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Our country recently observed National Forest Week, a week in which many organizations celebrate the historic role of Canada’s forests. There’s a lot to celebrate: Our forests account for 10 percent of the world’s forest cover. And over 150 million – over 40 percent of Canada’s nearly 400 million hectares of forests – are internationally certified as sustainably managed. That’s far more than in any other country in the world. The Government of Canada also wants to acknowledge the role of the forest industry in providing well-paying jobs and supporting the quality of life in many Canadian regions. Our forest sector contributed $19.2 billion to our gross domestic product in 2013. It employed over 200,000 workers throughout the country, including several communities in Yorkton-Melville. While those workers depend directly on the forest sector for survival, many of us depend on the forest sector in other ways; not only for the wood products used to make so many of the things we rely on in our daily lives, but for environmental stability. And numerous recreation industries depend on standing forests for their own livelihood. In order to make certain that Canada’s vast natural forests will continue to play a major role in our communities, the federal government is making strategic investments that strike a balance between environmental and economic needs. Less than 0.5 percent of Canada’s forests are harvested annually to manufacture products for the domestic and international markets, and all forests harvested on public lands must be regenerated. Our government is helping to protect and create jobs in Canada’s forest industries. We’re doing that by strengthening the sector’s competitiveness and resilience through initiatives aimed at developing advanced technologies and value-added forest products. Canada’s $100-million Investment in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) Program is helping to drive innovation and transformation in the forest sector, leading to a more resilient industry, with a diverse and higher-value forest product mix. Since 2010, 11 projects have been announced under the IFIT program, helping to bring Canadian ideas from laboratories into the marketplace, with products such as bioenergy from wood waste, engineered wood products that will revolutionize the construction of buildings, and high-quality hardwood flooring from low-quality forest resources, among others. IFIT projects have resulted in over 2,500 jobs being secured or created, the generation of 7.2 megawatts of renewable electrical capacity and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Outdoors Caucus, I know well that our forests are an invaluable part of Canadian hunting and angling. Over the years, I’ve seen that the people who use our natural environment care more about that environment than the well-funded multinational lobby groups that seek to restrict our use of them.-30- The audio version of Garry's October 6, 2014 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here. |
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