The LBM Association of Ontario (LBMAO) has hit back at comments about the industry by Premier Doug Ford this week. During a press conference, the premier mused that “those lumber companies who are jacking up prices need to be held accountable.” In an open letter, LBMAO president David W. Campbell rejected any suggestion that “our sector is ‘ripping the public off’.”
Lumber pricing, Campbell wrote, has been impacted from multiple directions. Supply chain pressures and heightened demand followed on both the pandemic and extreme weather in the U.S. At the same time, he said some of the increase in pricing had been “artificially orchestrated by provincial government policies to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” adding that the LBMAO had “fully endorsed” those measures.
