When the B.C. government passed the Forest Service Providers Protection Act in 2010 it was intended to provide forestry operators who contract to licensees protection against losses should a client become insolvent. The then recent bankruptcy of Pope & Talbot made it clear that logging firms, silviculture contractors, seedling nurseries and forestry consultants were exposed to considerable risks and business-threatening losses when licensees fail. But when government brought the Act into force through the Forestry Services Providers Compensation Fund Regulation in 2012 it only made compensation available to logging contractors. The WSCA has been working with government to address this discrepancy. The WSCA contends that the current regulation increases the overall business risks to silviculture contractors, runs contrary to the intent of the Act’s eligibility requirements and has the appearance of government designating two classes of forestry service providers—silviculture being subordinate—in the province when it comes to the Compensation Fund.
FSSPA excerpts (DOCX)