Canadian National Railway and Unifor are set to resume contract talks Monday in the face of a threat by the company to lock out nearly 5,000 employees. Statements from both sides said there were high-level discussions on Sunday and the two sides have agreed to continue talking. The railway said Friday it intends to lock…
An increasing number of ships are crossing the Atlantic Ocean bearing millions of tons of fuel, all bound for some of Europe’s largest coal-fired power stations. They’re not carrying coal, though, but wood pellets, sourced from forests in the U.S. Southeast. A large volume of pellets are burned in North Yorkshire, in two recently converted…
As private landowners committed to responsible forest stewardship, we find Lynne Brookes’ letter to the editor (‘Log responsibly,’ The NEWS, Feb. 12) criticizing private land forest management practices curious. While we wholeheartedly agree that the protection of wetlands and riparian area function are important issues in our region, we take offense with her characterization of land…
Everyone has seen them, particularly if they’ve visited Kaatza Station Museum’s Wilmer Gold gallery. I’m referring to photos of old logging shows: loggers and steam engines and first-growth firs that reached so high as to block out the sun and the sky. Seldom, however, do you see photos of sawmill activity without which, of course,…
On behalf of the Township of Ignace, I am responding to the Feb. 4 column by Julee Boan of Environment North (Woodland Caribou In Decline, Future Uncertain). As one of 260 communities in Ontario dependent on the forest industry, for years we have followed processes regarding woodland caribou conservation and recovery strategies. We have watched…
Business activity is largely still relatively slow on US softwood lumber markets in mid-February. According to Random Lengths, the market is currently being governed by spot purchases for covering volumes required at short notice. Buyers are currently still refraining from concluding longer-term contracts for substantial volumes. As such, there are not yet any recognisable signs…
If not for some inspired thinking from a handful of rank-and-file employees, Canfor House, a popular attraction at Canada Winter Games Plaza, might not have been there at all. As Canfor Pulp president Brett Robinson put it, the idea originated about a year-and-a-half ago when the conversation turned to the Games during a company function….
Last year, Finewood Flooring in Middle River closed because it couldn’t get enough hardwood. This week, River’s Bend Wood Products Inc. of Pomquet, Antigonish County, shut down, citing a lack of steady supply of hardwood lumber. Meanwhile, the Group Savoie hardwood sawmill in Westville is running at less than half capacity because it can’t get enough hardwood logs…
The City of Toronto has been named as the recipient of the 2015 Ontario Wood Award. The award recognizes organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to promoting and supporting local wood programs and producers. The City of Toronto was recognized for their initiatives to promote locally produced wood products and urban forestry services and for their…
B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong offered tax breaks and other support for the province’s natural gas and mining sectors on Tuesday, but little for the forest industry, the single largest contributor to the province’s natural-resource revenues. The B.C. budget forecasts that natural-resource revenues will slide by nearly 7 per cent this year, thanks to…