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Prime Minister scheduled to visit B.C.'s Okanagan Tuesday

Prime Minister scheduled to visit B.C.'s Okanagan Tuesday

CTV News2 hours ago
Prime Minister Mark Carney listens while touring the Royal Canadian Navy torpedo recovery vessel Sikanni at the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges (CFMETR), in Nanoose Bay, B.C., on Monday, August 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to be in Kelowna, B.C., for an announcement at a lumber facility on Tuesday after attending the Vancouver Pride parade on the weekend and touring a military facility on Vancouver Island on Monday.
Carney toured the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges facility near Nanoose Bay, outside Nanaimo, with officials from the Canadian Navy.
He toured the Royal Canadian Navy vessel Sikanni accompanied by Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee and Commanding Officer Craig Piccolo from the testing facility.
Carney on Sunday met with B.C. Premier David Eby and officials from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
The prime minister's visit to the province comes amid renewed tensions in the softwood lumber dispute with the U.S., which has placed anti-dumping duties on softwood products that the B.C. Council of Forest Industries has condemned as 'unjustified and punitive trade actions.'
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Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Quick facts Canada's forest sector is a major economic driver, supporting nearly 200,000 workers, including over 11,000 Indigenous Peoples, and contributing more than $20 billion to our GDP. In 2024, 66% of Canada's total softwood lumber production was exported, and of that, nearly 90% was exported to the U.S. On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce doubled duties on softwood lumber products from Canada, with further increases expected later this month. New and innovative forest products such as engineered timber, biofuels, and forest product-based biodegradable packaging materials are helping Canada reach net-zero by 2050 and enabling more sustainable, efficient housing solutions. Canada's new government will double the pace of homebuilding to almost 500,000 new homes a year over the next decade. That alone will double the use of Canadian softwood lumber in residential construction – an increase of almost 2 billion board feet – and it will double demand for structural panels – an increase of almost 1 billion square feet. Build Canada Homes, once established, will prioritize the use of Canadian-made materials – including lumber – to accelerate housing construction while supporting Canadian workers and industries. This document is also available at

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