Region Archives: Canada East

Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette and provincial Forestry Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina have informed federal Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault that their government will not participate in consultations on the development of an emergency decree to protect caribou. In a six-page letter sent on Wednesday, the provincial ministers reiterated that the emergency decree announced last month by Ottawa is a “unilateral and illegitimate decision by the federal government that is categorically rejected by Quebec.” Ottawa’s approach “constitutes an unspeakable affront and is in opposition to the respect for the sharing of constitutional powers between the levels of government,” the ministers contend. Not only will Quebec not participate in consultations to determine the scope of the decree, but “the federal government must fully assume the economic and social consequences of its decision,” the ministers warned. …The job losses (~2,000) would result from a forecast loss of permitted logging …the equivalent of 1.4 million cubic metres of lumber annually.

Sturgeon Falls, ON – Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario announced an investment of $500,000 by the Government of Canada in Sturgeon Falls Brush and Contracting Limited (SFB). The announcement will help SFB purchase a boiler system that will allow the company to dry lumber to the specific requirements of its clients in the cross-laminated timber industry. The boiler will use biomass from area mills as its heat source. This project is part of an ongoing expansion by SFB which will see the company grow to meet local market  demands. In addition to the purchase of the boiler, this investment will create three skilled positions, while also enabling SFB to sell kiln-dried lumber as a new product offering, increasing revenues for the company. Over the coming years, SFB’s expansion is expected to attract new businesses and investments in Sturgeon Falls.

Additional coverage in Northern Ontario Business: Sturgeon Falls contractor enters the kiln-dried lumber business

Lise Vaugeois

In response to the comments made in the July 18 Trillium article “Ontario proposes new ministerial powers to prepare for wildfires, steeper penalties for offenders“, I’m disappointed and puzzled to hear that Minister Graydon Smith’s proposals on Wildfire Management once again ignore the key issue of firefighter recruitment and retention. Wildland firefighters have repeatedly made the case that they need to be classified as “firefighters” in order receive the appropriate level of pay and benefits. Without this, the service cannot keep experienced firefighters and … fully staff their crews. On June 24, the Ford government made a promise to my colleague, Guy Bourgouin, and committed to reclassification… And yet, here we are again, with the Ministry now “studying” the reclassification issue instead of making the change they committed to make on June 24. …Calling people heroes, while enforcing unacceptable job conditions, is adding insult to injury.

Anthony Taylor

LABRADOR — A forest ecologist says abnormal weather is becoming more common and will likely cause more wildfires like the ones that threatened Labrador towns in recent weeks. Anthony Taylor of the University of New Brunswick told CBC News in a recent interview that climate change is a factor in the number and severity of forest fires this summer in Labrador. “You’ll see an increase in the frequency of years where you have big fires, and it’s directly related to the fact that you’re going to have an increase in the frequency of weather that’s more conducive to fires,” said Taylor, who researches how climate change affects forests. …Although there has been close to normal amounts of rainfall in Labrador, he said, higher temperatures cause increased evaporation and drier forests, likely contributing to conditions that are conducive to fire.

Steven Guilbeault

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has found himself in another spat with a province. For months, Guilbeault has been demanding Quebec adopt a new plan to protect the province’s woodland caribou from the impact of logging for industrial activities and road-network expansions, as herd numbers in the province appear to be dwindling. Now the federal minister is going over the province’s head, with an emergency decree ordering his own plan, outraging Quebec’s provincial government and the Bloc Québécois. …The emergency order, which could be implemented in August, is still at the consultation stage. If Quebec presents a new plan soon, Guilbeault says he will back down. …“Considering all the efforts made in recent years, the Quebec government considers the adoption of an emergency decree unjustified,” said a statement from Charette’s office. Quebec’s Forest Industry Council’s Jean-François Samray, said that if the decree is adopted, the industry could lose 6,500 jobs.

MONCTON, NB – Forests and trees capturing and storing carbon, offer habitats for wildlife, mitigate hot weather in cities and towns, ensure clean water and soil, and deliver essential spiritual, cultural and recreational benefits to Canadians from coast to coast. By planting two billion trees over a decade, the Government of Canada is taking a significant step forward in our country’s approach to tackling the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity decline. …Together, the Government of Canada and the Government of New Brunswick will provide more than $71 million to support progressive tree planting in New Brunswick, ensuring the right trees are planted in the right places so that the province’s forests can thrive in a changing climate. With this investment, the Province of New Brunswick aims to plant over 52 million climate-resilient trees on publicly managed land: the equivalent of planting over 60 trees for each resident of New Brunswick.

Quebec’s forestry potential would decrease by 1.4 million cubic metres of wood per year in the three zones where an emergency decree would be imposed to protect the caribou, according to Quebec’s chief forester. At the provincial level, the decree would cause a drop of 4.1 per cent in the allowable area. This is the conclusion reached by Quebec’s chief forester, Louis Pelletier, in an analysis he presented to the Quebec government published Tuesday. As part of this analysis, the mandate of the chief forester did not include making recommendations, but was limited to informing the ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Nor did Pelletier have the mandate to estimate the consequences on jobs in the forestry industry. Logging companies that cut trees in caribou habitat in the Pipmuacan area would suffer the greatest impact if the decree comes to fruition.

Last month, a dozen people hauled mulch and a thousand trees across the forest, walking trails and perimeter of Fermont in northern Quebec. The town near the border with Labrador planted what they hope will become a shield for the community, following last year’s unprecedented forest fire season. Unlike other replanting efforts, this one focused on deciduous trees, says Simon Côté, the head co-ordinator at Arbre-Évolution, the organization that helped back the planting project. “In the next year, it has to be something that every city will do,” said Côté. “It needs to be at least 30 metres like a shield of hardwood … in case of very extreme fire that cannot be controlled and that we know can happen.” …”The conifer, like the spruce, is full of organic oil that can ignite very, very quickly … like a forest of matches.”

LYME, New Hampshire — Wagner Forest Management, a manager of timberland investments, announced that it is considering strategic alternatives, including the potential sale of 480,000 acres of timberlands in Ontario, Canada. This property offers a unique opportunity for an investor to develop one of the largest nature-based carbon removal projects in the Voluntary Carbon Market. The project is anticipated to generate millions of emission reduction and removal credits, significantly contributing to climate change mitigation through sustainable forestry and land use practices. The company has retained TAP Securities as its financial advisor. TAP is preparing marketing materials describing the property and the carbon opportunity. …Wagner manages over 2.25mm acres of timberland throughout Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.

THUNDER BAY — Spruce Budworm, which causes severe damage to fir trees, is overdue for a big rebound in Northwestern Ontario, but its advance this year may have been slowed by hot weather last year. Although there are reports of impacted tree stands around the Thunder Bay area, “it’s a bit of a surprise” there hasn’t been more defoliation from the spruce budworm, said Taylor Scarr, director at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. The Eastern Spruce Budworm feeds mainly on balsam fir and white spruce, and to a lesser extent on red spruce and black spruce. Trees typically die after four or more years of severe defoliation. …The MNR doesn’t consider the current extent of the budworm infestation in the Northwest to be enough to warrant mitigation measures like insecticide. Large outbreaks tend to occur every 30 to 40 years – the last big outbreak was in the 80s.

The union representing Ontario’s forest firefighters wants their job titles reclassified, which they say could result in higher pay and bolster recruitment and retention among their ranks. Noah Freedman, the vice-president of OPSEU Local 703, says the province currently classifies forest firefighters as resource technicians. He says that role does not properly recognize the dangerous work forest firefighters do… nor allow them to recruit and train young firefighters for the long term. “If the government were to reclassify us as wildland firefighters, then we would be compensated appropriately for the dangers we face and toxins we breathe,” he said. The starting pay for resource technicians in Ontario is currently $25 an hour. …Caroline Mulroney, the president of the Treasury Board, said an organizational review of firefighting classification by the Ontario Public Service is currently underway.” No timeline for the review was provided.

QUEEN’S PARK – Wildfires are raging in Ontario, and the province is short-staffed by 25%, but Doug Ford and his government are backing away from an earlier commitment to reclassify Wildland Firefighters to Firefighters. “It’s peak wildfire season and the province doesn’t have enough forest firefighters to send to each burning location. That means we are choosing which fires to put out and which will keep burning, risking nearby communities,” said NDP MPP and critic for Natural Resources and Forestry Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk—James Bay). Along with OPSEU, NDP MPPs Bourgouin, WSIB and Injured Workers critic Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North), and Labour critic, Jamie West (Sudbury) have repeatedly called on the government for this change. This reclassification will make them eligible for better wages and benefits that match the risks and responsibilities of this essential and dangerous job. 

What are the effects of forest fires on lakes? One way of fighting fires is to use large quantities of water, often drawn from lakes and transported by air tankers. Although effective, this method can disrupt the physical structure of the lakes (water level, disturbance of deep-seated sediments). …Yet few, if any, scientific studies have documented the effect of this phenomenon on lakes themselves. …Smoke plumes ring large quantities of nutrients, metals and minerals that can be deposited on the surface of lakes and can also capture a large proportion of the sun’s rays, which disturbs aquatic organisms that photosynthesize. …Every square metre of burned land will be drained by an aquatic ecosystem, often a lake. Quantifying the fate of terrestrial carbon in lakes following forest fires will provide a better understanding of the extent to which lakes amplify or mitigate a possible feedback loop between forest fires and climate change.