Purpose of the Fund
The Forestry Service Providers Compensation Fund (FSPCF) was created on March 30, 2012 by the Forestry Services Providers Compensation Fund Regulation (BC Reg. 64/2012) and was seeded with a contribution of $5,000,000 provided by the provincial government. Its purpose is to provide relief to Contractors that provided Forestry Services and were not paid for those services because the recipient of the Services became Insolvent. Forestry Services are limited to those defined in BC Regulation 3/2013, Section 3, and must have been provided to a tenure holder under the Forest Act. Insolvency for the purposes of the FSPCF is defined in the FSPCF Administrative Agreement.
The FSPCF is to be administered by an “Authority” appointed by the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (s. 31 of the Forestry Service Providers Protection Act (FSPPA)) pursuant to an “Administrative Agreement” between the Authority and government. Eric van Soeren was initially appointed as the Authority on March 30, 2012. An Administrative Agreement confirming Mr. van Soeren as the Authority was entered into on February 1, 2013. The Authority is not an agent of the government for the purposes of the FSPPA or the regulations under it (s. 33).
Sources of Funds for the FSPCF
In addition to the $5,000,000 seed money provided by the government, the FSPPA contemplates other sources of funding. Part 2 of the FSPPA refers to “contributors” who will be identified by regulation and who will make contributions to the fund in accordance with the regulations (s.27(1)). Additionally, Cabinet may, by regulation, impose a levy on stumpage bearing timber that must be paid into the FSPCF (s. 27(2)). Finally, any amounts received by a person in respect of a financial loss which that person has applied for and received monies from the FSPCF, must be repaid to the FSPCF (s. 29(4)). This is to prevent double dipping. To date no additional contributors have been identified or stumpage levy created. However, in each year from 2015 to 2019 the province contributed additional funds totaling $3,100,000 over that time period. Of that additional amount, $750,000 went into a separate Silviculture Fund to provide compensation to providers of silviculture services in the event of the insolvency of a major licensee that had not paid for those services.
Compensation Fund Administration
The Forestry Services Providers Compensation Fund is overseen by Eric van Soeren. He is deemed by legislation to be the “Administrative Authority’. He derives this authority through the Administrative Agreement. Eric van Soeren is guided by a 5 member Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is made up of individuals who represent and were nominated by members of the major stakeholder groups involved in the harvesting of timber. These stakeholder groups and their representatives are as follows:
Coastal Logging Contractor
Interior Logging Contractors
Major Coastal Licensees
Major Interior Licensees
The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Contact information for the Administrative Authority and the Advisory Board members can be found on the Advisory Board page.
Many of the definitions of potential beneficiaries, sources of funds and the range of assistance that can be provided by the Compensation Fund are defined by the Forest Service Providers Protection Act and the associated Regulations. However, the Advisory Board sets the Policy Guidelines for the operation of the Compensation Fund, and provides advice and recommendations to the Administrative Authority on an as needed basis.
For general questions about the Compensation Fund, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
Contact information:
Administrative Authority
Name: Eric van Soeren
Address: 730 Walker’s Hook Road
Salt Spring Island, BC
V8K 1N5
Phone: 250-537-1533
Fax: 250-537-1534
email: eric@vansoeren.net