Frontier Centre for Public Policy has released Senior Fellow Elizabeth Nickson’s paper “The Failures of Forest Certification and the Implications for the Public Wealth of the Canadian North“. In this paper, Nickson posits that the forest certification movement not only had a devastating effect on the value of the forest industry, there is evidence it has been destructive of the forest biosphere itself. Ms. Nicksons suggests that if the environmental movement is successful in forcing the same model on the pipeline, oil sands, and fracking industries, it is likely to see the same devastating devaluation that the forestry industry suffered.
Nickson suggests that this movement to certification may be presented by environmental lobbyists as a “solution to public unrest” but if successful will occur at a time when Canada needs to grow its economy to “meet its debt and unfunded liabilities, particularly those of universal health care and the aging population”. This unfunded liability (no funds have been set aside) is calculated to be $2.8 trillion if nothing were done.
About the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an innovative research and education charity registered in both Canada and the United States. Founded in 1999 by philanthropic foundations seeking to help voters and policy makers improve their understanding of the economy and public policy, our mission is to develop ideas that change the world.