A town shaped by timber
When Tim McGonigle speaks about forestry, he speaks from lived experience. His perspective is grounded in decades of hard-won experience. He spent 35 years in logging. He has worked “from running machines to bucking to helicopters.”
His hands-on experience doesn’t just inform his view of Lake Cowichan; it guides his approach to governing it.
McGonigle, elected mayor in 2022 after five terms on council, leads a community where forestry is not a side issue. It is woven into local identity. Surrounded by working forests, Lake Cowichan has long tied its fortunes to resource development.
He frames that history plainly. Lake Cowichan, he says, has “a storied history for decades in forestry,” and remains deeply connected to the sector.
For McGonigle, this isn’t about looking backwards; it’s about ensuring future economic survival.
“The forest sector is a very important aspect within Lake Cowichan,” he says, adding the stakes go beyond jobs. When forestry contracts, rural communities lose people, services and social fabric. “We lose coaches, we lose volunteers, and it’s decimating to small, rural communities.”
For McGonigle, this is about more than just industry policy—it’s fundamentally about community survival.
Beyond the jobs debate
McGonigle rejects the idea that forestry should be viewed as a fading industry.
“Forestry is not, in my opinion, a sunset industry,” he says. “I think there’s many opportunities to move it forward.”
A critical issue often overlooked in urban debates is that tourism, while valuable, fails to replace the stability of resource wages.
He also cautions against the trend of pushing rural communities toward a “vacation-based economy,” even when that model cannot sustain families in the same way.
He also pushes back on the idea that forestry and conservation are in conflict.
“Sustainability, forestry and sustainability can work hand in hand,” he says.
He cites protected areas, biodiversity measures, and local innovation as clear evidence. Rather than choosing extraction over conservation, his focus is on balancing both through place-based decisions.
This philosophy drives his support for area-based management, as he argues that a “one size fits all” approach fails to account for local realities.
McGonigle also positions forestry as a climate solution, not just an economic one. Wood products store carbon, and managed forests continue to absorb emissions over time.
“If we get behind forestry as a solution, we’re not only looking at climate change,” he says.
Partnership as the path forward
Shared management is where McGonigle places much of his optimism.
He points to the Kaatza community forest partnership, a 50-50 venture with a First Nation partner, as a working model.
“I think a real strong future is community-based approach with First Nation participation,” he says.
This directness carries over to his message for senior governments:
“Just get out of the way,” he says.
It’s not an anti-government stance; it’s a push to give local and Indigenous partnerships the space they need to actually work.
He follows with a sharper warning: “If we don’t get this right, we’ll see small communities ghost town.”
For McGonigle, the debate is no longer only about fibre supply or regulations. It is about whether resource communities remain viable.
His closing thought lands as both caution and appeal.
“Let’s get this right,” he says. “I think generations are depending on this.”
Ian Biana writes for the Resource Works Accelerate team and can be reached at [email protected].
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