Jason Rasevych

Progress is being made in the forestry sector for First Nations reconciliation in Northern Ontario. Jason Rasevych, president of the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA), attended the Prosperity Northwest conference in January and delivered a keynote on the urgent need for deeper, more respectful collaboration between First Nations communities and the Northern Ontario forestry sector. He said many forestry companies are taking steps to engage more respectfully with First Nations, and there are growing examples of successful partnerships and joint ventures. “However, the pace of change is still slow, and much more needs to be done,” Rasevych said, pointing out that the Crown Forest Sustainability Act is outdated and needs reform and the Forest Tenure Modernization process that was announced by Doug Ford in 2018 has not moved. “We need to pick up traction in these areas and develop a provincial loan guarantee program for forestry.”