Ian Dunn
“Timmins and northeastern Ontario have well-established and world-class sawmills,” said Ian Dunn, CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA). “They are being challenged by the ongoing consolidation and evolution of the pulp and paper sector, weak housing demand in the US, and now 45% market entry costs.” On Oct. 4 federal and provincial governments stepped in with short term funding to prevent the idling of the Kap Paper, the region’s last remaining paper mill in Kapuskasing. The move averted the loss of over 300 direct jobs. …Another reason cited was the declining market for the mill’s products, newsprint and bulk paper for books. Industry has been advising governments at all levels to anticipate and prepare for what they say is a crisis. …“The US has reached the absurd conclusion that upholstered furniture and softwood lumber represent a national security threat to the most powerful military on earth,” Dunn said.
ONTARIO — Upper levels of government have reached funding agreements to support the Town of Kapuskasing’s Paper Mill, averting a planned closure and providing what local leaders are calling “a critical step” toward securing the region’s economic future. Kap Paper announced the newfound support in a social media post on Friday evening. “Next week, we’ll be working out the details for a restart plan,” the post said, adding that updates would be shared “as soon as everything is confirmed.” Kapuskasing Mayor Dave Plourde, called the deal a “critical step forward for Kapuskasing and the entire region,” in a statement posted to the town’s social media page. …“We now have a second chance – a window of opportunity to come together, calmly and deliberately, to build a plan for modernization and long-term competitiveness,” said Plourde …“Today, I am pleased to confirm that both the federal and provincial governments have agreed to provide support.”
Companies reliant on New Brunswick’s softwood lumber industry are bracing for hard times after US President Trump announced new tariffs on Sept. 30. …In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt pleaded for the federal government to make softwood lumber tariffs a top priority. “In some communities in New Brunswick, one in every 11 workers depends directly on forest products,” Holt wrote. …Ron Marcolin, the New Brunswick vice-president with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said the latest tariffs and duties are a big deal in a long-running drama over softwood lumber. …While New Brunswick may largely rely on the American market, Marcolin said Americans also rely on New Brunswick’s products. …”The thing is, too, they realize their product is inferior. Their softwood lumber is not as good as a Canadian stick of lumber.”
THUNDER BAY, Ontario — The Ontario government is investing a further $30 million to support businesses, workers and communities dependent on the province’s forest sector. This funding will build and maintain more forestry access roads and provide immediate support for Ontario sawmills to find new markets for their woodchips. These investments will strengthen Ontario’s forestry sector, create jobs and increase the sector’s competitiveness in the face of increased US softwood lumber duties and the threat of tariffs. …An additional $20 million is being invested through the Provincial Forest Access Roads Funding Program, bringing the government’s total funding for the program to over $79 million this year. …The government is also providing immediate support to sawmills by investing $10 million in the Ontario Sawmill Chip Support Program. The funding provides immediate support to sawmills while they find new, innovative markets for their wood chips such as energy production or alternatives for single-use plastics.
HUNTSVILLE — The Ontario government is investing $10 million through the Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program to help Daiken North America upgrade its laminated board production line at its manufacturing facility in Huntsville. This investment will help the company bring a first-of-its-kind wood panel product to market, create jobs and boost productivity. As part of its plan to protect Ontario, the government is making strategic investments to help forest sector businesses adapt, compete and grow to stay resilient in the face of U.S. tariffs. …Daiken’s $70 million project will equip them to manufacture a new type of wood panel used in flooring, recreational vehicles and modular housing, while supporting 128 existing jobs and creating 10 new jobs. This made-in-Ontario forest product is the first of its kind in the world, offering a higher-performance, lower-cost alternative to imported material. 
ONTARIO — The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre has partnered with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC), the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE), Lakehead University and Confederation College to launch the Boreal Springboard, an innovative initiative aimed at strengthening and diversifying the forestry sector in Northwestern Ontario. Graham Bracken, at the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, said the launch comes at a critical time for forestry in the region. …“The trade pressures were really the impetus to focus people’s minds,” Bracken said. “The sector is really integrated, and any threat to protection on the sawmill side weakens the rest of the sector. There’s a real drive to look to trade diversification and try and develop new value-added products that we can access other markets with.” Bracken says these investors will bring skills, technologies, and solutions that can be adapted to strengthen and grow the sector.
A group of University of Toronto forestry students collected acorns from a giant White Oak tree at Queen’s Park on Wednesday as part of an effort to preserve the diversity of Toronto’s native trees. Eric Davies, a forest ecologist at the University of Toronto, led a group of undergraduate students in the university’s foresters club as they gathered about six litres of acorns from a tree in Queen’s Park North, one of four remaining large White Oaks in the park. White Oaks, a common deciduous tree species in North America, are the largest and oldest trees in the green spaces outside the Ontario Legislature. …Davies said timing is key, as White Oaks produce acorns about once every five to 10 years — this year being one of them. …Davies said the students will donate most of the acorns to the City of Toronto’s tree seed diversity program in the next two weeks. Some of the acorns will be kept at U of T to be grown there, he added.
The Nova Scotia government’s proposed move to make it illegal to block forest access roads on Crown lands is being dismissed as heavy-handed and an attempt to ignore Mi’kmaq rights. Several presenters spoke out in opposition Monday during an appearance before the legislature’s public bills committee hearing on the Protecting Nova Scotians Act. The omnibus bill includes one new piece of legislation and amends seven other acts, including the Crown Lands Act. The changes to the act would impose a $50,000 fine and/or six months in jail for protests or individuals who ignore protest camp removal orders. Michelle Paul, a Mi’kmaq water protector and land defender, said the bill was written without consultation or consideration of treaty rights and should be withdrawn. “It’s not lost upon us that this bill is being rushed through on the eve of Treaty Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,” said Paul. 
THUNDER BAY — A number of stakeholders, largely from the forestry and energy sectors, got to provide regional input into a series of ongoing cross-province talks about energy policy. The Vaughn and Thunder Bay Chambers of Commerce held a roundtable discussion in the city on Oct. 2. The goal was for regional interests to provide requested input into an issues paper on energy being developed by the Toronto-based business lobby. …In Northwestern Ontario, she said, that includes longstanding sources like hydroelectricity and natural gas, but also continually-emerging opportunities connected to forestry and biomass. “We also talked a lot about the opportunities through the forest sector and biomass and the many things that can be created by harnessing forest products into energy,” Robinson said. “I think the most important thing was talking about how, from a forestry perspective, it really does check all the boxes.”
NOVA SCOTIA — Unseasonably warm temperatures proved challenging Monday as the fight against an out-of-control wildfire in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley entered its second week. The Department of Natural Resources estimated that the fire at Lake George had grown slightly in 24 hours to just over 2.8 square kilometres, mainly because of dry and windy conditions. Monday’s forecast for the area near Aylesford, N.S., called for a high of 28 C — the average daily high in the region for October is normally below 15 C. “I can’t believe it — in October we normally get frost and cold,” Dave Corkum, mayor of the Municipality of the County of Kings, said in an interview. “There is some rain in the forecast in a few days and hopefully we will get it.” Despite the conditions, Corkum said there are no reports of damage to structures in the area.
Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources says more evacuations are possible as a fire near Lake George in the Annapolis Valley continues to burn out of control. Residents of … Aylesford Lake’s southwest end have been told to prepare to evacuate. The fire in Kings County, which broke out Sunday, is estimated to be 150 hectares. It had been pegged at 300 hectares Monday night but officials at a briefing Tuesday afternoon said that was the result of an overestimation due to dense smoke conditions. Jim Rudderham, DNR’s director of fleet and forest protection, told reporters the cause of the fire has not been determined but it’s presumed human activity is responsible since there has been no lightning in the area. “It’s frustrating for us and for everybody when this happens,” Rudderham said. No buildings have been damaged but 275 civic addresses have been evacuated and 56 others are under an evacuation alert. Some of those addresses are cottages.
AYLESFORD — Nova Scotia officials say more evacuation orders are possible as a wildfire in the Annapolis Valley remains out of control. In a social media post, the Department of Natural Resources said a helicopter had been dispatched to gauge the area of the Lake George fire, which at last estimate was roughly 300 hectares in size. The fire broke out Sunday and was declared out of control late Monday, prompting officials to announce an evacuation of nearby campgrounds and homes. Officials said Tuesday residents on Birch Lane, Spruce Drive and Blue Lane at Aylesford Lake’s southwest end should be prepared to evacuated. Dry and windy conditions have helped push the fire from the northern end of Lake George eastward toward the northern end of Aylesford Lake. Evacuees are asked to register at the Louis Millett Community Complex in New Minas, N.S., where services are being offered.