An early morning fire at the EACOM lumber operation on the bank of the Mattagami River has damaged the planer section. “It’s too early for us to make any assessment at this point,” reports Jean Brodeur, EACOM’s director of communications and public affairs. He says none of the 30 planer employees was inside the building. The company shut down the sawmill section for the day as well. “(We) basically just wanted to make sure the firefighters were able to operate safely.” Including sawmill workers, the complex employs more than 100 people. EACOM is already planning mitigation to ensure the least effect on production and deliveries. Brodeur says it’s too early to talk about layoffs.
Northern Pulp has applied to the British Columbia Supreme Court to send its $450-million lawsuit against the province to mandatory mediation. The motion was filed Friday with the court as part of its ongoing creditor protection proceedings. …According to the documents filed, Northern Pulp informed the province of its intention to seek mediation on Nov. 12, before it filed its lawsuit in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in December. Northern Pulp alleges in its suit that provincial government bureaucrats conspired to force the company to voluntarily close the Abercrombie Point kraft pulp mill to get the taxpayer off its legal obligations to Northern Pulp and the Pictou Landing First Nation. The suit further alleges there was a choreographed approach between provincial government departments. …The allegations rely upon extensive internal communications between government bureaucrats obtained by Northern Pulp.
New Brunswick softwood producers may be getting some relief later this year with lower duties from the United States government. Just two months after confirming increases in the duties, the U.S. Commerce Department’s preliminary assessment is now proposing lower amounts that would take effect later this year. Most mills in New Brunswick will see their combined anti-dumping and countervailing duty rates drop from 17.9 per cent to 11.64 per cent. J.D. Irving Ltd.’s rate will drop from 15 per cent to 7.09 per cent. J.D. Irving’s wood is charged a different rate than other producers because it successfully persuaded the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate it separately from the rest of the industry. The U.S. first included New Brunswick mills in its softwood lumber duties in 2017 after concluding that prices on provincial wood were not based on an open market.
Late last year, Wanda Thompson, FPAC’s long-time Vice President, Finance and Administration, signalled to me her interest in retiring. It is with mixed emotions that I share the news that Wanda will be retiring from FPAC on August 12, 2022.
KINGSEY FALLS, QC
A supply chain issue has been making its impact on businesses which use paper products, and the problem has been felt locally as well. Drew McLaren, who is the President of McLaren Press Graphics Limited, spoke with the Times about what is driving the paper shortage. He pointed out that wood pulp is in short supply due to increased demand across many different industries. In particular, there is a move away from the use of plastic when it comes to products such as disposable drinking straws used in the restaurant industry, and plastic bags in retail stores. As these plastic products get phased out and replaced with paper alternatives, the demand for wood pulp increases drastically. Another increase in demand that has been driven, at least in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic, is the demand for cardboard boxes… The wood pulp shortage does not have a clear end in sight. 
The Ontario of 30 years from now could be full of new places to live. Apartments and rooming houses on every block. Wood-framed buildings 12 storeys tall. Towers around mass transit, including bus stops, even in the most exclusive neighbourhoods. This is the vision put forward in a report by the Ontario government’s 
Investing in Canada’s forest sector by building sustainable communities is an investment in our future. Encouraging the increased use of wood in Canada’s construction industry will help achieve our climate change goals while increasing the demand for Canadian wood products and creating good jobs for Canadians. The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced an $887,000 investment to support the replacement of the Duchesnay Creek Bridge that connects the City of North Bay and the Nipissing First Nation. The Government of Ontario contributed $17 million. … This funding supported the design and construction of the new replacement bridge and was made with the intention of maintaining the original timber aesthetic of the old bridge. … This high-visibility project will help promote the use of mass timber in highway bridges across Canada. 
The Government of Canada has embraced circular economy and is supporting an increasing number of initiatives in the field. …The purpose of this study is to provide a Canadian perspective on how, and to what extent, forest products are compatible with circular economy strategies. This topic was investigated through interviews with 16 Canadian experts in eco-design, circular economy, forest products and/or waste management, with a focus on construction and packaging. Efforts made by forest industries at the manufacturing stage to reduce resource consumption were acknowledged, but the implementation of other circular economy strategies, such as reuse, recycling and energy recovery, is uneven. While there is low-hanging fruit for incremental improvements, such as the processing of recovered lumber in wood panels and not mixing cardboard fibres with other paper streams to avoid downcycling, several barriers to the widespread adoption of the most promising strategies were identified.
Environmental groups scored a victory in their push for a ban on the pesticide glyphosate at the Federal Court of Appeal last week. The court ordered Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to reconsider an objection to its approval of the pest control product glyphosate, which has been listed as a probable carcinogen. “Ecojustice is pleased with the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision which reinforces the right of Canadians to request an independent scientific review of decisions made by the PMRA about potentially harmful pest control products,” Toronto lawyer Laura Bowman, who works with the Canadian non-profit environmental law organization, said in a release.
New Brunswick’s forestry industry is taking issue with a proposal from maple syrup producers demanding access to additional Crown lands. Forest N.B., the organization which represents forest products producers, argues the expansion could mean a loss of already limited timber for several major employers. Executive director Kim Allen said the campaign by syrup producers is spreading misinformation about the forest industry, which is already required to protect concentrations of maple trees under provincial policy. “We’re equally concerned about how hardwood will be allocated going into the future. It is a significant part of the forest sector in the province – upwards of 40 per cent,” she said. “We think there’s room for both, there’s room for coexistence.”
