Region Archives: Canada East

Business & Politics

Sawmill closure hits Maniwaki hard

CBC News
December 21, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Uncertainty looms in Maniwaki, Que., as a Resolute Forest Products sawmill begins a temporary closure, leaving hundreds out of work and raising fears of spin-off impacts on the local economy. The pulp and paper company’s decision will put 280 workers out of a job during the holiday season. Union officials say the closure is expected to last at least six months. Several forestry plants in the region have shut down in the past year. A Commonwealth Plywood plant in Rapide-des-Joachims also announced this week that 23 workers would lose their jobs. All told, nine plants have closed across Quebec since April. …The MRC de la Vallée-de-la-Gatineau has mobilized its forestry crisis unit, set up last October, to find solutions and assist affected employees.

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CHAR Technologies Announces $2.5M from Québec for Saint-Félicien Biocarbon and Green Hydrogen Project

By CHAR Technologies Ltd.
GlobeNewswire
December 18, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

TORONTO — CHAR Technologies announced that the Government of Québec, through the Programme Innovation Bois, has announced the approval of $2.5M to CHAR Tech to support the advancement of the previously announced build, own, operate project to convert wood wastes and residuals into both biocarbon for metallurgical coal replacement, as well as green hydrogen. The non-repayable grant funding will be disbursed on predetermined project milestones. Also announced was a $1M contribution from the Programme Innovation Bois to la Société de cogénération de Saint-Félicien towards the centre de valorisation de la biomasse, which is co-located with the CHAR Tech project, and includes a waste heat recovery dryer to pre-process biomass, which will be used by the CHAR Tech project. SCSF operates a 25 MW cogeneration facility, converting approximately 260,000 green metric tonnes per year of wood waste biomass into renewable energy, with the electricity sold to Hydro-Québec.

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GreenFirst Forest Products to Sell Softwood Lumber Duty Refund Rights for $17.5M

By GreenFirst Forest Products Inc.
Businesswire
December 17, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

TORONTO — GreenFirst Forest Products announced a strategic agreement with Mahogany Investors regarding the sale of its entitlements to refunds related to duties imposed on softwood lumber exported from Canada to the US during the specified period 2021 and 2022. The agreed sale price for these entitlements is $17,500,000 USD, with the potential for additional proceeds based on the timing and resolution of the ongoing trade dispute. …Joel Fournier, GreenFirst’s CEO said… “the recent rights offering, combined with today’s transaction, will provide enough liquidity to execute Phase I of our strategic expenditures plan to become the largest sawyer in Ontario.” The duties pertain to deposits totaling ~$60,000,000 USD, made during the Company’s ownership of six softwood lumber mills in Ontario and Quebec. Although the Quebec assets were divested in 2023, the Company retained the rights and obligations associated with the duties deposits.

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Corner Brook Pulp and Paper schedules temporary Christmas shutdown

By Diane Crocker
The Telegram
December 11, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — Corner Brook Pulp and Paper will be temporarily shutting down production over the Christmas holidays. Kruger, the mill’s parent company, told The Telegram that production will stop on Dec. 24 and operations will resume on Jan. 2, 2025. The company said the decision to shut down is proactive and aims to address the current imbalance in the global newsprint market demand. “This will contribute to rebalancing our order book and create a more favorable and sustainable business environment for 2025”. This shutdown will be the second one in just over a year because of market conditions.

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Port Hawkesbury Paper says it shouldn’t have to pay for Nova Scotia Power bailout

By Taryn Grant
CBC News
December 9, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Nova Scotia Power’s largest industrial customer says it shouldn’t be responsible for paying down any part of a $500-million federal bailout of the utility. Port Hawkesbury Paper (PHP) filed an application with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board asking for clarity on its role in repaying the federally backed loan and associated costs. “It would be unfair, unduly discriminatory and seriously adverse to PHP to require PHP to pay additional future costs,” the company said in its submission. The federal bailout came after several years of Nova Scotia Power deferring some charges to its customers, accumulating hundreds of millions of dollars in what it calls unrecovered fuel costs. The paper mill, however, said it paid for all its fuel and power costs up front unlike other customers. Therefore, it says, it didn’t contribute to the circumstances around the bailout and shouldn’t incur any more charges.

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Irving Paper temporarily reduces operations at Saint John, New Brunswick mill

JD Irving
December 4, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Irving Paper will once again shut down 50% of its operations in response to NB Power’s record high industrial electricity rates, and remain down for at least a week. “NB Power’s continued delays at the Point Lepreau generating station have resulted in electricity rates being over 100% higher than historic levels,” said Mark Mosher, VP Pulp & Paper. “No business can absorb price increases of that level without negative impacts. Irving Paper has shut down or reduced its operations over 30 days so far in 2024, with more expected.” …Irving Paper has historically been the provincial utility’s biggest customer with annual costs in the range of $60 Million. Projections see that increase to well over $80 Million in 2024 and $100 Million in 2025, with significant downtime built in to avoid a much higher bill. …“Without clear policy to address these bigger structural competitive issues, NB’s industrial base will continue to contract.”

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Tariffs are a lose-lose situation when nations rely on trade

By Angela Doris
The Pembrooke Observer
December 2, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would immediately put tariffs on all goods being imported from Canada, Mexico, and China, people sat up and paid attention. Not just politicians but the general populations of the countries involved, even Americans. …A tariff is a tax or import duty placed by one country on imports from another country or countries. It effectively raises the cost of bringing foreign goods into a country and is usually used as a form of political leverage, a form of increasing revenues or to protect domestic industries by the importing country. Perhaps the best-known tariff currently in place against Canada is the softwood lumber tariff. …This added cost to our lumber makes it more expensive to U.S. buyers than a U.S.-produced product. …A tariff is a lose/lose deal.

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Espanola looking to move away from forestry a year after Domtar idled the mill

By Aya Dufour
CBC News
November 29, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

ESPANOLA, Ontario — It’s been a year since Domtar indefinitely idled Espanola’s pulp and paper mill and laid off 450 employees. Potential buyers have since toured the place, but an offer has yet to materialize. As the town heads into municipal budget deliberations, staff aren’t anticipating the paper machines to be turned back on any time soon. Domtar is in conversation with the province to reassess the value of the decades-old plant in a bid to reduce its municipal tax bill. …The town has applied for funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario to develop an economic diversification strategy that would involve moving away from the pulp and paper industry. …Ian Dunn, president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association, argues there’s still a lot of untapped economic potential in the province’s forestry sector…as there’s “huge opportunity” in the bioeconomy – using forests to produce energy.

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Quebec forest industry already under pressure amid Trump tariff threat: Legault

By Maura Forrest
The Canadian Press in The Montreal Gazette
December 1, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East, United States

Quebec’s premier is raising concerns about the potential impact of the tariff proposed by US president-elect on the province’s forest industry. In a statement posted to social media on Sunday, François Legault said high interest rates and existing duties on softwood lumber were already putting pressure on the sector, which he said accounts for more than 50,000 jobs in Quebec. “It will be important to protect our economy and our businesses in the coming months, and we are already working on our strategy with the relevant ministers within the government,” he wrote in French. “I have great admiration for all the workers in our forestry industry, whether they are in logging, transportation, sawmills or reforestation.” Legault’s comments echo those of BC Premier David Eby. …“Even before Mr. Trump’s announcement, we were working to support a Quebec industry that is already affected by tariffs in the US: the forestry industry,” Legault said.

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Sault College grad earns Premier’s Award for success in business

By Darren Taylor
The Soo Today
November 28, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

JP Gladu

JP Gladu’s life has been one of great achievements. After graduating from Sault College’s Forestry Technician program in the early 1990s, Gladu went on to work in the forestry sector and is now a recognized corporate leader and supporter of Indigenous businesses. The Ojibway man and Thunder Bay native was recognized Nov. 26 for his work with a Premier’s Award for excellence in business. Premier’s Awards recognize the outstanding contributions Ontario college graduates make in the province and throughout the world. …Gladu, 51, currently resides in Sand Point First Nation, two hours north of Thunder Bay. He is the founder and principal of Mokwateh and a Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow. Mokwateh is an Indigenous-owned team of consultants that advises the Forest Products Association of Canada and helps support Indigenous businesses. As an advocate for the Indigenous economy, Gladu was the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business president and CEO for eight years.

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Trump tariffs hard to navigate but Canada can take action, Windsor and auto leaders say

By Heather Kitching and Kathleen Taylor’s
CBC News
November 26, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East, United States

Drew Dilkens

As leaders across Canada and in Windsor, Ontario sound the alarm over what a potential 25% tariff imposed by president-elect Donald Trump would mean for the Canadian economy, they also say there are ways to handle it. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told CBC News Network Tuesday morning that he believes the promise might be a negotiating tactic aimed at launching discussions on the U.S. Mexico Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, which is up for review in 2026. …Dilkens, who was also mayor of Windsor during Trump’s first term of office, called Trump’s threat “a bit of a rinse, wash, repeat-that-cycle going on again,” recalling conflicts over aluminum tariffs and softwood lumber during the first Trump administration. …Volpe says that one of the keys is to figure out what Trump ultimately wants and recognize Canada’s strength in those areas.

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JD Irving, other companies want to appeal decision that releases them from land claim

By Mia Urquhart
CBC News New Brunswick
November 26, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

Appeal requests were filed by Acadian Timber, H.J. Crabbe & Sons and the JDI intended appellants, which represents 13 companies. According to the JDI appeal, they’re looking for one of two things — for the original claim against them to be dismissed or that they “be reinstated as proper party defendants to this action with full rights of participation therein.” The JDI court document said Gregory’s decision to remove all industrial defendants from the case “was neither requested by the JDI Appellants nor contemplated by the Rule pursuant to which their motion was brought.” Removing them leaves them without a voice in the fight over land that they own, according to their notice of motion. …A spokesperson for Wolastoqey Nation stated, “Justice Gregory’s decision reinforces our position that negotiation between the Wolastoqey Nation and the Crown is our preferred approach.” Treaty veteran doubts court would take private land.

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Finance & Economics

Ontario housing starts expected to decline

By Paul Barker
The Toronto Sun
December 13, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada East

ONTARIO — Housing starts over the next few years will likely weaken and the already dire supply shortage could get even worse, warns a new report prepared for the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). Further, employment in new residential construction has peaked and will likely keep declining for the next several years at least. Entitled Housing Market Outlooks in Ontario, the report from economic research firm Will Dunning Inc. concludes that new housing starts will continue to decline “well into 2025, followed by a slow recovery of the economy and housing activity during 2026 to 2028. By the end of 2028, conditions will not have fully recovered.” Richard Lyall, RESCON president, described the findings as “particularly worrisome for builders as they point to a weakening residential construction market at the very time we need to build more housing.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

First All Mass Timber Acute Care Hospital in North America Breaks Ground in Ontario

Canadian Architect
December 12, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Quinte Health Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital in Picton, Ontario, which has officially broken ground, will be the first all mass timber acute care hospital in North America upon completion in 2027. The new hospital is designed by HDR and currently under construction with M. Sullivan & Son and Infrastructure Ontario. This healing environment will serve its community with advanced medical technologies, energy-efficient operations, biophilic design principles, a low-carbon mass timber structure and access to nature throughout the facility. …“Transitioning from an older outdated building to an innovative, allmass timber structure allows Quinte Health to meet the latest standards in healthcare and provide a safer, more resilient space that serves both our community and the thousands of visitors drawn to the beautiful region each year,” said Stacey Daub, president and CEO, Quinte Health.

 

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Project profile: Uncovering the secrets behind University of Toronto’s Academic Wood Tower

By Don Procter
Daily Commercial News
December 10, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

David Bowick

At 77 metres high, the University of Toronto’s 14-floor Academic Wood Tower (AWT) will be the tallest mass timber building in Canada when its classroom doors open in 2026. The tower is novel not just because it is a timber hybrid structure, but also because it is being constructed atop the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sports, a busy facility at the University of Toronto’s main campus. The timber is required “to do a lot of things mass timber really doesn’t like to do,” said Ryan Mitchell of MJMA Architecture and Design, which is in joint venture with Patkau Architects on the project. …Another hurdle overcome was with the foundations which were designed for a steel structure, not a heavy mass timber one, when the sports facility was constructed a decade ago below the now rising wood tower, he told a packed room at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

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Origin’s Biomaterials Alchemy: Converting Wood Chips Into Real Plastic

By Erik Kobayashi-Solomon
Forbes Magazine
December 5, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

John Bissell

Plastics are essential to modern life, but their convenience comes at a steep environmental cost. They are made by distilling mined hydrocarbons in a refinery—a process that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants. …The negative environmental impacts of conventionally manufactured plastics are what makes biomaterials such a hot topic. Origin Materials’ has developed a revolutionary insight into this topic: its scientists have found a way to produce common plastics and other materials using a feedstock of biomaterials like wood chips, cardboard, and sawdust. In the process, Origin’s scientists stumbled onto a second good idea, one which is less revolutionary but has the advantage of being immediately cash flow generative: a novel manufacturing process that increases the recyclability of single-use plastic containers. …Founded by John Bissell and Ryan Smith, Origin’s platform enables the production of plastics … without the environmental impacts of oil extraction and refining. 

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Forestry

Quebec accused of catering to logging industry as it reviews how forests are managed

By Benjamin Shingler
CBC News
December 21, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Quebec’s boreal forest — twice the size of France — is a vast expanse of wilderness rich in biodiversity that can lock up huge amounts of climate-warming carbon dioxide. It is also an economic driver for dozens of small communities. …But Indigenous leaders and environmental groups worry Quebec’s planned reforms would give logging companies too much power over what areas are allowed to be cut. …”Quebec has to be transparent about what their real intentions are,” Ghislain Picard, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, told Quebec AM. …Last week, the environmental group SNAP Quebec called for an independent investigation into the ties between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests and the industry….Earlier this year, a study examining nearly a half-century of logging in Quebec and Ontario warned that logging practices have left forests in the two provinces severely depleted, putting caribou at risk.

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Northwest Ontario First Nation sprouts partnership with BC nursery operator

By Ian Ross
Northern Ontario Business
December 20, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Up until a month ago, Cat Lake First Nation’s brush with the forestry industry in northwestern Ontario had been nothing more than some seasonal tree planting jobs, said Chief Russell Wesley. When Domtar ran the Dryden pulp mill, Wesley said locals did find employment through independent planting contractors, but nothing that created long-lasting sustainable jobs for its members. Cat Lake’s location, 180 kilometres northwest of Sioux Lookout, has had something to do with it. With only a seasonal access road, the fly-in community is too far north to be involved in the extraction of fibre. The community leadership now pins its hopes that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month with PRT Growing Services is their entry point into the region’s forestry industry. …Down the road, Cat Lake would like to duplicate the nursery operation that the B.C. company runs in Dryden by having one established in their own community at some point. 

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Revolutionizing Forest Management with AI

University of Waterloo
December 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Lanying Wang

…To determine a forest’s capacity for carbon sequestration, it is important to inventory and monitor forested areas regularly. Tree species classification is a vital component of forest management and can assist with calculating carbon sequestration potential.  In-person monitoring of forests can be difficult, especially in remote locations or large areas. Remote sensing techniques have been proven effective at assisting with forest management, notably LiDAR. …When LiDAR data is collected over a large area with an aircraft operating at a high elevation, the density of the point cloud can be sparse. These datasets can be difficult to conduct accurate individual tree-level species classification. Lanying Wang, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, is combining remotely sensed data and deep learning (DL) models to improve data accuracy and applicability.   

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Prince Edward Island residents meet with officials to discuss lingering wildfire concerns

By Sheehan Desjardins
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-wildfire-risk-debris-fiona-1.7409296
December 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Two years after post-tropical storm Fiona demolished thousands of trees on Prince Edward Island, residents on the North Shore worry that the tattered debris still sitting in the forests could be a massive fire hazard. On Thursday afternoon, about 35 people gathered to discuss wildfire prevention, preparedness and mitigation. Mike Montigny, the manager of field services for the provincial Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action and officials with other groups including Parks Canada, the Emergency Measures Organization and local fire departments were at the meeting to give residents a chance to voice their concerns and ask about the Island’s wildfire plan. People wanted to know how long it would take a crew to respond to a fire. They wondered if fire departments on the Island have the proper training to fight a wildfire. What will crews use as a water source? Will more forest debris be cleaned up?

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Reform of the Forest Regime: The Approach and Proposals of Quebec’s Minister of Natural Resources Are Unacceptable

By Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador
Cision Newswire
December 10, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

WENDAKE, Quebec  – The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) must once again denounce the irreverent attitude of the ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF) towards First Nations in its approach to “modernizing” Quebec’s forestry regime. The meeting between the MRNF and First Nations on November 29 was completely disconcerting and it is an affront to First Nations and their rights. The haste with which the MRNF presented its priorities and orientations—despite their importance and direct impact on First Nations rights and ways of life—is unacceptable.  …The MRNF’s general approach to this reform seems based on satisfying the needs of the forest industry. …Faced with this situation, if the Minister does not make a major shift in the changes to be made to the forestry regime, First Nations will mobilize and put in place the necessary means to defend them and impose the respect they deserve.

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Westwind Forest Stewardship Wins Forest Stewardship Council North American Leadership Award

Forest Stewardship Council Canada
December 9, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Westwind Forest Stewardship Inc. won a prestigious North America-wide Leadership Award from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for its commitment to responsible forest management, advocacy and conservation leadership in the French-Severn Forest, near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada. “In 2002, we were the first forest company in Ontario with publicly managed Crown lands to earn FSC certification. Since then, our dedication to environmental stewardship, responsible management, and building strong relationships with our entire community including Indigenous groups is unwavering,” shared Westwind Board Chair Rob Keen (RFP). At almost 1.3 million acres, the French-Severn forest rests on the Canadian Shield stretching from Algonquin Park to Georgian Bay, and from the Severn River north to the French River. Sugar maple and white wine dominate the landscape which is also home to the greatest number of turtle and snake species in the Ontario, each with habitat protection requirements found in the FSC standard.

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Drought, heat threaten future of balsam firs popular as Christmas trees

By Hina Alam
Canadian Press in Global News
December 8, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

University of New Brunswick forestry professor Anthony Taylor began a research project to examine what was killing balsam fir trees favoured by many Canadians to decorate their homes at Christmas. …in a paper recently published in the journal “Frontiers in Forests and Global Change,” Taylor and his co-authors identify the cause of the die-off in western New Brunswick and eastern Maine as drought and high temperatures brought on by climate change. “Identifying the broad scale climate anomalies, such as a drought, associated with the reported sudden balsam fir mortality in 2018 could prove useful to determine the likelihood of future mortality in response to climate change,” the study says. Taylor said he was shocked by “that much” death of balsam firs. …Taylor said heat and drought have weakened balsam firs, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases that they would otherwise be able to defend against. 

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Man, 99, still at work 7 decades after opening eastern Ontario Christmas tree farm

By Jack Richardson
CTV News Ottawa
December 8, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Pud and Kerry Johnston

This weekend is one of the busiest of the year for Christmas tree farms all over the region as the holidays approach and people start looking for a fresh trees. At Johnston Brothers Tree Farm, located about 71 kilometres south of Ottawa, it’s no sweat for founder Pud Johnston. Johnston is 99-years-old and it’s his 72nd season selling Christmas trees. Johnston started the business in 1952 with his brother Eric and they worked alongside each other until he passed away in 2009. Johnston’s son Kerry is now the main operator of the farm but he is still engaged every day… “I think it’s a healthy activity,” Johnston said. “I think it’s provided lots of exercise and kept me fit and kept me young, and I wouldn’t be 99-years-old now if I hadn’t been Christmas tree farming.” …for Kerry, it’s all he’s known his whole life, cutting his first tree when he was about 8-years-old.

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Smith’s new Ministry of Natural Resources bill tackles carbon capture, forest fires and more

By Matt Driscoll
South Muskoka Doppler
December 5, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Graydon Smith

From carbon capture technology to forest fire mitigation, a new bill introduced by Muskoka-Parry Sound MPP and Minister of Natural Resources Graydon Smith covers a lot of ground. Smith recently introduced the Resource Management and Safety Act 2024, the fist new bill introduced by the Ministry of Natural Resources in nearly a decade. It also marks the first time a Muskoka Parry Sound MPP  has tabled a bill in the House of Commons as a sitting government in more than two decades. “It took a long time to put this all together but I feel like it’s had a very good reception so far, ” said Smith. “There are a lot of different components of this bill that are important to many different sectors in Ontario. I feel like it’s going to open up a lot of opportunities.” .

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COLUMN: For the sake of Ontario’s forests, glyphosate use must be stopped

By Monika Rekola
Orilla Matters
December 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The scientific evidence behind glyphosate’s dangers is overwhelming—and infuriating. Glyphosate doesn’t stop at the plants it’s meant to kill. It contaminates everything in its path, infiltrating the food chain and leaving behind a legacy of harm… Even if Ontario banned glyphosate tomorrow, the chemical’s impact would linger for years. It persists in the soil, where it continues to harm microorganisms and plants. The forests we love may take decades to recover, and some ecosystems may never fully return to their original state. This isn’t just a fight for today; it’s a fight for the future. Quebec has already banned glyphosate in forestry. European countries like Austria and Germany are phasing it out. These regions recognize that short-term convenience isn’t worth long-term destruction. So why is Ontario still clinging to outdated, harmful practices?

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It’s a good year to grow Christmas Trees

By Taylor Pace
Guelph Today
December 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

They’re tall, they’re rich in colour, and they’re ready for you to put your presents under. Christmas tree farms around southern Ontario are reporting great harvests this year, according to Shirley Brennan, executive director of the Canadian Christmas Tree Association and Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario. That’s largely due to a year without heat domes, extreme flooding, or early frosts, which have been known to ruin harvests in the past.  “This year for us has been a good growing season,” said Alison McCrindle, who runs Chickadee Christmas Trees in Puslinch with her husband Joe Wareham. “We had really good precipitation in the spring and the summer. ”It’s a nice change from recent years, which she said were “just terrible” with extreme heat and dry weather.

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An Indigenous Group in Quebec Tries to Keep the Caribou Alive

By Norimitsu Onishi
The New York Times
December 3, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

QUEBEC — The caribou are now the subject of an acrimonious dispute between the Canadian and Quebec governments over how to protect one of the country’s iconic animals. The woodland caribou — whose populations are native to Canada and are considered a barometer of the health of its boreal forests — are at risk of becoming extinct or endangered as logging, mining and other human activities have shrunk their natural habitats. The Canadian government threatened this summer to use emergency measures to protect the three herds in Quebec. It said that the Quebec government had been too slow to come up with a plan to save the herds. Quebec said that the federal government’s plans would devastate logging towns and leave thousands of people jobless by limiting logging. …The Innu of Pessamit are seeking to create a protected area where the remaining 200 caribou can continue to live freely — and eventually make a comeback.

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Balsam fir trees ‘at risk’ in New Brunswick amid a changing climate

By Danielle McCreadie
CBC News
December 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

NEW BRUNSWICK — While artificial Christmas trees might be the popular choice during the holiday season, nothing beats the smell of a fresh balsam fir. But new research out of the University of New Brunswick shows the popular tree is at risk of being harmed by climate change. Anthony Taylor, a forest ecologist and professor of forest management at the University of New Brunswick, said the balsam fir makes up about 20% of all the trees in the province. Taylor and two other researchers have spent the past six years correlating historic climate data with previous balsam fir mortalities — or die-offs — and found these trees in particular are sensitive to high temperatures and periods of drought. …Taylor’s research found this wasn’t the first time mass mortality has happened here — the same condition was reported in 1986 and was referred to then as Stillwell’s syndrome. Coincidentally, 1986 was also a dry, hot year.

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Protected Areas in Waiting: A Legacy Conservation Opportunity to Contribute to Canada’s Biodiversity Commitment

Ontario Nature
November 28, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Ontario Nature is collaborating with the forestry industry, Indigenous communities, local communities and environmental organizations to permanently protect at least one million hectares of important lands in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests. To get certified by FSC, forestry companies must set aside at least 10 percent of the lands that they manage for industrial logging to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity. These lands present a significant opportunity for Ontario to contribute to the Government of Canada’s commitment to protect of at least 30 percent of lands and inland waters by 2030… These protected areas in waiting have already been selected as prime candidates for protection from forestry activity, but they’re stuck in limbo… …the Government of Ontario has not formally recognized the areas identified, leaving them open to mining, hydro development and potential changes in forest management.

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Cat Lake First Nation and PRT Growing Services establish landmark partnership to support community growth

PRT Growing Services Ltd.
November 26, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Thunder Bay, Ontario — Cat Lake First Nation (CLFN) and PRT Growing Services Ltd., North America’s largest producer of forest seedlings, have signed a memorandum of understanding today, establishing a significant new partnership to drive sustainable, resilient socioeconomic development in Northwestern Ontario through the regrowth and renewal of Canadian forests. This announcement represents the first phase of a broader initiative aiming to foster local growth within the Cat Lake community through workforce support and training, ongoing employment opportunities at the PRT Dryden nursery, and collaboration on future Cat Lake nursery and seedling initiatives. …The memorandum of understanding was signed by PRT’s Chief Executive Officer Randy Fournier and CLFN Chief Russell Wesley during the Cat Lake First Nation Bio-economy Stakeholder Meeting in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on November 26, 2024.

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Ontario Takes Aim at Wildfire Risk and Hazardous Wells with New Legislation

By James Murray
NetNewsLedger
November 25, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Ontario government is introducing new legislation aimed at enhancing community safety and protecting the environment by addressing the risks associated with wildland fires and hazardous oil and gas wells. The proposed Resource Management and Safety Act would also streamline the land surveying process to support housing development and pave the way for carbon storage technology… “Our forestry sector is vitally important to Ontario, producing critical building materials, and managing and renewing Ontario’s forests, which can play an important role in reducing the risk of wildland fire,” said Kevin Holland, Minister of Forestry and Forest Products. “These new protections allow the province to help job creators build Ontario and provide better service for communities.”

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Ten Treaty 3 First Nations Launch Clean Energy Corporation to Convert Wood Waste into Sustainable Fuels

The Fort Frances Times
December 11, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Scrap wood fibre in the Rainy River district could get a new life, thanks to a partnership working towards a green fuel production facility. Ten First Nations in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances have joined forces to create ground-breaking Wanagekong-Biiwega’iganan Clean Energy Corporation (WBCEC). In partnership with Highbury Energy Inc., a Vancouver-based clean energy innovator, the initiative aims to transform wood waste—including bark, sawdust, and logging debris—into low-carbon transportation fuels. …The corporation is currently engaging with industry stakeholders such as Boundary Waters Forest Management Corporation, West Fraser OSB, Manitou Forest Products, Nickel Lake Lumber, and Resolute Forest Products (Sapawe Sawmill) to secure local wood waste as feedstock for a proposed biorefinery in Fort Frances. …This initiative aligns with similar projects Highbury Energy is involved in, including one in British Columbia to replace natural gas with a clean renewable fuel gas in a pulp mill lime-kiln.

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Creating economic opportunity managing forest fire risk

By Andrew Snook
Canadian Biomass
December 9, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) president and CEO Derek Nighbor discussed the economic opportunities related to managing Canada’s forests during the Scaling Up Bio 2024 Conference in Ottawa. His presentation, “Canada’s forest bioeconomy: Pushing forward,” focused on building opportunities through forest fire management. “We’ve got a huge fire problem in Canada, and the bioeconomy, and finding markets for low-grade wood and using every part of that tree, using some of the stuff that’s dying to get in the bush for higher value, is absolutely critical,” Nighbor said. He said managing forest fires is key to improving air quality while addressing Canada’s biggest carbon emissions generator, which is forest fires. …To improve forest fire management, Nighbor recommended sustainable funding for the municipalities most at risk. These funds could go towards educating those communities while protecting them through proactive forest management. 

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Health & Safety

New Brunswick Premier ready to ban glyphosate if link found to mystery brain illness

By Jacques Poitras
CBC News
December 23, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

Susan Holt

Premier Susan Holt says her government would be willing to ban the herbicide glyphosate if a new investigation finds a link to the purported mystery brain illness that a Moncton neurologist says he is tracking. The province has launched a new investigation into the hundreds of cases, saying the symptoms have sparked fear among many New Brunswickers that needs to be addressed. …If a link is found, “then we need to eliminate that exposure for New Brunswickers,” Holt said in a year-end interview with CBC News. But Holt emphasized the idea was hypothetical because “we don’t have good science to tell us that that is what’s making New Brunswickers sick.” Glyphosate is used in agriculture and in industrial forestry operations. Major logging companies use it to thin some forms of forest vegetation near the ground so young trees get more sun and rain and have a better chance to grow.

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Taming the wild: Navigating Ontario’s forest roads

By Shane Mercer
Canadian Occupational Safety
December 12, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

Driving through Ontario’s forest roads is no ordinary journey. These rugged routes, designed for industrial forestry, challenge even seasoned drivers with loose gravel, sharp curves, and wildlife lurking at every turn. Chris Serratore, director of health and safety services at Workplace Safety North, says preparation and caution are critical for anyone venturing into these remote areas. “Forest roads are not as dangerous as one might think if you have the training and experience to handle them,” Serratore explains. “The real risks arise when people aren’t prepared or underestimate the unique conditions these roads present.”… “Basic driver training is a good starting point,” he says. “But pairing that with job-shadowing is even better. An experienced driver can guide a new driver through the hazards, from washouts to tricky three-point turns on soft shoulders.”

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Government of Canada provides disaster recovery funding to Nova Scotia for wildfires, flooding and storm Dorian

By Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
Cision Newswire
December 12, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

OTTAWA, ON – In 2023, Nova Scotia experienced one of its worst wildfire seasons, leading to extensive damage to residences, small businesses, farms, municipalities, and provincial sites, and the evacuation of more than 16,000 people. Just over a month later, the province experienced extreme rainfall that led to the worst flooding the province has experienced in 50 years. This follows the significant damage to public and private infrastructure and prolonged power outages caused by storm Dorian across the province in 2019. The Government of Canada, announced payments of almost $67 million to Nova Scotia through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program, to assist with response and recovery costs associated with the wildfires in 2023, the extreme rainfall and flooding in summer 2023, and storm Dorian in 2019.

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Wild weather and wildlife: Surviving Ontario’s forest roads

Workplace Safety North
December 10, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada East

Driving on forest roads is not like driving on the highway. Ontario’s forest roads are rugged unpredictable. These roads are rough, with sharp turns, wildlife, and large trucks. They often don’t have emergency services or cell phone coverage and have different challenges to regular highways. “Every year there are severe and fatal accidents on Ontario’s forest roads,” says Chris Serratore, Health and Safety Services Director at Workplace Safety North (WSN), “and due to remote northern Ontario bush locations, it can take hours for help to arrive.” In 2020, Ontario reported 15 snowmobile-related deaths and 168 injuries both on and off highway. …To stay safe, drivers and recreational users need to slow down, stay alert, and be ready for unexpected hazards. “WSN has been asked by northern forest companies to help raise awareness with the public who often use these roads for recreation. Whether you’re working or exploring, being prepared and driving cautiously can save lives.”

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Forest History & Archives

American magnate brought lumber boom to Bell Ewart

By Andrew Hind
Innisfil Today
December 14, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: Canada, Canada East

Henry Sage

Bell Ewart, Ontario — The community of Bell Ewart owes its existence in large part to American lumber magnate Henry Williams Sage. Born in 1814, Sage started his career operating a line of barges on the Erie Canal in New York state. He then established a wholesale lumber yard in Albany. The product he sold was imported Canadian lumber; shipments came from Toronto across Lake Ontario and down to Albany via the Oswego Canal. To maximize profits, Sage decided to cut out the middleman. He’d mill his own lumber. In 1854, the 40-year-old built a large sawmill in Bell Ewart. Initially, the logs were purchased from landowners all around Lake Simcoe and towed in vast booms to the mill. [When wood ran short] Sage had the idea of driving logs down the Black River then onto Lake Simcoe. …The Rama Log Canal opened the following year. Once again the mill at Bell Ewart was saved.

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RCMP say fire that destroyed historic Nova Scotia sawmill and museum not criminal, but locals have doubts

By Preston Mulligan
CBC News
December 5, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: Canada, Canada East

NOVA SCOTIA — Six months after a fire destroyed a historic sawmill and museum in Nova Scotia’s Digby County, RCMP say there is no evidence that a crime took place — a conclusion that has left the head of the commission in charge of the building’s operations unsatisfied and searching for answers. Denise Comeau Desautels, president of the Bangor Development Commission, said “There’s no way that the fire could have started by itself,” said Comeau Desautels, whose organization led a community effort in the 1980s to restore the 19th-century water-powered turbine lumber sawmill. The sawmill section was destroyed by the fire, but the 85 firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before they engulfed the attached museum. There were no surveillance cameras.

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