5 Questions: New forests minister Ravi Parmar on helping the struggling sector, incoming tariffs and being mentored by John Horgan

On November 18, 2024, three days after his 30th birthday, Ravi Parmar was named B.C.’s minister of forests. He’s the youngest MLA in the current legislature and holds one of its most important titles. Parmar, the MLA for Langford-Highlands (a new riding that he won after originally succeeding his mentor John Horgan in 2023’s Langford-Juan de Fuca byelection), is a career politician who was first elected as a Sooke School District trustee when he was 20 years old.

If you haven’t heard, the forestry industry is in some peril of late, and Parmar’s performance in the role will likely be a major factor in whether the NDP are successful over the next four years. We took some time to talk to him about the massive job that lies ahead of him.

1. You’ve only been an MLA for about a year and a half, though you’ve spent all of your working life in government. Now you’re taking on this role. How have you risen so quickly up the ranks?

When I sat across from the premier a few weeks ago, I asked for this challenge. I know it’s a really tough portfolio—a lot of challenges are ahead with what we’ve seen and what we’re going to see with the impact of duties and the impending Trump tariffs, and the risks associated with that. But what I do know is I’m up for the challenge. I want to restore confidence in B.C.’s forest sector. I want to ensure that it continues to be the bedrock of economic prosperity across B.C. I want to make sure we’re taking care of our workers—I want to be remembered as the best minister of forests for workers that B.C. has ever had. That means working alongside communities to make sure families are supported. I also want to honour the work my predecessors have done in working with First Nations and biodiversity. I know that success in forestry and ensuring we have that sustainable and robust forest industry is only possible with meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

2. Some in your riding were concerned about electing an MLA who had no experience outside of politics. How do you respond to that and how can you alleviate those concerns?

Well, for sure. I think that’s going to be a challenge I face over the next number of weeks and months, but it’s no different than the challenges I’ve faced my entire political career. I’ve been in politics my entire adult life. I was elected as a school board trustee on my 20th birthday. I became the youngest school board chair in Canada at 22. My age, the youthful energy I bring, has been challenged in everything I do. I think back to the time as a school board trustee when I was called a “young East Indian brat” for standing up for the things that mattered to me and to my community. I think I’ve been able to accomplish a lot as well. It’s why I’ve been successful in my community and why people in Langford-Highlands allowed me to represent them, because I’ve been able to deliver for them.

It was my mentor John Horgan who asked me to go into this industry as a political staffer and engage with communities in 2019 and 2020 when we saw mill closures impacting communities across the province. While I may not have that direct experience that others may expect form the minister of forests, I think I have the lived experiences. I think you need to be a good listener and learner [in this job], I learned that from John. That’s why, within days of becoming minister, I sent a letter to my counterparts in Ottawa asking them to use every tool in their toolbox to fight for B.C. interests on softwood lumber, it’s why the following day I went to Vanderhoof, which is in the riding of [BC Conservative Party leader] John Rustad, and met with mayors in that area. Being on the ground is very important to me. I’ll be crisscrossing the Island in the next couple weeks and I’ll be back up north in January.

3. A lot of people in those areas didn’t vote for your party. How are those conversations going?

Absolutely. I think it’s important for me to recognize that, at the end of the day, putting politics aside, that people expect results out of their government and ministers. I sat across from people who expressed a lot of frustration with me, particularly those tho work in the logging industry, truck loggers who said that the work we’ve done collectively isn’t good enough. Those are tough conversations. They provided their unvarnished perspectives on how they feel. And I told them I wanted them to be straight with me, don’t sugarcoat things. And I said to the president of the Truck Loggers Association who was frustrated, that I want to be able to show you in the weeks ahead that I mean business and want to get things done for you. And if I don’t, I won’t be offended if I call and you don’t answer the phone.

4. The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) has been very vocal about what they’d like to see. Have you met with them? What was that conversation like?

[Outgoing president and CEO Linda Coady] was in my office within an hour of being named minister. And look, there will be lots of opportunities for us to work together. I think it’s going to be one of those relationships where [COFI] is going to have lots of expectations of me in government, but I’m also going to have lots of expectations for them. I want to see B.C. companies like Canfor, West Fraser and others investing in B.C. They’ve done very well here. Look back to 2021, when lumber was at its highest [value] in a very long time. So I’ll be asking them about where those profits are going. Because if they’re going down south or if they’re going to Europe when they should be coming here to B.C., I want to dissect why that is. Profits are right here and are going elsewhere. It’s going to be a positive working relationship. Similar to the conversations I’ve had with truck loggers and united steelworkers, I want them to be straight with me. But it’s one of those relationships where I’m going to ask as much of them as they ask of me.

*Ed note: Coady announced her retirement this week as president and CEO and will be replaced by Kim Haakstad.

5. You have a unique portfolio, given that your government is intent on restricting carbon footprints as well as supporting industry. Is balancing those two things going to be critical for you?

You hit the nail on the head there. I’d say that one thing we’re not going to do is continue to debate this issue as if there’s choice. I think BCers will see in the upcoming legislative session that there’s a political party that are acting like dinosaurs, that want to take us backwards to a time where they don’t believe reconciliation is possible. That fighting climate change isn’t possible. What my government has been able to show and what I’m going to be able to deliver is that we can fight climate change, can invest in biodiversity and can look at regenerating our ecosystem while ensuring we have a strong, sustainable forest industry that delivers good paying jobs for workers and ensures that there is prosperity for families. Economic prosperity is critical for me. I’m the son of immigrants who came to this country with absolutely nothing. I want people to build prosperity for themselves and their families. That conversation looks different whether you’re from Langford, where I’m from, or Vancouver or Fort St. John or Chetwynd or Mackenzie or the Kootenays. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed, and I believe my work as a minister must reflect this commitment each and every day in the action we take as a government.

This interview has been edited and condensed.