Further to Monday’s post, Ben Parfitt’s opinion piece has legs. No doubt use of the word “sneaky” in the editor’s headline has evidently raised a mini furor across social media channels. Even Forests Minister Steve Thomson has offered a rebuttal today, calling Parfitt’s op-ed “speculative and misleading”. His published response is available here.

In other news, The Wall Street Journal asks will Canada’s next boom grow on trees? These stories of “surging demand and prices for lumber” have been mainstream for some time. Volatile markets this week might have some traders asking if it’s time to tweak the theme. What could be considered breaking news in the WSJ piece however, was one economist’s expectations for new sawmills to be built – and shuttered ones to come back online – in B.C. In the face of politics heating up over initiatives to find more timber supply in B.C., some might wonder if the notion is a little out of touch.