Testing the plan

The province’s proposed forest-tenure reform won’t save the industry in Northwestern Ontario, but it won’t hurt it, says an industry lobbyist.

Jamie Lim, president of the Ontario Forest Industry Association on Thursday said Ontario’s decision not to unilaterally implement local forest management corporations to govern the province’s woodlands, but instead test the plan out in two locations, will benefit both the large entrenched operations and family-run businesses throughout Ontario.

The initiative, should it get Queen’s Park approval, would also create a series of enhanced sustainable forest licences which would bring together multiple companies, mills and harvesters to collectively divvy up the section of the forest allotted under the licence.

Lim said industry officials were quite concerned when the LFMC plan was first announced, but have relaxed that stance after hearing Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle pull back on its scope, which still much be approved at Queen’s Park.

“Today’s announcement, that says we’re going to take a measured approach, that we’re going to bring forward a modified approach over a five- to seven-year period recognizes we have to do two pilot projects and then take those two pilot projects … and look at the results,” Lim said.

“Does that method really serve the public well? Does it attract investment? We don’t know the answers to that, and that’s why we have to do it over a business cycle. At the same time, our family-run operations, a lot of them that have been fifth-generation, sixth-generation, they need this announcement today because they need to know they’ve got their wood supply.”

The enhanced SFL’s are a positive step forward, one that will provide a foot in the door for smaller start-ups, while still giving larger companies access to their share of the estimated 2.6 million cubic metres of sustainable fibre needed each year in Ontario. 

“That’s very positive. My entire membership supports that move,” Lim said. “We think that’s a very, very brave step forward, something that other ministers have tried to do. Minister Gravelle is landing the plane on this one.”


Red Rock First Nation Chief Pierre Pelletier owns a small harvesting firm and is taking a wait-and-see approach before high-fiving the province for its efforts.

“Everybody’s waiting for the announcements of who’s getting the wood or who’s getting the pilot projects,” said Pelletier, calling it a good first step, with possibly a few missing components. “I think those were the two main things people were hoping for, but I think people cleared that up today saying it won’t happen until after the spring legislature.

“It’s going to be a huge learning curve for everybody.”

Gravelle, who said 2011 will be a watershed one for Northern Ontarians, said they heard loud and clear in consultations that the province’s original plan was not going to fly and changes were needed.

He said he thinks the government is making a strong case for its position, one he feels will be a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Gravelle said it should open up woodlands that are licensed to larger corporations, and that the enhanced shareholder model represents real progress in the modernization of the forestry.

“I think today’s announcement shows that we as a government are committed to seeing a revitalization of the forestry sector by modernizing the forest tenure and pricing section, but also that it needs to take some time to get it right.

“On the one hand local forest management corporations will be able to test the model by setting them up in areas that make sense,” said Gravelle, who declined to name the locations at this time, promising they will be made public in the near future.

“It’s also working with industry to recognize that primary forest producers are a very important part of our economy. Those discussions were vital. At times they were difficult and challenging, but we came to an agreement that indeed they can help us change as well.”