NEWS RELEASE

ONTARIO FOREST
INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION

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48 percent drop in corporate tax revenues comes as no surprise

Tip of the iceberg for rural and Northern communities

Last week, municipal leaders and forest sector representatives held a public town hall meeting in Barry’s Bay to discuss their concerns with two controversial provincial government initiatives – the Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation and the “Lightening the Footprint” campaign in Algonquin Park.

Frustrated with the provincial government’s lack of consideration for the economic fabric of rural communities in the region, which is largely dependent on forestry activities, a complete lack of consultation with rural communities and a disregard for scientific principles, municipal and forest sector reps decided something had to be done.

Larry McTaggart, deputy mayor of Bancroft, summed up the feelings of concern at last week’s meeting when he told the audience, “I am here tonight because I too am concerned about something that is actually endangered - my community.”

The concern was echoed by John Hildebrandt, mayor of Barry’s Bay.

“The Government of Ontario developed the Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation based on input from a single public consultation session in Toronto, and 320 submissions from the broader public of Ontario. The provincial government considers this consultation? This is going to dictate the future economic well-being of our communities. There is something wrong with that.”

A key concern raised at the town hall meeting was the recently approved Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation, a provincial regulation that identifies the area to be protected for wood turtle habitat.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), before forestry, road maintenance and development, land development and many other activities are allowed in the area that is protected, a special permit will be required – something that the forest sector and rural communities do not believe is achievable.

“Oregon tried to implement the same type of permitting system 30 years ago and it didn’t work,” says Jamie Lim, president of the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA), who emceed the meeting, adding: “All it did was hand forest management over to the court system. Oregon’s permitting system created a barrier to sustainable economic development and it decimated rural communities.”

Ontario is already beginning to see challenges to its permitting system.

The reconstruction of a border crossing between Windsor and the United States, a vital economic trade corridor for the province is currently the subject of a challenge by a Toronto-based special interest campaign group.

The provincial government’s “Lightening the Footprint” exercise, a response to political pressures from another Toronto-based environmental special interest campaign group to reduce the area available for forestry in Algonquin Park was also on the Town Hall list of concerns.

Wood from Algonquin Park is part of the economic backbone of many surrounding communities, including Barry’s Bay.

“The Crown Forest Sustainability Act, the Provincial legislation that governs forestry activities on Crown land, including in Algonquin Park, has the most stringent rules in the world” says Jeff Muzzi, manager of forestry services at the County of Renfrew, a panelist at the Barry’s Bay meeting, a thought shared by Scott Jackson, manager of forest policy at the OFIA, who adds that: “The provincial government has yet to provide a credible rationale for this initiative. This whole initiative is the work of a few special interest groups who are intent on stopping forestry in this province by trying to create a problem where there is none.”

At the heart of all concerns expressed at the meeting was the provincial government’s lack of consideration for the socio-economic impacts of the two issues discussed.

Two independent economic assessments associated with the Algonquin Park campaign noted the likelihood for negative economic impacts on the forest sector.

The Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation, despite commitments from the provincial government, did not receive any socio-economic assessment prior to Cabinet level approval.

Given these concerns, community leaders and the OFIA are asking that the “Lightening the Footprint” exercise be terminated and that the Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation is returned to Cabinet for additional discussion, including a full socio-economic impact assessment – something that should have been done in the first place.

These are the responsible actions for the province to take.

“With policies like these, it’s no wonder Ontario has lost nearly half of its corporate tax base,” concludes Jamie Lim. “We’ve lost 62 mills in the forest sector over the last six years. How many more do we need to lose before the government starts to listen?”

Backgrounder

Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation and ‘Lightening the Footprint’ in Algonquin Park

- Since 2003, 62 forest sector mills have closed in Ontario and over 15,000 direct forest sector jobs have been lost in the province.

- Prior to the development of the Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation, the forest sector already had developed standards to ensure the protection of wood turtle and its habitat

- There is no evidence that indicates that current forest practices and protection standards for wood turtle are insufficient; in fact, wood turtles benefit from forestry operations

- The Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation will protect 12 km2 around habitat suitable for the turtle. This represents an increase of over 2,000 percent above previously existing forestry standards

- The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) only held one public consultation session on wood turtle prior to the development of the habitat regulation – it was located in Toronto

- Ministry of Natural Resources did not consult with First Nation communities when they developed the Wood Turtle Habitat Regulation

- Approximately 80% of Crown lands managed for forestry in Ontario are certified to third-party, internationally recognized standards – including Algonquin Park.

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