Charlie Angus
OTTAWA — Parliament’s Natural Resources committee voted unanimously Monday to call on Paper Excellence owner Jackson Wijaya to testify, following news that he is assuming sole control of controversial pulp and paper giant Asia Pulp and Paper from his father. New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said he wants the committee to hear from Wijaya as well as Canadian government officials who said there was no connection between Asia Pulp and Paper and Paper Excellence, which was recently rebranded as Domtar. …”I don’t think anyone would have opened the door to Asia Pulp and Paper coming in, or the Wijaya family coming in, to take over Canadian forestry operations if it was known that they were Asia Pulp and Paper. So hence the creation of Paper Excellence as the Trojan horse to get into Canada.” The motion also calls for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne to appear before the committee.
VANCOUVER — Western Forest Products announced that the Company and the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 (USW) have agreed to the terms of a tentative collective agreement. The USW represents approximately 1,000 Western employees. The tentative agreement is subject to a ratification vote by USW membership, which is expected to occur before the end of the year. The USW bargaining committee has advised that they will be recommending that its members accept this agreement. …Steven Hofer, President and CEO of Western Forest Products said, “A new collective agreement will provide critical business certainty to the Company as we look to accelerate the transition to higher value products through reinvestment in our operations. I want to thank the bargaining team members for their work to deliver a fair and balanced agreement.”
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.
Re: Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. …While the announcement garnered much attention, few traders considered the threat credible, and the industry as a whole took a wait-and-see approach to the news. In Western S-P-F, upward price momentum paused as the US holiday approached. Buyers had an easier time covering immediate needs, and declined to extend inventories, especially in spots where winter weather had settled in. Lumber futures was little changed in early trading. Buyers across the South lacked urgency amid abundant supplies of most items. Downward price pressure was unabated. Many veteran traders noted that the price spread between Southern Pine and Western S-P-F was the widest they had seen in their careers and expressed surprise that species substitution was not more prevalent. In Coast markets, upward price momentum and tight supplies kept prices trending higher in uneventful trading. 
Policymakers are looking out for indications of what President-elect Donald Trump plans to do to ease housing costs next year. …Trump has spoken frequently of his proposed 60% tariff on goods from China, which he has said would create more manufacturing jobs in the US. …But housing economists and other experts say that could be bad news for building more affordable housing. Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, a financial services company, said tariffs are one of her main concerns about the effects of a second Trump term. “One of the biggest concerns is not just lumber [costs], but the overall cost of materials, which have been going up,” Hepp said. Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning in the department of planning and landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said building costs are already high from tariffs on Canadian lumber.
A founding member of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has called on the green credentials body to “immediately terminate” sustainability certificates for Canada’s largest forestry company. The 
The strategy that the Trump administration could follow will have significant benefits for regions that desperately need the jobs: the coal mining sector and the forest products sector. …This well-proven co-firing strategy, which is already in place in many other countries, can provide certainty for the need for US produced coal, certainty for US coal mining jobs, and stimulate billions of dollars of new capital investment for the production of solid fuel derived from the by-products of the primary forest products sector. …By supporting the blending of 15% US produced bioresource derived solid fuel with 85% US produced coal in coal- fueled power plants, the strategy will support the continued operation of those power plants and therefore will sustain the demand for coal as part of the power generation fuel mix. The plan will also strongly support the otherwise fading markets for residual forest products.
SEATTLE – The wildfire smoke that blankets much of the American West each summer is likely more harmful than previously understood, especially to older people, scientists found. Research announced this week, and led by scientists at the University of Washington, discovered that prolonged exposure to the ultrafine particles in wildfire smoke heightens the risk of dementia for those 60 and older. …Joan Casey, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Washington said, not only are older people at risk with the increasing exposure to wildfire smoke, but so too are those who can’t access air quality warnings, afford filtration or avoid outdoor exposure throughout the fire season. Casey partnered with scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, the University of California in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. …Dementia isn’t the only risk associated with wildfire smoke. Those with prolonged exposure could also suffer from respiratory or cardiovascular problems.