Day Eight
Edmundston
December 2, 2003 

Louis Lavoie, from the Green River Cottage Association stressed it was the population who is the owner of Crown Lands.  Rights and responsibilities: since 1982, the law has attributed 10 licenses, and we have the impression that those licensees have the rights to do whatever they like.  In reality, the rights to our Crown Lands are shared by 25 sub-contractors and Fraser-Nexfor.  We think that we should harvest more wood from Crown Lands to help forest industries.  But we need a forest policy that enables fair competition between private woodlot owners and industry.  The report may be the beginning of changes.  We must act for our economic and social prosperity.  Mr. Paulin asked if norms about roads and clear cuts were respected around their cottages: Yes.

Select Committee Staff: UNB's Tom Erdle,
Jennifer Dunlap and Scott Makepiece from DNR

Dominic Boucher, Alain Lamarre, Shermag, a vertically integrated furniture manufacturer who transforms hard wood from the forest to sells high value-added product to clients.  Problems however:  we are expecting a serious wood shortage before 35 years, because we have not concretely invested in hard woods.  But we should invest in hard woods, not only unidirectional investments in soft woods.  The vision of the report is the vision which prevails in industry these days.  But should we really favour only one sector, even if it disadvantages all the others?  Hard wood transformation adds high value to our primary resources and we can complete the whole economic transformation.  Our hopeful vision:  better investment sharing among all sectors, better flexibility to answer market fluctuations, a non-centralised diversified forest industry.

Paul Rioux, local 114 of CEPU of Canada, forestry worker.  « We know that we must produce more wood instead of importing it.  But we must harvest in a responsible way. »  In our trade, it takes at least one year to become competent. 

Gérald Clavette, Woodlot owner.  First of all, my first objective is to insure that my wood lot is sustainable.  Now, wood lots are overharvested, the value of an acre is 1000$.  It is important to assure long term wood availability.  It is the foundation of our heritage.  Can we count on the 42,000 wood lot owners to obtain their certification when one knows about the overexploitation of those lots?  If we want to maintain our forest industry, we must act now.  Forest industry has now accepted to invest in forestry.  For my part, as a wood lot owner, I am ready to invest.  Community forestry :  we must not forget that there is already a lot of participation in forest management with advisory committees and public hearings.  World forest has diminished by 12,5% and will diminish by 25% in the next years.

Roger Roy, Université de Moncton, Edmunston Campus, professor of forestry planning.  Professor Roy mentioned that his commentaries were his, they had not been censured or approved by his employer or his colleagues.  It is very good of the Jaakko-Pöyry report to be in favour of citizen participation in forestry matters.  There is nothing new in this report, it is very good to increase forest production, but to cut in buffer zones or in deer yards is not part of acceptable forest practice. 

As a whole, several aspects of the report are worrying : 

1)  Plantations create lost of species;

2)  The propose solution, the creation of plantations, needs herbicides and pesticides; (Is it really acceptable to citizens and will this herbicided wood be acceptable on international markets?)

3)  Buffer zone harbour a great variety of flora and fauna.  Then, what would be the result of a great reduction of wood in those protected areas?

4)  With the world competition, do we know which directions our competitors will take?

5)  Department planning :  we should create a consultative board formed by all stakeholders to make the process transparent, to help with decision making and to support DNRE. 

6)  The Jaakko-Pöyry report suggests that there are overlapping responsibilities between department employees and industry inspectors.  Of course, the report suggests to the department to reduce its personnel and to replace those employees with industry’s inspectors   Industries could then play the role of the fox keeping the chicken coop.

Recommendations: 

1)  All forestry values must be respected;

2)  We must do everything to improve private wood lot management and we should utilize Crown lands as a last resort supplier; plantations should be placed on private land;

3)  If we really want to elaborate a plantation policy, let’s place them on the 47% of private wood lots instead of on the 50% of Crown lands;

4)  Forest industries tell us they are ready to invest in Crown lands, why don’t they use this money to invest on their own land?

Conclusion: The Jaakko-Pöyry report is too narrow. M. Roy presented a forestry plan which could protect all forest values. (Applause).

Jean Arnold, Executive Director, Falls Brook Centre. 
We are the first group to be certified under FSC standards and we want to address the ecological effects of plantation and the tenure systems. Around the world corporations are heralding plantations - and the bulk of these are being grown in the southern hemisphere with longer growing seasons. We in NB have a rich Acadian hardwood and coniferous forest with great diversity. Jean Arnold's family lives on a hardwood ridge - 200 acres. She described the soil, the presence and complex interactions of fungi and all the other undergrowth in a natural forest ecosystem, which nourish essential minerals and stabilize the forest ecosystem - against extremes of moisture, temperature, pests and other conditions for the active growth and health of our forests. Intensive forest practices destroy these habitats and interactions. We believe that these practices threaten the long term health of our forests. Herbicides and pesticides travel downstream - we all live downstream and our water quality is threatened with their use. What about the medicinal properties - the hemlock, taxus canadiensis produces taxol, a cancer treatment, what about this and the potential of other elements of the forest - trees comprise 5% of the total plants of the forest. Our forest should be managed by the people of the NB for the people of NB.
Tenure: we have 6 licensees - all but one are foreign owned and their interests are profit-oriented with interests and the other JD Irving, which acts like NB is their personal fiefdom. Royalties from Crown Land do not even pay for their own department of Natural Resources - we are operating a non-profitable venture.
Tenure should be for NBers - examples of community forestry abound - with well-developed plans - why are we giving away our heritage to companies who are not interested in managing for anything but the bottom line.  No to plantations, no to herbicides, yes to managing NB for NBers.

Colleen Sappier, Tobique First Nations - it is very sad that First Nations people are so poorly represented here. The government has handed 6 companies from elsewhere our Crown lands - they are going to make plantations, who is going to do the work -  MLA MacDonald : These are recommendations from the Jaakko-Poyry report, nothing has been decided yet. We are here to listen to you.
Ms. Sappier: Isn't this committee set up to cater to industry? The government keeps us under their thumb, when I go fishing, I get fined, when I go in the woods and cut wood, I get fined. We are bombarded by rules - we cannot go out and get an ash tree - what I'm trying to say is it isn't fair, we don't get a fair deal. Grass roots people cannot afford to make it to your meetings. We know what is in the best interest of the people - we need sustainable forestry practices - corporations' interests do not have our interests at heart. Is the government going to pass on your fiduciary obligations to corporations. We need some for us.
MLA MacDonald: Our committee has contacted the aboriginal committees and we intend to meet with them after Christmas.

James Landry - Are Crown lands managed for public interests? When I had problems with beavers, I called the Department of Natural Resources for help and, they told me to go see Fraser. I work in the environmental sector. Un square mile of forest supplies a large amount of water. One concern is the use of pesticides on plantations and the simple presence of plantations. They are things that do not function well in the Jaakko-Pöyry report : to invest in plantations when regeneration does the work itself, and government of course will pay for it! M. Landry prefers small industries. As an example, deer have disappeared from Northern New Brunswick because of poor forest management: we preserve deer yards but deer are always on the move, so when they are not there, we cut the yard, deer come back and they find no food. The accounting system based on the wood mass is not very efficient either, it suffice to let wood dry before it is delivered to the mill. The wood has then loss a lot of its mass. A new system would be more efficient. And one must use selective cuts instead of clear cuts. M. Landry would agree f the government would take over abandoned land or old cultivated lands, one option would be to increase tax to oblige owners to manage their wood lots, and finally, government help should be for everyone.

Diane Landry, Pascal Giguere, Jean Sebastien, Jason Duran - University of Moncton
These forestry students asked the committee to think outside the box. We need to do the best job we can do, not just with softwoods, but hardwoods, mixed woods, habitat conservation areas - everything... They said converting 40 percent of the Crown lands to softwood plantations is too high. As hardwoods evaporate more water than softwoods, plantations can alter the hydrological cycle by reducing the distribution of hardwoods. There is also the matter of herbicides polluting our water systems. They called for a balance where if one third of the Crown lands was to be managed intensively, one third could be managed from an ecosystem perspective, and one third could be managed for protected areas.

Jean-Marie Binot - University of Moncton, Forestry Faculty
What the Jaakko Poyry report does not say is that most of the Finnish forests are owned by private citizens. Treatment there is applied on a 2 ha basis on average. The Finnish government influences all aspects of forestry in that country. What is proposed for New Brunswick is the opposite where the government would be reduced to an auditor.
Binot couldn't believe that the Jaakko Poyry report suggested that the current amount of clearcutting be maintained, rather than encouraging regeneration cuts. It does not cite the research that has demonstrated the ill-effects of large-scale clearcutting. Similarly, there is considerable research that shows the high risks associated with replacing forests with plantations. Furthermore, plantations means more herbicide spraying, something Quebec has now banned on public lands. On the other hand, the report's suggestion that pre-commercial thinning should be reduced which will only delay the growth of more wood. And there is no mention of commercial thinning in the report.
He recommended that a cautious approach is taken because we cannot back up on the decisions we make today ten or twenty years from now. He recommended that our objective should not be to maximize softwood at the expense of other resources, rather the objective should be improvement. We need to focus on quality - the report only mentions quantity not quality, he said. He called on the committee to think in the short-, medium-, and long-term and said we need to invest in research. Perhaps his most important recommendation, he suggested, is to be innovative and creative. We need to exploit a special niche for high quality value-added wood which means we need to diversify our management. He gave the example of the economic benefits of pruning to provide knot-free lumber.
He concluded by saying let's aim for quality not for quantity. It is quality that is profitable not quantity. We should do pre-commercial thinning and regeneration cuts. We need to be creative and innovative.

Ronald Fournier - Negentropy Farms
Mr. Fournier took his place at the presenters table with much applause from the audience. He spoke about the lessons his father taught him in woodlot management based on selective cutting not clearcutting. The time has come, he said, for New Brunswickers to decide whether they are masters of the forest commons or is it multinational companies. He argued that it would be foolish for us to tie our future to the pulp and paper industry. What is being proposed by the Jaakko Poyry report is nothing less than the deportation of the Acadian forest.
Our healthy forests provide us with oxygen, carbon sequestration, water filtration and regulation, he said. These are all critical services and must be sustained. He called for us to maintain what we have going for us now - a mix of species and forest products. Mr. Fournier described the oft-repeated claim that we have the best forestry practices as nothing but old propaganda perpetuated to benefit the status quo. If what we have had is the very best, he asked, how can we be in such a mess now?
Mr. Fournier pointed out that Jaakko Poyry has recommended that Ontario get away from low value fibre production and move to a focus on increasing quality and value-added production.  He noted that these hearings have seen industry representatives come before the Select Committee time and time again to comment on their own recommendations.
He described how many decades ago the Irvings obtained huge tracts of land from the New Brunswick Railroad Company for an extremely low price. This land should be reclaimed by government and put back in the hands of the First Nations to give them a chance.  Mr. Fournier said that there are only 70 sub-licensees remaining of the original 150. He said we should not be surprised if they repeatedly stand up for the big forestry companies because their wood supply depends on them.
He supported low impact community forestry and opposed the transformation of 40 percent of Crown lands to plantations and increased cutting in special management areas.

Andrea Berry, Canadian Organic Growers - 
Ms. Berry presented some of the relationships between agriculture and forestry. She talked about what could be learned from organic agriculture. In particular she noted the importance of avoiding the use of synthetic pesticides and maintaining diversified production. She spoke about the use of glyphosate-based herbicides such as vision which are sprayed on 12,000 ha of Crown land every year. Laboratory studies have found adverse effects in all categories of toxicological testing from this herbicide. Testing of soils has shown that the herbicide remains in soils between 200 too 400 days. In Sweden, such testing found the herbicide in soils years after its application. In addition to the active ingredient, these herbicides contain toxic inert ingredients, many of which have been proven to have adverse effects on human health. Some research has demonstrated that the toxicity of the inert is greater than that of the active ingredient itself.
The use of biocides in New Brunswick's forests poses a risk to humans and the environment. Their aerial application can put nearby certified organic operations, such as sugar bushes, at risk. Ms. Berry pointed out that there is potential to increase the production of organic maple syrup on Crown lands.
She pointed out that the increase in plantations recommended by Jaakko Poyry will increase the aerial spraying of herbicides. Her recommendations called for a prohibition on the use of biocides on the Crown lands which means moving away from the plantation model of forestry. 
<download her powerpoint presentation>

Jacques Lapin - Monsieur Lapin spoke about the land. He said we are called to treat the land with love, but instead we wreak violence upon it. Rather than being stewards of the land we have tried to be its master, subjugating it to maximize the profits that are to be made from it exploitation. Why he asked, are New Brunswickers arrested if they try to earn a living for their families from the Crown lands. And what about the First Nations? Despite repeated legal judgments upholding our treaties with them, why are they still kept off the land. Is it just money, he wondered. Love, justice, community - where are these fundamental dimensions of our humanity reflected in the Jaakko Poyry report.

Don Tardie - Nexfor Fraser Papers
Mr. Tardie said his companies mills are the pride of the communities where they are found. He explained how big they are in terms of the land base they manage, the number of mills they operate and the number of people they employ. He described how he has become a disciple of the forest management process in New Brunswick over the past 20 years.  He said there is an absolute need for a wood supply objective. There is a need to double the supply of softwood so that it can support our current way of life and provide taxes to fund hospitals and roads.
Crown lands wood supply is eroding. He says we have gone from 8 percent of the Crown lands being managed for things other than exclusively for timber in 1987 to 32 percent while the annual allowable cut has been reduced. He presented a graph which showed decreasing annual allowable cut and increasing royalties.
Mr. Tardie said it is important to make clear that they want to double the growth of softwood for the long term, through new investments and silviculture efforts. If industry invests in silviculture on Crown Lands, the industry should receive a guarantee that their investment is protected, ie. that government pay industry if there are losses or they do not meet their objectives. Mr. Paulin: Is your company investing in your private lands to raise the timber yield? Mr. Tardie says they have invested $32 million in silviculture last year.

Denis Pelletier, President and Paul Gagnon, Director, Chamber of Commerce, Edmunston - It is important to act in order to assure the survival of forest industries and the economic development of our region.  28 000 jobs are related to forestry in our region and 14 communities depend entirely on forestry.  Environment concerns are legitimate.  New Brunswick must remain a leader in forestry practices.  We are confident that environmental groups will do the necessary inspections to preserve the protected areas and all other ecological values in our forest.

Daniel Laplante, President, Enterprise Madawaska - The wood-manufacturing sector has known good successes, especially in terms of value added.  It is essential that harvesting be done according to an inventory of what exists at present.  And then act to ensure in order to ensure a steady supply of wood in the future.

Yvon Léveillee, teacher and naturopath. The point of view of many persons, nurses and students.  When one speaks of forests, we speak of sustainable development.  And there are several perspectives, but finally, it means to act in such a way that it does not compromise our needs in the future.  We must be very careful, as representatives of the population, not to give away all our controls to industry.  We know what happened to cod…we must now be more than prudent.  Sustainable development also means booming communities.  Not exactly what happened in Baker Brook with the closing of its school, only one example amongst several others.  Dwindling populations are only one sign of the impoverishment of the communities.  Sustainable development means durability.  Survival of forest depends on the qualities of the soils, on the quality of water, then forest is there to protect us.  We don’t know as yet what percentage of earth must be covered by forests to ensure our survival.  If we change the natural nature of our forest too quickly, we cannot know the results of our interventions.  And with respect to our Crown lands, the Canadian laws specifies that Crown lands are entrusted to provinces in order they may be used for the benefits of the entire population.  We need several improvements in our communities.  Public transport between villages is very poor.  Services for the elderly need improvements and a cinema would also be useful.  All those items make up sustainable development.  And forests harbour several collective values :  quantity and quality of water, retaining of running water, carbon sinks, diffusion of oxygen, and other services essential to our life.  After citing statistics about clear cutting in the North, near Campbellton all the down South to Deersdale near Juniper, Mr. Léveillée recalls that these Crown lands have been entrusted to the province for the benefit of natives and all other citizens.  It seems reasonable that these lands need shared management with the people of the province.  We should integrate local management on Crown lands. 

Mayor Jacques Martin, City of Edmndston - We believe that government must innovate to progress in development. Forest exploitation is closely linked to the development of the city of Edmunston. We wish that forest be managed in collaboration with communities for a real sustainability and for the prosperity of our collectivity. A healthy forest contributes to our quality of life and we want to preserve this for future generations. The implications and results of the Jaakko-Pöyry report are vast. A survey of the opinion of citizens in this area shows that the health of our forest is their most important concern. Forest are related to our quality of life and to our good health. And of course, the economic value of our forest must also be taken into consideration. But Crown Lands are a public property. If corporations can guarantee that citizens will always have access to their forest, let go ahead. But those interventions must maximize advantages for future generations. It is essential to establish a well-regulated relation with our Crown lands. Our decisions and our forestry practices must not be founded on the only model proposed in the Jaakko-Pöyry report. Instead we propose an approach founded on established knowledge and on recognized studies in forestry. Our university, the University of Moncton, should be essential for our development. Let's avoid at all cost the monoculture approach as recommended in the Jaakko-Pöyry report. My recommendation : The province should ensure that the forestry practices should be compatible with the types of woods available in our forest.

Dr. Yves Carrier - Fondation Glazier, Conditions in our forests : Forest should be exploited taking into account forest life cycles.  I hope that after these hearings, decisions will reflect what has been said.  The present wood shortage is just the result of the style of management that corporations want to maintain.  During the last 50 years, have we improved our forests?  Do our fauna and flora live in better conditions?  On the contrary, it is widely accepted that the result of our forest practices have devastated land and water life in our forests.  There are alternative methods to the industrial model proposed in Jaakko-Pöyry report.  We have the expertise here in our country, in our province, in two of our universities in their forestry departments.  Why should we go to Finland to produce such a report?  We have loss jobs in forestry since many years and now, at last,  a wood shortage is foreseen.  Will capital stay here?  Les pertes de revenus de la province significant des profits pour les multinationals.  Are we powerless facing globalization?  Have the different Department of Natural Resources well managed our Crown lands?  Or are they also a threatened specie?  Imagine, in this report it is proposed that the government pay for our deforestation!  Forests are the basis for our survival, not multinationals profits.  I envisage a forest standing up but exploited for its economical value.  Our primary resource is transformed here and it reflects what grows our forest without destroying it.  A society which can find a billion to put restriction on gun ownership can find money to preserve our forest, our heritage. 

Roland Malenfant
Here are some of the oversights in the Jaakko-Pöyry report : 

1. No where is there mention of the annual clear cut areas;

2. According to government, as reported in Acadie Nouvelle, the population of deer, white tail deer, is not in good health;

3. No where do we find mention of the overexploitation of private wood lots;

4. No where do we mention the public right of access to forests;

5. No mention of waste and herbicide spraying;

6. Protected zones disappear in the North East;

7. No mention of public participation in forest management;

8. Buffer zones should remain what they are, a refuge for fauna;

9. We must introduce forest co-management, and we must establish rigorous standards to preserve our forests.

Martin Belan - forestry professor, Moncton University, Edmunston Campus.  It is our duty to take care of the management of our forest for the citizens and for the needs of upcoming generations.  In order to harvest the best quality and to succeed an economic production, it recommended that we must use selective cuttings in many places with interventions before and after cuttings.
Private wood lots: even if those lots do not belong to the province, they contribute to the province economy.  Several wood lot owners do not have the means to maintain their lot and they accept to have their lots clear cut for immediate cash return :  this situation could be used to help with wood supply in the province.  Furthermore, it is important that the Department of Natural Resources kept his leadership in forestry. 

Dan Ennis and Pat Paul, Wulustuk (Maliseet) Grand Council, from Tobique Indian Reserve - spokespersons of the Wulustuk Grand Council, the traditional council. 

Dan Ennis and Pat Paul from the Wulustuk Grand Council

The Indian people from time immemorial for the sacred purpose to respect and take care of Mother Earth and to live the full value of self-determination. The traditional form of government was nearly wiped out because of our inability to counteract the wave of new peoples and their ways. We need to connect with the self, the nourishing life form, that universal intelligence which regulates our heartbeat, our breath, our being from the surface to the source. We need expanded awareness to consider the impact of our actions on the seventh generation. All our traditional teachings are based on respecting and honouring the Earth and our people. Though are hearts are sorrowful, we see the first rays of dawn - we need to practice consensus in our midst, an example of all peace-loving people.
Pat Paul, member of the Wulustuk Grand Council - we wish to convey that we, the Wulustuk and the Passamaquoddy and the Mik'maq, that we have never relinquished or given up our rights to the land, which can withstand any challenge in any court in the world. There were peace treaties enacted, yes, but none to give over our land and our relationship to the land. We perceive ourselves to be part of and an extension of the land. Therefore, buying, selling, trading, ceding, surrendering (and many others words used to trade, give, etc.) are terms which we do not recognize. Concerns that are often neglected - ecology, habitat and quality of life. The J-P report spells disaster to the Wulustuk Grand Council. Wulustuk means peaceful and tranquil place (the St. John River's original name). This is our land - based on the fact that we were here for thousands of years and we have not ceded our land. The land was stolen, our land is not a matter of dollars and cents - we could no more sell our land than we could sell our Birth Mother. We want the land to be treated in a manner which respects any consequences and decisions to the seventh generation. This land is still our homeland and remains in dispute - until such time this dispute is settled. We must all work toward the healing of our Earth Mother. Here is the Wulustuk proclamation premised on sacred ancient values: Our land extends from the shores of the St. Lawrence River and extending south and east to the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Whereas the Wulustuk Grand Council has never ceded any land and is the rightful owner of said territory, we hereby advise any person, community or corporation to not presume to buy, sell, cede, auction any land described heretofore.