Region Archives: Canada East

Firefighters were still working Tuesday evening to extinguish a fire that broke out earlier in the day at the G. L. Wood Products sawmill in Haute-Aboujagane, in southeastern New Brunswick. Shediac Fire Department Capt. Julien Boudreau said crews from Beaubassin, Cap-Pelé, Shediac, Dieppe and Memramcook responded to the scene around 2:30 p.m. Boudreau said there is significant damage to the sawmill, and about 50 per cent of the building has been destroyed. RCMP say no one was hurt. Anthony Azard, CEO of the Cap-Acadie Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that 40 employees work at the sawmill. G. L. Wood Products primarily manufactures wood packaging products, such as food-grade wooden boxes, pallets and slats.

Tory Rushton

All old-growth forest on Crown land is now protected as part of the Province’s new approach to ecological forestry. Minister Tory Rushton announced an updated old-growth forest policy is effective August 18. “Protecting our old-growth forests is part of our ongoing work to implement ecological forestry on Crown land,” said Minister Rushton. “We believe this demonstrates our commitment to prioritize biodiversity on Crown land.” For a forest to be considered old growth under the policy, at least 20 per cent of the trees must be the minimum age for that forest type (100 years for some types of forest to 140 years old). …The updated policy applies to all old-growth forest on Crown land that is not already designated as part of a protected area. The policy does not require protection of old-growth forests on private land, but the Department will work with private landowners, land trusts and others to support conservation.

New countervailing and anti-dumping duties announced last week by the U.S. Department of Commerce are unfair and will be appealed, said the New Brunswick Lumber Producers association. “While any movement is welcomed, we maintain our position that these duties are unjust,” said Jerome Pelletier, chair of the New Brunswick Lumber Producers (NBLP) and vice-president of J.D. Irving Limited’s sawmills division. “New, lowered countervailing duties for J.D. Irving seem to agree with our position that the province’s softwood industry is not subsidized, and that New Brunswick’s mills are being treated unfairly. We believe the historic Maritime provinces’ exemption from U.S. lumber duties should be reinstated.” The association said New Brunswick’s crown royalty system… has been in place since the 1982 Crown Lands and Forests Act and has historically been a key reason why the maritime provinces were excluded from U.S. softwood countervailing duties.

Jerome Pelletier

New Brunswick’s J.D. Irving Ltd. plans to challenge a U.S. government decision that has moved it from first to worst in a long-running trade dispute over wood. Irving had been subject to some of the lowest duties and tariffs on softwood exports… But the latest ruling by the U.S. Commerce Department has lowered the rates for almost all Canadian mills — except Irving’s. …Last year Irving was subject to combined duties of 15 per cent on its wood, compared to 17.9 per cent for all other New Brunswick mills as well as most across Canada. That was because the company successfully persuaded the U.S. to investigate it separately from the rest of the industry. …But last week’s final ruling cut the rate for other mills to 8.59 per cent and set the Irving rate at 14 per cent. That means while Irving’s rate is one percentage point lower than last year, it’s now significantly higher than other mills in the sector.

Kevin and Susan Sexton

LETHBRIDGE, Newfoundland — Kevin Sexton … owns Sexton’s Lumber in Lethbridge, on the Bonavista Peninsula. The mill is hundreds of kilometers away from the massive fire, but he depends on the woods of central Newfoundland. He sources most of his timber in that region, an area he calls “the wood basket” for the island. Until two weeks ago he had crews and equipment logging in the Paradise Lake area, about 40 kilometres from Grand Falls-Windsor. Then came the fires. …Sexton and his crew worked day and night for three days to bring the machines into Grand Falls-Windsor. …“In standing timber alone, we’ve lost about five or six months’ supply for the mill,” he said. “That’s about 3,400 tractor trailer loads of logs.” Immediately, 50 of his employees have been affected by the fire, he said. …He says his company, one of the biggest logging and milling operations in central Newfoundland, will be “short quite a bit of timber.”

TORONTO — It would seem that the softwood lumber trade dispute between Canada and the United States has been going on forever. The trade dispute has been going on since 1982 when the U.S. lumber industry petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose a duty on the product. Since then, it has been constant back and forth between governments to find a fair solution to the trade. …Although both Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade claim that they support the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to lower the duty rate on Canadian softwood lumber, they still maintain that there be no duty rates at all. “The Ontario government maintains that all duty rates should be removed immediately,” the state continues. …The trade dispute will continue as long as the unfair duty on the export of softwood lumber is imposed.

SAINT JOHN — Irving Pulp & Paper has been given permission to begin construction immediately of an Environmental Treatment Facility and Water Use Reduction Project at Saint John’s mill in New Brunswick, Canada, following a successful Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). After receiving the Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s Certificate of Determination in accordance with the EIA, IPP will break ground on the project which is estimated to cut the mill’s water consumption by up to 50 percent and result in cleaner water leaving the mill. Construction will require 60 contractor jobs averaged over the 2-2.5-year period with peaks of 120 local contractors. Construction and installation of the new equipment is expected to generate 609,000 person-hours of work over an estimated 22 months in New Brunswick. Construction will begin immediately and run until late 2024.

The government of New Brunswick is issuing a new Class 1 air quality approval for the Arbec Forest Products mill in Miramichi. The mill produces oriented strand board for use in the construction industry. Hardwood and softwood logs are debarked, flaked and dried. The dried flakes are combined with wax and resin, then layered and pressed into boards. The company’s current approval expires on Aug. 31, 2022, with the new five-year approval taking effect on Sept. 1, 2022. The approval follows a public consultation process that included a public review, which ran from Feb. 24 to June 29. The information, along with approval conditions, can be viewed on the Department of Environment and Local Government website or at any regional office of the department.

The pause on legal wrangling between the Nova Scotia government and Northern Pulp is being extended, but it’s unclear for how long. A spokesperson for the province says that the two-month pause, which was scheduled to go until early August, has been extended following a recommendation by a court-appointed mediator and the monitor assigned to Northern Pulp’s creditor protection file. Justice Minister Brad Johns said the province considered the move “a measure of good faith,” but declined to provide more details. …Northern Pulp has an application before the courts for a judicial review of the terms of reference for its provincial environmental assessment related to a proposed new effluent treatment facility and overhaul of its bleached kraft pulp mill in Abercrombie, N.S. The company is also suing the province for $450 million in damages related to the government’s decision to end Northern Pulp’s lease to use Boat Harbour.