and transparency to the community, in the same way that the VCF has those responsibilities to the shareholder,” Torgerson wrote.

In an interview with The Goat, Torgerson clarified that each resident of Valemount is considered a shareholder in the community forest and are represented by Council.

Additionally, the petition requested an independent review of VCF’s financial operations. In 2024, the VCF board considered hiring Heron Advisory Group for such a review, but decided against it. In his letter, Torgerson asked VCF to explain why the community forest chose not to move forward with the review.

Torgerson requested that VCF provide information on how and to whom timber is made available and how it supports local development and job creation, and information on if or how VCF creates or requires value-added usage of the timber harvested within the VCF tenure area.

He also called on the community forest to provide a public engagement plan and share more recent, in depth information on logging, reforestation activities, profits, and community investments.

In her response letter, then-president of VCF, Ainslie Jackman, said the decision not to move forward with the review was based on several factors, including finances.

“[VCF] was not clear on what the outcomes of spending money on that project would be. It was thought that our operation was very simple compared to the [Valemount Industrial Park] and [Valemount Specialty Mill] and that perhaps we did not need the review at that time,” Jackman said.

She continued, saying that at the time of the potential review, VCF had recently been “in the red” and was looking at ways to save money.

“The board agreed to let the general manager make the call and Kalina [Velez, the general manager at the time] thought that we did not need the review,” Jackman said.

Jackman said timber through VCF is made available through a bid process held twice per year, during which the general manager of the company prepares bid packages and sends them to multiple mills located between Adams Lake and Quesnel. She said this bidding system ensures the best value for the community of Valemount while supplying the Valemount Specialty Mill with timber.

“This process could be expanded to include CVH as well. [Valemount Specialty Mill] supplies value-added wood products to other local buyers, including Mountain Voice Inc., and Grant Towers,” she said. “VCF will continue to try to supply CVH with the timber it requires.”

Cedar Valley is not currently included in the bi-annual bid process because the company is in a 10-year timber supply agreement, which is set to expire at the end of July. 

Jackman said VCF has a limited supply of the specific type of cedar the mill uses for its products and that is why the cedar mill needs to source its supply from other loggers and mills.

Torgerson said Council found the response to their letter unsatisfactory, particularly when it came to supplying cedar to the mill. He said while VCF has a limited supply of the cedar species Cedar Valley uses, there is a higher value in supplying the cedar mill with that timber because it uses a high percentage of the tree.

“To see wood like that that can be utilized here leave the valley, to one of the lowest values of the aftermarket, so pulp. Whole trees being ground up into pulp, that didn’t sit well with the shareholder,” he said.

Torgerson said Council also took issue with the decision not to proceed with the review of VCF operations.

“We felt that was unacceptable. And it’s hard because there are two things that a shareholder of a corporation can do…you have the ability to change the membership on the board. And with that, you also have the authority to amend the articles of incorporation,” he said.

In the past, Council has made amendments to VCF’s articles of incorporation, but Torgerson said big changes require the approval of the Inspector of Municipalities — a provincial entity that oversees financial matters in local governments and approves certain local government decisions to ensure they are consistent with provincial legislation, according to the Province’s webpage.

“You don’t want to inundate their office with smaller, multiple amendments. You want to make good with the inspector,” Torgerson said.

At the VCF annual general meeting on July 17th, the shareholder appointed two new board members and chose not to renew Jackman’s term. General manager Alana Duncan has since stepped in as acting president until the VCF board selects a new president.

Torgerson said Council will keep working with VCF to ensure local concerns are addressed.

“We’ll continue to work with the board and see where they want to take it with a reminder that there is language within the articles that point towards value add, local employment, et cetera,” he said.

The Goat reached out to VCF for comment on this story, but did not receive a response by press time.

With files from Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.