A new plan to manage Ontario’s forests and how they’re accessed has an industry representative discouraged.
Under the proposed Framework to Modernize Ontario’s Forest Tenure and Pricing System, local forest management corporations would be set up in regions across the province.
These corporations would market and sell their region’s access to wood, called sustainable forest licenses, to companies. Forestry minister Michael Gravelle, MPP Thunder Bay-Superior North, said he thinks it’s the right direction to revitalize the ailing industry.
Gravelle spoke to over 100 people Tuesday night at the Airlane Travelodge during a public consultation session presenting the plan.
"This new model is a bold departure, it’s one that we believe that we heard during our consultation during the fall as we move toward this document as to what people were looking for," Gravelle said. "An opportunity to put Ontario’s wood back to work."
But Ontario Forest Industries Association president Jamie Lim said she was at three of those consultations last fall and never once did she hear anyone from the industry tell the government that LFMCs were necessary.
"I can honestly tell you I never heard anyone say ‘We should be developing crown corporations,’ I didn’t hear that once," said Lim. "I don’t know who they listened to."
Lim said the Ontario government was heading in the right direction when it came out with tenure reform such as wood supply competition last fall. With a lot of her members involved with co-ops under the SFLs already, Lim said the Ontario forestry industry wants the province to finish what they started instead of implementing a new and harmful system under LFMCs.
"They (OFIA members) really feel like it’s blowing things up at a time when the companies that are still operating in this province are the survivors," Lim said. "They’ve worked so hard to overcome the recession and all of the challenges and now to be faced with another made-in-Ontario challenge is just really confusing."
Gravelle said because the LFMCs would be responsible for managing and selling crown timbre, companies would be free to innovate and market their products. Although there have been concerns about LFMCs allowing wood harvested in Ontario to be manufactured elsewhere, Gravelle said the corporations would have a board of directors made up of local and regional people with those interests at heart.
"The goal is to make sure the Ontario wood is harvested in as profitable and positive way as possible," Gravelle said. "With the formation of local forest management corporations that decisions are made on a regional or local basis."
Lim said the corporations would have a more regional approach and could potentially lead to OFIA members being outbid for SFLs by out-of province or even out-of-country interests.
"Even though they’re called local they’re not really going to be local, there’s only 5 to 15 of them across Ontario," Lim said. " These aren’t really going to be little local corporations these are going to be regional."
The public has until June 29 to respond to the proposed plan.
