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Horgan said he wants to require publicly funded construction projects, such as schools and hospitals, to “use as much of our engineered wood products as possible” in their designs to boost domestic demand. He argued that would go further than the B.C. Liberal government’s “wood-first” initiative of promoting wood in public projects.

And Horgan wants to see more consistency in applying the test for determining whether logs are surplus to domestic need so that fewer of them wind up on barges for markets offshore.

However, John Martin, the Liberal MLA for Chilliwack, argued that the existing auction process for logs does make sure that they are offered to domestic buyers first. He said the other NDP promises touch on initiatives the government is already working on.

“I thought it was an endorsement of what we’re already doing,” said Martin, who is parliamentary secretary to Forest Minister Steve Thomson.

Martin acknowledged that the industry has suffered job losses, but attributed that to the 2008-09 recession and collapse of U.S. housing starts. In response, he said government has succeeded in diversifying markets by expanding exports to China and South Korea.

The NDP staged its announcement outside the Brock Commons student-housing complex at the University of B.C., which is now the world’s tallest mass-timber building using made-in-B.C. engineered wood products that Horgan said is an example of the innovation the province needs more of.

Martin countered that it was the B.C. government that encouraged the innovation that went into Brock Commons’ construction, which it has continued through an innovation strategy.

depenner@postmedia.com

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