Two companies owned by the billionaire Irving family in eastern Canada appear at odds over some of the details of the country’s largest oil pipeline project, which one of them backs. Forestry company J.D. Irving filed a notice with Canadian regulators this week, saying it was “vitally concerned” about how TransCanada Corp’s proposed Alberta-to-New Brunswick…
In a decision made Thursday, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the earlier decision that ordered the provincial government to pay Moulton Contracting Ltd. for the failed logging operations in the Fort Nelson area. What happened was that months before logging operations were to start, the B.C. Ministry of Forests received a threat from the…
Northern Pulp is poised to appeal its industrial approval permit. “The IA, as it was issued on Jan. 30, we intend to appeal because it was a flawed document,” Bruce Chapman, general manager of the Pictou County mill, said Thursday. “It really hampers our long-term success as a business. “There are people who suggest that we…
There may still be snow on the ground, but the province is already gearing up for wildfire season, which officially begins on March 1st. Preparations include getting crews, aircraft and equipment in place and deploying them to Alberta’s Forest Protection Area as required. Training is also underway for new firefighting personnel and Alberta’s lookout towers are being staffed….
Canada’s biggest railway reached a last-minute tentative agreement with one of its unions on Monday, averting a lockout that threatened to delay imports from Asia and compound a U.S. West Coast port logjam. Canadian National Railway Co and Unifor, the union representing its 4,800 mechanical, clerical and trucking workers, struck a deal just before the…
Global commodity prices have tumbled to levels below the depths of the Great Recession, underscoring the widespread difficulties facing the global economy. While crude oil’s price collapse has been in the spotlight, a wide range of other commodities are suffering as well, including natural gas, coal, iron ore, copper, grain and pulp and paper. The…
At first blush, year-end financials and stock prices for B.C.’s largest forest companies would suggest the province’s forestry sector is well on the road to recovery after a decade-long slump. Interfor Corp. (TSX:IFP), for example, posted record sales of $1.4 billion in 2014 and record production of 2.2 billion board feet. Stock values and market…
The B.C. government has designated 567 old-growth management areas on the Upper and Lower Sunshine Coast. Announced last week by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, the protected areas cover 18,421 hectares, or about 13.6 per cent of Crown forest within five landscape units of the Sunshine Coast Natural Resource District. The…
Much of B.C.’s environmental deregulation goes too far in handing over matters of public interest to those employed by industry, says a University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre study. The shift to so-called professional reliance in the past decade has put more decision making and responsibility into the hands of professionals such as consulting engineers,…
Nanaimo registered professional forester Morgan Kennah was chosen by her peers to sit on the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals council. She is one of two new members voted onto the council by the provincial body representing forestry professionals that chose a new council at the B.C. Forest Professionals’ 67th Annual Conference, which wrapped up…