Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) sees some opportunities for Canada’s forest products sector in today’s federal budget. In the budget tabled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau today, he earmarked: $1.8 billion to support clean technology. It is critical that the forest products sector is central to the government’s clean tech strategy. These investments will…
Taan Forest can continue hiring small contractors to work on Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 60 afterwinning a two-year legal battle with the United Steelworkers Union. The union is appealing the decision. Writing in a 118-page decision in January, labour arbitrator Stanley Lanyon called the case “unique,complex, and litigious.” United Steelworkers argued that according to the…
A proposed logging operation near Hummingbird Creek has unleashed a wave of protest by Swansea Point residents and others who don’t want to see history repeated. The floodgates opened when Swansea Point residents Lois and Dave Schurek received a letter from Tolko Industries Ltd., dated Feb. 22, informing them of 11 cutblocks being proposed for…
Fleming College student Reginald Eddy has received the prestigious Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award, which includes a $12,000 bursary and the opportunity to travel on exchange to the United Kingdom to complete a forest internship. Eddy, in his fifth semester of Fleming College’s Urban Forestry Technician (UTF) Co-op program at the Frost Campus in…
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…