John Allan to serve as new Deputy Minister of FLNRORD

VICTORIA — The abrupt departure of the B.C. government’s top forestry official could signal a change in policy direction by Premier John Horgan and an expectation that turbulent times remain ahead for the sector. Tim Sheldan, the deputy minister of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development, was removed from the job on Monday by Don Wright, the head of the civil service and Premier John Horgan’s deputy minister. Sheldan’s replacement, John Allan, is a former senior bureaucrat from the 1990s NDP government who has since headed the forest sector’s top associations, served as the province’s chief negotiator on softwood lumber, and led a review on revitalizing B.C.’s coastal forest policies. …Sheldan’s departure as deputy minister is effective immediately. …The shakeup at the top of the forest ministry signals shifting policies under the Horgan government. The premier has spoken about re-establishing the relationship between communities and forests, so that logs taken from public land can create local jobs.