Ontario and Quebec chambers of commerce say forestry companies are preparing for a trade war with the United States over softwood lumber and are asking the Canadian government for help. The chambers are sending a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, requesting the federal government commit to loan guarantees as Canadian companies will need to set…
Unifor members from across Canada will meet with MPs next week to discuss how the federal government can save good Canadian jobs during Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement negotiations. “The stakes couldn’t be higher for one of the largest sectors of Canada’s economy,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The Trudeau government must stop negotiating trade…
I would like to address some inaccurate comments by Ben Parfitt in his March 10 column. Mr. Parfitt seems to suggest that B.C.’s response to the devastating pine beetle infestation (escalated logging rates) was wrong, saying that the longer it continued, the more rapidly local forests would be depleted and the steeper the future costs…
This week the first batch of ‘Made in Canada’ parasitic wasps will emerge in the fight against the emerald ash borer. Researchers at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie have reared 12,000 of the tiny wasps, which go by the name Tetrastichus. These wasps will join other parasitic wasps — both American…
The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has become Corporate Partner of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to help advance shared priorities in the areas of economic growth, innovation and sustainable land-use management. “In many rural and northern communities across Canada the forest sector is a critical driver of the local economy” says FPAC…
The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) is making a concerted marketing and diversification push to steer more freight off of the highway and onto rail. The North Bay-headquartered Crown agency has been drawing attention in recent months by establishing multimodal yards in Timmins and Cochrane to cater to heavy industrial clients. And in the past year, the…
Natural gas provides almost a quarter of the world’s energy, and deriving this valuable resource from forestry waste, instead of fossil fuels, can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of burning natural gas by 85 per cent. G4 Insights Inc., a Burnaby, B.C.-based firm, has developed a process to convert forest industry residue into renewable natural…
A recent Chatham House report claimed that burning wood for electricity is worse for the climate than using coal. It sparked a backlash from a group of 125 academics in the field who said the research was deeply flawed. Now supporters of the original study have hit back, saying that to avoid dangerous warming the…
The provincial government has announced fire sprinklers will be required on the balconies of all new four-storey wood-frame residential buildings effective July 20. The update to the BC Building Code comes after the Dec. 11 Paddington Station fire that destroyed the top floor of an upscale multi-unit complex in Langley City, which the fire department…
The evolution of Thunder Bay area’s enlightened approach to all things green continues with a new enterprise that is also good business. Converting a variety of waste products into a useful one on a large scale is the goal of Eco Waste Depot which has just received provincial approval to operate a commercial composting facility…