Canada’s international trade minister says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official visit to Washington helped secure a “real breakthrough” in the contentious softwood lumber negotiations. “We have now managed to get the Americans to the table, we have managed to raise attention to this issue at the very highest levels,” Chrystia Freeland said in an interview with Chris Hall…
The Canadian forest industry is on the verge of another watershed moment. The Softwood Lumber Agreement has lapsed, while efforts are underway to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership, creating both opportunities to take advantage of new markets and growing fears about future trade actions from the United States, its largest trade partner. The weak Canadian dollar…
Trees in Newfoundland and Labrador may be doing a better job than anyone thought at pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Why this is the case, however, is not clear. A research scientist at Memorial University, who has been studying how trees in Newfoundland and Labrador’s boreal forest are becoming more efficient at removing carbon from the…
From lodges to libraries, airports to bridges, even transit stations to park pavilions, some of Western Canada’s most impressive wood construction projects were recognized Tuesday evening at the 2016 Prairie Wood Design Awards. Wood WORKS! Alberta and the Canadian Wood Council showcased the efforts of industry-leading architects, engineers and project teams at the ninth annual…
The pilot of a recreational drone that forced water-bombers from smoke-filled skies around Oliver last summer was never located, but future offenders who impede forest firefighters will face higher fines. Fines for 19 offences under the Wildfire Act, including interfering with wildfire protection efforts, are being increased to among the highest in Canada, Forests Minister…
Scouts Canada says it has “concerns” about a large clear cut proposed for Crown land bordering a camp used for generations in the St. Margaret’s Bay area outside Halifax. “It’s mostly aesthetics,” said Jeff Parks, a deputy commissioner with Scouts Canada Nova Scotia Council. “To have an ugly eye sore in there is not what anyone wants.”…
The brief meeting this morning between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama produced a 2,500-word joint statement and another 5,800 words of additional affirmations and commitments from the Prime Minister’s Office. The documents released Thursday, no doubt the products of months of drafting and negotiation between Canadian and American officials, cover a wide array of continental and…
WorkSafeBC says it could be months before its investigation into an explosion and fire at a wood products mill in Quesnel is complete. No one was injured in the blast, which occurred Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m. A cause has not been determined and the company that owns the WestPine MDF mill says it’s unclear…
A fire and explosion Wednesday at a Quesnel mill could have been catastrophic and deadly, says Al Johnson, Vice President of Prevention Field Services for WorkSafeBC. Thirty workers inside West Fraser’s WestPine MDF plant were evacuated safely. It took crews almost five hours to put out the fire. Potential for serious injuries, death “There was the potential here for being catastrophic,” said…
WorkSafeBC has launched an investigation into the cause of an explosion and fire at a forest products mill in Quesnel, B.C. Al Johnson, vice-president of prevention services, said a team of WorkSafe investigators took over the scene from the RCMP on Thursday morning, barely 12 hours after fire tore through a section of the WestPine…