It wasn’t all bromance and backslaps in Ottawa when U.S. President Barack Obama addressed Parliament on Wednesday. Behind the closed doors of his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the tone abruptly changed from convivial to tense over softwood lumber — an export industry worth billions of dollars to Canadian producers. There are different accounts…
Local historians are hastening their efforts to record the history of the forestry industry in the lower Skeena and Nass Valley region citing concerns this chapter in Terrace heritage will soon be lost. The Terrace Regional Historical Society is looking for those who worked as loggers, truckers and millworks to share anecdotes and personal photographs…
On a moonless night deep in a Brazilian rainforest the only thing you are likely to see are the tiny smears of light from flitting fireflies or the ghostly glow of mushrooms scattered around the forest floor. Both effects are the result of bioluminescence, the peculiar ability of some organisms to behave like living night-lights….
Following an thorough examination, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) – the federal agency responsible for regulating and managing invasive species – confirmed that the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been detected in Thunder Bay. EAB is an invasive beetle native to Asia that is responsible for devastating millions of ash trees across North…
It’s not easy being a tree in the big city. Especially if that city is Montreal. While all urban trees are subject to an undue amount of strife brought on by pollution, the weight of automobiles and people crushing their roots, and the indignities of human contact that include too much handling and bike locks…
A settlement remains elusive but Canada and the U.S. have edged closer to a job-saving settlement on the softwood lumber dispute, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said here Wednesday. “The United States and Canada have made important progress in our negotiations, but significant differences remain,” they said in a joint statement. Thousands…
Carl Grenier led the Free Trade Lumber Council from 1999 to 2006. He now teaches at the University of Laval, and l’École nationale d’administration publique. Surprises are always possible, but as things stand now, Canada and the United States are not entering a new softwood lumber agreement any time soon. Last March, the President and…
Lignin is a natural component of plant cell walls, the scaffolding that surrounds each cell and plays a pivotal role in plants’ ability to grow against gravity and reach heights ranging from stubbly grasses to the sky-scraping splendor of redwoods. But lignin is a problem for scientists interested in converting plant biomass to biofuels and…
Nearly 300 firefighters from South Africa who came to Canada last month to help fight the massive forest fire in the Fort McMurray area have been paid according to Alberta labour laws, the government said Wednesday. Officials with the South African agency Working on Fire have confirmed for the Alberta government that the workers have been…
A 600 year-old white oak tree, believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world, is showing signs of age and is worrying local residents. The tree is located beside a church built in 1717, where it has stood for 300 years before that. English evangelists James Davenport and George Whitefield preached to…