Newspaper Ad Reignites Feud Between Concrete and Wood Industries

The latest development in Canada's concrete vs. wood feud centers on the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association which recently paid for full-page ads in major newspapers, including the Edmonton Journal, that position wood-frame construction as vulnerable to insects, severe weather and fire. The ad features a picture of wreckage caused by an Oklahoma tornado and bears the headline: "Wood First? First to go." The ad plays off the British Columbia government's Wood First Act of 2009, which specified that wood must be the dominant building material in all publicly funded provincial buildings. With $3 billion in play each year, it was seen as a significant plum. B.C. also openly lobbied other provinces and the federal government for a pan-Canadian, wood-first policy and worked to extend B.C.'s 6-story wood-frame building code across the country.