The B.C. government has offered tentative praise to Ottawa’s new forest sector aid package, while also putting down an early marker that it expects to get the lion’s share of the money.

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar called the $1.2-billion financial package “welcome news” and “a lifeline” for a beleaguered sector battered by U.S. trade penalties and market conditions.

“My hope is that these dollars are just the start of a new relationship with the federal government on forestry, that we'll be able to continue to have further conversations about supports, about transforming this sector,” Parmar said in an interview.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the aid at a mill in Kelowna on Tuesday, pledging $700 million in loan guarantees to help companies restructure, $500 million in grants for diversification and $50 million for retraining more than 6,000 softwood lumber works.

“There are enormous opportunities for the softwood lumber industry,” said Carney. “And the investments we are making today will help that sector to take full advantage of those opportunities.”

He also promised to change federal procurement rules to prioritize Canadian lumber in public construction, part of a larger push to........

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