A University of New Brunswick historian says the province could be witnessing the collapse of its marketing board system for private woodlots, according to a story on CBC News.
William Parenteau says the stakes are high as J.D. Irving Ltd. and other industry players have challenged the SNB Co-operative and its marketing board in court and through the province’s Forest Products Commission.
“The marketing board may be there in name, but if [forestry companies] are able to do an end-run around it, and then favour certain larger contractors, what you’ll probably see is a consolidation of smaller woodlots. There will be a few winners and a lot of losers in that process,” Parenteau said.
Forest product sales are regulated in New Brunswick, and woodlot marketing boards were granted authority over sales in their respective geographic territories in 1982, CBC reports.
Read the full CBC story here.