Region Archives: Canada

Business & Politics

From sawmills to sports teams: The rise of Amar Doman’s business empire

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
March 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Amar Doman

Given Herb Doman’s place in B.C.’s business pantheon as a self-made lumber baron, one can be forgiven for thinking Doman Building Materials is a surviving part of the same Doman family empire. Amar Doman, 53, founder and CEO of Doman Building Materials and owner of the BC Lions, is indeed part of the famed Doman family. He is the nephew of Herb and Gordon Doman, and son of Ted Doman. …But while Doman Industries ultimately collapsed, the business empire being built by a member of the family’s second generation continues to thrive and grow. …Doman Building Materials is made up of seven divisions in Canada and the U.S. that own and operate 29 distribution centres, 32 pressure treatment facilities, five specialty sawmills, four specialty lumber planing mills, three truss plants and two post and pole plants, along with 117,000 acres of private timberlands, licences and tenures, and log harvesting and trucking operations in B.C.’s Interior.

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University of Northern British Columbia receives more than $4.5 million in federal research funding

University of Northern British Columbia
March 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Lisa Wood

Thomas Tannert

University of Northern British Columbia researchers received more than $4.5 million in funding from the federal government to support more than a dozen research projects and scholarships. …Ecosystem Science and Management Associate Professor Dr. Lisa Wood received more than $1.5 million in funding and partner in-kind contributions over five years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance program to examine the effects of glyphosate-based herbicide residues on ecosystem health. …School of Engineering Professor Dr. Thomas Tannert received two grants from the NSERC Alliance program, one worth $40,000 to work with Timber Engineering and one worth $20,000 to continue his research as a Canada Research Chair in Tall Wood and Hybrid Structures Engineering. The first will investigate the viability of hybrid high-performance joints for cross-laminated timber floor panels… The second will help evaluate the potential of using mass-timber products for larger and non-residential structures with longer floor spans…

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Western Forest Products Chemainus sawmill is closing for two weeks

By Kendall Hanson
Chek News
March 14, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

CHEMAINUS, BC — Western Forest Products has notified sawmill workers at its Chemainus site of a looming shutdown. The closure begins next week and the company says it’s related to market conditions and log availablity for that mill. “Surprised, pretty short notice was an issue,” said Chris Cinkant with United Steelworkers 1-1937. The union represents the 100 impacted workers, roughly two-thirds of Western Forest Products employees in Chemainus. …The announcement comes just weeks after Western Forest Products announced the completion of its kiln upgrade at its Saltair Division. Steven Hofer, Western Forest Products CEO touted plans to invest $35 million for continuous dry kilns for its Nanaimo and Chemainus divisions as well. …Brian Menzies, with the Independent Woodprocessors Association of BC says the curtailment will also impact the value added companies that rely on that supply and their employees”.

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B.C. NDP’s ‘minor’ change to Labour Code actually a sneaky significant move

By Vaughn Palmer
Vancouver Sun
March 14, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Harry Bains

VICTORIA — Earlier this year, the New Democrats launched an independent review of the Labour Code, the provincial law governing strikes, lockouts, bargaining, organizing and the relationship between unions and employers. …However, tucked inside the provisions of this Act was a significant change involving strikes and picketing… The change was crafted to reverse a decision by the independent labour relations board, which had ruled provincially regulated workers could not legally respect a picket line put up by their federal counterparts. …But the proposed change drew a swift and angry protest from the major employer organizations — the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of B.C. and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. …The New Democrats are rewriting the Labour Code … in the midst of a supposedly independent review of the Code itself. There are many words to characterize such conduct. But fair, balanced and trustworthy aren’t among them.

 

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Kalesnikoff COO Speaks to New $34-million Facility

By Alex Robinson
iHeart Radio
March 14, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Chris Kalesnikoff

A new Kalesnikoff facility is on the way for lands along the Nelson-Castlegar corridor. Development of the 34-million dollar project is set to stretch from spring through the end of 2024 with a focus on new and expanded products and services to benefit the construction industry. Chief Operating Officer Chris Kalesnikoff says when their Mass Timber Facility opened in 2019 they identified an opportunity to offer new technology and wood products: “We are breaking ground this spring on our third facility and this facility is going to be utilizing our current mass timber products and taking them further down stream, with more assembly and more factory addition work, to provide more complete finished solutions to the construction site. So we’ll be taking our mass timber products, doing additional pre-fabrication….” Kalesnikoff says now they can offer complete wall and floor assemblies, complete modular construction with jobsite delivery, and more.

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Unions report on NDP failings in response to forestry crisis

By Vaughn Palmer
The Vancouver Sun
March 13, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Andrew Mercier

The NDP government response to the continuing crisis in the B.C. forest sector has been “inadequate,” “scatter gun” and “delivered with little attention to the need for an overall strategy to sustain the industry.” So said a trio of forest sector unions in a report that Premier David Eby himself acknowledged as a wake-up call for the NDP in an election year. …The unions blamed myriad job losses and mill closures on… the policies of the previous B.C. Liberal government. But they did not spare the NDP failure to develop a strategy for a sustainable industry for the future. …The report is especially critical of the workforce and community adjustment programs brought in by the NDP since they assumed office in 2017. …The premier promised the group that the New Democrats will “address the issues you’ve identified.” But given the failings documented in the report, Eby’s commitment may not last much longer than this election year.

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Eby Pledges Unions Will Help Shape BC’s Forestry Future

By Andrew MacLeod
The Tyee
March 14, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

David Eby

The B.C. government is committed to including forestry workers in discussions about the industry’s future, Premier David Eby told a union-organized meeting Tuesday, while saying it “stings a bit” to hear they’ve felt sidelined. “Forestry has a bright future in British Columbia,” Eby said. “We are in a challenging time right now, but we are going to get there together…” The premier was speaking at a summit in Victoria organized by three unions: Unifor, United Steelworkers District 3 and the Public and Private Workers of Canada. …The unions understand the industry has to change, McGarrigle said, citing reconciliation with First Nations and the need to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. …The unions accept all the goals the government is balancing, McGarrigle said. “But our key point is why are workers who built the industry and their unions sort of an afterthought. They should be central to any strategy.”

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Eby takes forestry heat in stride, says community-level planning is solution

By Rob Shaw
Northern Beat
March 13, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Brian O’Rourke

Brian O’Rourke, president of the United Steelworkers Local 1-2017, didn’t hold back when he was given a microphone and a chance to educate the premier of British Columbia on the harsh realities of the provincial forest industry. A forty-year veteran of the sector, around Prince George, he’s watched numerous mills shut down and hundreds of colleagues lose their jobs.  Crowded into a tiny hotel meeting room in Victoria, at a union event with the premier this week, O’Rourke gave David Eby a history lesson on forest companies that “swap log tenures like two kids in school swapping hockey cards” and hoard logs — a public resource — even when they curtail mills and lay off employees. “The other thing that really burns my ass,” he told the premier, “is when these corporations get shut down they get to keep the logs and sell them. That needs to stop.” …The premier, though, took the criticism in stride.

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Kruger, Province Ink Deal To Prop Up Paper Mill, Forestry Sector

VOCM News Now
March 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR — The provincial government has agreed to buy hydro power “when needed” from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper to help the struggling mill through more tough times. In exchange, Montreal-based parent company Kruger “will work to identify new revenue sources from wood-based bioproducts” to diversify the operation and keep it afloat amid a dying global newsprint market. In addition, the company has agreed to sell saw logs to Newfoundland’s three large sawmills, in line with its operating plans, which government says is “essential for the stability of the forest sector.” The six-month agreement was announced in separate news releases from the company and government on Friday afternoon, with the province insisting any power purchased from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, generated by its Deer Lake facility, won’t affect ratepayers. …Corner Brook Pulp and Paper employs more than 300 workers, with annual sales in the range of $130 million.

Gov’t of Newfoundland: Province Announces Agreement with Corner Brook Pulp & Paper

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Nova Scotia grants Northern Pulp mill one-year extension for environmental assessment

The Canadian Press in CTV News Atlantic
March 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

An idled Nova Scotia pulp mill has been given another year to complete an environmental assessment for its project to build a new effluent treatment facility. The provincial Environment Department says it granted Northern Pulp the extension last week after the company had requested one. In March 2022 Environment Minister Tim Halman released the terms of reference for the Abercrombie, N.S., mill’s assessment report. The two-year deadline for that report was originally set for this week.The mill closed operations in January 2020 after the former Liberal government of Premier Stephen McNeil rejected plans for a new effluent treatment facility. That government passed legislation in 2015 requiring effluent to stop flowing into a tidal estuary near the Pictou Landing First Nation by 2020. [END]

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Who is looking after Fort Frances?

Letter by Fred Laverdure
The Fort Frances Times
March 13, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

On March 28, 2022, Greg Rickford, Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, announced the Ontario government’s first Forest Biomass Action Plan. According to the announcement, the plan was a way to promote economic opportunities, drive economic growth and help secure, for future generations, a strong forestry sector in the north. At the time of the announcement, Fort Frances had a biomass facility, originally funded with lots of your hard earned tax dollars. Perfect for the Town to take advantage of this program. From my perspective, Council took no initiative to take advantage of this program. By late 2022 the biomass was demolished and it was recently revealed that Thunder Bay received funding for a new biomass facility. I feel this was just another failure by this and the last council to do anything to make sure Fort Frances continues to benefit from the forest around it.

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Finance & Economics

Canadian Housings Starts Rise 14% in February

By Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Cision Newswire
March 15, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, Ontario — The total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 14% in February (253,468 units) compared to January (223,176), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The six-month trend in housing starts increased from 244,638 units in January to 245,665 units in February for a slight 0.4% gain. The trend measure is a six-month moving average of the SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada. The actual number of housing starts across Canada in urban centres of 10,000 population and over was up 11% to 17,495 units in February compared to 15,822 units in February 2023. The year-over-year increase was driven solely by higher multi-unit starts, up 16%. Single-detached starts decreased 14% in February.

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Investors in the forestry space will be rewarded over the next 12 to 18 months: analyst

BNN Bloomberg
March 14, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States

Looking forward, we expect building materials share prices will increase alongside higher commodity prices, says Daryl Swetlishoff, head of research at Raymond James.

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GreenFirst Reports Financial Results for Fiscal 2023

GreenFirst Forest Products Inc.
March 14, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, Canada East

TORONTO, ON — GreenFirst Forest Products Inc. announced results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. Fourth quarter 2023 net loss from continuing operations was $21.6 million or $0.12 per share, compared to net earnings of $2.7 million or earnings of $0.01 per share in the third quarter of 2023. For fiscal 2023, net loss from continuing operations was $48.8 million or $0.27 per share, compared to a net loss of $4.1 million or $0.02 per share in 2022 on the same basis. “Despite ongoing pricing pressures in the fourth quarter, we are starting to see some positive momentum in lumber markets at the beginning of 2024,” said Paul Rivett, GreenFirst’s Executive Chair. “This coupled with an enhanced operational focus with Joel Fournier as CEO are factors that bode well for GreenFirst’s resiliency in the current environment. On the paper side we expect productivity gains and a better cost profile with Terry Skiffington’s tenacious focus on operations, along with his many years of experience in this area.”

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Plastics recycling has consequences for people and the planet – and it may just be a scam

By Adnan Khan
The Globe & Mail
March 15, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, International

A new report published last month by the U.S.-based Center for Climate Integrity has made some explosive accusations against the petrochemical industry, accusing it of a “decades-long campaign of fraud and deception about the recyclability of plastics.” More than 99% of plastics are produced from fossil fuels, the report notes, and the “vast majority” cannot be processed and remanufactured into new products. …The dismal numbers add an alarming dimension to the growing evidence that plastic is not only toxic to the environment and human health, but difficult to dispose of, too. …Even the plastic waste correctly labelled as recyclable is, in fact, not recyclable forever. “The reality is that plastics can only be recycled – or more accurately ‘downcycled’ – once, rarely twice,” the report points out. “For this reason, plastics have a linear rather than circular lifespan – when viable, recycling provides only a brief delay on their inevitable journey to landfills.” [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]

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Timber construction and Indigenous practices a natural fit, say panellists

By Don Procter
Daily Commercial News
March 15, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

The connection between timber construction and First Nations communities goes back ages, long before today’s mass timber movement in major cities such as Toronto. That movement should grow, however, in Indigenous communities as relationships are forged between mass timber proponents and First Nations partners. Patrick Chouinard, of mass timber manufacturer Element5, said he hopes more Indigenous fabrication centres for mass timber can be established by Element5 in First Nations communities. He said Element5 could produce “truckloads of billets” and ship them to Indigenous areas to set up in First Nations-owned facilities for fabrication tailored to local projects. “They own their own projects, hire local labour.” Chouinard was a conference speaker on a panel session on Indigenous collaboration. “Mass timber generally is ideally suited for First Nations communities because you can use it for so many kinds of buildings,” he said, pointing out firehalls to housing as examples.

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Forestry

‘Zombie’ wildfires burning underground in Canada. Will Ohio see smoke in 2024 because of them?

By Chad Murphy
The Cincinnati Enquirer
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, United States

CINCINNATI — Canadian wildfires, which last year burned a record 45.7 million acres from coast to coast, are still burning. They’ve just gone underground. So when and if these so-called “zombie” wildfires reemerge, will that signal the return of poor air quality from their smoke blowing through Ohio? Here’s what to know. …Smoke from last year’s wildfire season in Canada drifted across the US from New England to Florida and across the Midwest. In Ohio, wildfire smoke in Akron created worse air quality than Beijing and Shanghai, cities notoriously plagued by air pollution. At the time, huge swaths of the Midwest had unhealthy air quality, including most or all of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

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In B.C.’s forests, a debate over watershed science with lives and billions at stake

By Brenna Owen
The Canadian Press in the Prince George Citizen
March 17, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Ross Muirhead stood at the edge of a forestry cut blockfilled with stumps, rain pelting down as he watched water rushing over the barren ground. Theenvironmental advocatewas storm watching during the atmospheric river disaster that swamped southwestern British Columbia in November 2021. Muirhead says that without a healthy forest to help absorb the excess water, it was gushing toward a creek near the Sunshine Coast community of Halfmoon Bay. “It was just complete surface run-off,” he says. …Now, Muirhead says he’s worried about plans for additional logging on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone, about half an hour’s drive north of his home. …But Muirhead is still concerned about the effects of additional harvesting and the extension of logging roads on a landscape that he describes as “dying from a thousand cuts” sustained over more than a century of development.

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B.C.’s old-growth protections come under renewed scrutiny

By Shaurya K Kshatri
CBC News
March 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

B.C.’s forests ministry has denied reports, published by the BBC and others, that old-growth trees from the province are still being burned as pellets for fuel in the U.K. The province also pushed back on environmentalists’ claims that a leaked old-growth forests map suggests it is playing a “shell game” to allow the harvesting of old-growth trees meant to be protected. “Whole forests of any kind are not being turned into pellets by the forest sector,” said a Ministry of Forests spokesperson in a March 8 email. …Instead, the ministry said, all wood pellets in B.C. are made “almost entirely from waste fibre” such as sawdust, shavings, and leftover wood from logging, which would otherwise have to be burned. …It’s just the latest scrutiny of B.C.’s promise to protect old-growth forests. Controversy resurfaced last month when Conservation North co-authored a report alleging U.K. biofuel company Drax Group has continued burning logs and forestry waste from B.C.’s rarest old-growth forests.

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New bill targets Canada’s ‘forever chemicals’

By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
The National Observer
March 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Adam Green

B.C. could soon become the first province to partially ban a group of cancer-causing chemicals used in everything from firefighting equipment to makeup. Tabled by BC Green MLA Adam Olsen, the proposed law would ban per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in the firefighting equipment used by the province’s professional and volunteer fire crews. PFAS are a class of water-, heat- and grease-resistant chemicals that do not break down in nature, earning them the name “forever chemicals.” Researchers have linked the chemicals to a suite of health issues, from negative impacts on the reproductive system to increasing the risk of cancer. …While nearly ubiquitous in modern life — they’re used in everything from makeup to raincoats — firefighters are exposed to particularly high amounts of the chemicals because of their prevalence in firefighting equipment. …A spokesperson for B.C.’s Ministry of Public Safety said in a statement that the department is “reviewing the legislation introduced in the house.”

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North Island forestry plan first in B.C. to shape new framework for sustainable forest management

By Dean Stoltz
Chek News
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

PORT ALBERNI, BC — A major new forestry land-use agreement between First Nations, Western Forest Products, the Province and other groups is taking final shape on the North Island. The Gwa’ni Project is a partnership between the ‘Namgis First Nation and the B.C. government to develop recommendations about land and resource management in the Nimpkish Valley. The Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 37 Forest Landscape Plan Pilot Project is one of four provincial pilot projects shaping a new framework for sustainable forest management in B.C. TFL 37 stretches down the Nimpkish Valley between Port McNeill and Woss. …The project has been in the works since the ‘Namgis First Nation and B.C. government signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2021. “It signals a move away from enhanced forestry zones towards general special management zones and promises to be beneficial to the local First Nation, Western  and the public,” added Matt Leroy.

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Park additions boost outdoor recreation, strengthen ecosystem protection

By Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Government of British Columbia
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Newly introduced legislation will expand B.C.’s parks and protected areas, strengthen biodiversity conservation and provide more opportunities for people to access outdoor recreation. The additions, proposed through legislative amendments to the Protected Areas of British Columbia (PABC) Act, add 189 hectares to six existing provincial parks and one conservancy. …The additions consist of private land acquisitions, private donations and Crown lands… As part of these amendments, the responsibility of existing roads in two parks and one conservancy is being transferred to other ministries. This includes Kikomun Creek Park, Nancy Greene Park and Yaaguun Suu Conservancy. Amendments to the PABC Act are required to add new land to parks, conservancies and ecological reserves, modify or correct boundaries and improve boundary descriptions.

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Tree-planter dog documentary filmed near Quesnel premieres on CBC Gem

Prince George Daily News
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Here Boy Films has announced the Canadian feature documentary Block Dog will premiere on CBC Gem on April 19. The documentary, from tree-planting cult documentary One Million Trees director Everett Bumstead, follows the daily lives of eight loyal but mischievous dogs in a remote tree-planting camp in Quesnel. Filmed during the sweltering summertime, the 44-minute documentary chronicles the highs and lows of forestry industry practices through canine eyes. Visually, the film pushes the human world to the periphery: Dogs beg for scraps of camp food or snooze in the shade while tree planters work in the background. But throughout, the dogs (and the audience) overhear snippets of conversation about the internal politics of the camp and the environmental realities of the forest industry in B.C. …Block Dog was produced by CBC with the participation of Creative BC and the Canada Media Fund.

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BC Wildfire Service says record breaking wildfires helping to draw high applicant numbers

By Justin Waddell
My Comox Valley Now
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

While not a record, BC Wildfire Service says they are seeing a high volume of applicants which may help if 2024 becomes another devastating season. According to minister of Forests Bruce Ralston, the service has got around 1,700 applications this year and it is an encouraging sign. “I think the season last year was so intense that it did attract a lot of public attention, and I think that reflects public anxiety about what we experienced last summer and what we might experience in the summer to come,” said Ralston. “The season for applications has been a bit longer and it’s been a bit more intense.” Ralston adds that so far, ministry staff have interviewed over 500 applicants for this upcoming season. He says there is always turnover from season to season since many college and university students work in the summer and choose not to return.

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These boots are made for loggin’

By Ari Lord
The Nelson Daily
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Joel and Mat DeVito

Vince DeVito Shoes is in the process of not only repairing and selling fine footwear, but also producing a new line of boots for workers in the forestry. “It’s a boot that’s for people who work in the outdoor industry,” says Mat DeVito, who along with brother Joel are now working in the shoe retail and repair departments.  DeVito Boot Co.’s boot is aimed at forestry workers, wildfire fighters, and other forest-based professionals. The company has used the reputation and connections built over generations to make this new chapter possible. …The DeVito’s are in the very early stages with the boot and it won’t come to market until after Easter, but they are hard at work creating wholesaling relationships throughout BC.

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B.C. issues first fire ban of the season as drought worry grows

By Simon Little
Global News
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

QUESNEL, BC — It’s not even mid-March, but B.C. already has its first fire ban of the year. The B.C. Wildfire Service announced a ban on fires in the Cariboo region effective noon Thursday, March 28, due to “an unseasonably dry fall and winter resulting in high drought conditions.” The ban covers Category 2 and Category 3 fires, across the entire region, including the Cariboo Chilcontin Forest District, the 100 Mile House Forest District and the Quesnel Forest District. …The ban comes amid growing concern about a potentially difficult wildfire season, with drought conditions already present across most of the province. Conditions across the Interior, with the exception of the Upper Columbia Basin, are currently at Drought Level 3 and above, with the province’s northeast already at Drought Level 5, the highest possible rating. …Across B.C., the snowpack is about 34 per cent below seasonal averages.

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Salmon Arm applauded for revised wildfire mitigation in parks

By Glenda Hanna, Shuswap Naturalist Club
The Salmon Arm Observer
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A recent article by Archie MacDonald boiled down the problem of old forests in the province as “less diversity and more susceptibility to disease, pests and drought.” He said the solution is “the creation of forest management practices that create younger and healthier forests that are less dense, include more diversity and that allow openings and meadows to develop.” …The issue not only relates to provincial Crown lands, but also to urban forested parklands. …Salmon Arm recently unveiled planned wildfire mitigation projects for the rest of Little Mountain Park and for Park Hill. The more than 40 citizens who showed up to the city’s Open House in December were pleasantly surprised the new contractor is bringing a much more balanced approach… We are proud to see Salmon Arm taking a leadership role in this effort that reflects rational, science-based decision making appropriate for our treasured parks.

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Province will harvest 25 deer for chronic wasting disease testing

By Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Government of British Columbia
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Province is taking further action to address chronic wasting disease by conducting a limited deer harvest in the Kootenay region where two deer samples tested positive for chronic wasting disease earlier this year. The harvest, which will be restricted to within 10 kilometres of the positive cases, is another step to collect samples and help provincial wildlife experts determine if there are more chronic wasting disease (CWD) cases in the area. In recent weeks, the Province implemented mandatory CWD testing, as well as restrictions on the transport and disposal of any road-killed cervids (deer, moose, elk, caribou) in the area where cases of chronic wasting disease were first found.

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Court denies citizen scientist’s fight for B.C. bird habitat access

By Kevin Laird
Victoria News
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

A citizen scientist studying threatened bird species in a Vancouver Island forest has encountered another hurdle in her efforts. The B.C. Forest Practices Board has found that both the Forest Ministry and Teal Cedar Products Ltd. acted lawfully in restricting her access to areas in Tree Farm Licence 46, near Port Renfrew. Royann Petrell, an associate professor emerita of chemical and biological engineering at the UBC, had previously filed a judicial review application challenging the access restrictions. Petrell argued that Teal Cedar Products Ltd.’s construction of 10 gates, with approval from the forest minister, significantly hampered her ability to conduct research on threatened bird populations. The court, however, dismissed her case, citing the Forest Practices Board as a suitable alternative for addressing her concerns. …“The decision to restrict access, agreed to by the district manager, was deemed necessary to protect property and public safety during active logging operations,” said Keith Atkinson, chair of the Forest Practices Board.

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Drought triggers more overnight wildfires, finds B.C. scientist

By Stefan Labbé
Vancouver is Awesome
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Night has typically been a time for wildland firefighters to rest and regroup before temperatures spike in the morning. But according to a new study, drought is turning the “active day, quiet night” model on its head, and may force firefighters to rethink how they fight fires.  The study, published in the journal Nature Wednesday, used satellite imaging to track 1,095 overnight burning events in 340 wildfires across North America between 2017 and 2020. Researchers from the University of Alberta, Canadian Forest Service and Thompson Rivers University found 99 per cent of overnight burns were connected to the big fires larger than 1,000 hectares — fires mostly found in the continent’s western mountainous areas. While making up only 10 per cent of fires over the study period, these fires accounted for 90 per cent of North America’s burned area. …The results have major implications for firefighters, who often rely on reduced nighttime conditions to rehydrate and sleep. 

Additional coverage by the Canadian Press in the Medicine Hat News: Night once brought firefighting reprieve, but no longer, Canadian study shows

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We wanted conservation, we got environmentalism (Part 1 & 2)

By Peter Christensen
East Kootenay News Weekly e-KNOW
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Peter Christensen

Part 1 – February 28, 2024: It’s difficult these days to differentiate between NGO organizations that have a single purpose and organizations that take advantage of NGO status by mixing environmentalisms’ talking points with ideologies and political ambitions. …Environmentalism like other isms, is first about power and celebrity and second about subject. Eco-cults continue to emerge and stage emotional scenarios intended to scare the public and influence decision-makers. …Uncompromising in their ideologically driven campaigns activists and agitators strive to derail the tradition of Canada’s political parties to compromise and form coalitions from within to govern. Their agenda is to usurp the power of elected representatives and lessen the public’s commitment to hold political representatives responsible for their actions. Read the full Part 1 here

Part 2 – March 13, 2024: In the 1990s Premier Mike Harcourt, leader of the NDP, took note of the evangelistic fervour of environmentalism and toyed with the idea of harnessing this moment for re-election. American politicos were touting consensus-based conflict resolution methodology developed in the United States to quell prison riots. Could this methodology be used to quiet the “War in the Woods?” Stephen Owen, B.C.’s former Ombudsmen, was appointed Commissioner of the Commission on Resources and Environment (CORE). …What most wanted was conservation, local input into Land Use Planning and innovation; what they got was closed door government planning and permitting, attack style environmentalism and divided communities. Read the full Part 2 here

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Concern, confusion among members as $10B treaty settlement looms

By Jenny Lamonthe
The Bay Today
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

NORTHERN ONTARIO — In just a few weeks, $10 billion will land in northern Ontario, but how it will be disbursed among the thousands of Robinson Huron Treaty members is causing confusion, concern, and even anger among some members of the 21 signatory First Nation communities. As the settlement amount from the Robinson Huron Treaty annuities claim is divided among each First Nation, members are being asked to vote on how much will be given to each individual person, and how much will be kept by the band. …The only time the annuity was increased was in 1874, when the government augmented it to $4 per person. It remains $4 per person today, despite the billions in dollars of resource wealth extracted from signatory territories over the past more than 100 years.

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Scientists track invasive species discovered in Haldimand woodlot

By Brian Thompson
The Stratford Beacon Herald
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

ONTARIO — A pilot community-science project that utilizes a 3D-printed trap is helping scientists track the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) discovered in a Haldimand County woodlot. The tiny insect’s presence can be determined by the wool it creates to protect itself and its eggs. …“In Canada the bug was discovered in southern Nova Scotia in 2017 causing significant mortality to old-growth hemlock forests,” said Laura Thomas of NRC Science Communications. “A large infestation was found in the Niagara region in 2019 and since then there have been one or two new detections every year in Ontario.” …HWA spread through bird migration at the crawler stage when they stick to birds’ legs and feathers. …The 3D-printed traps are being deployed in woodlots containing hemlock trees … in higher-risk areas. …people who own or manage property with hemlock trees in Southwestern Ontario can join the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Monitoring Network at invasivespeciescentre.ca.

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Quebec questions its long-term timber harvest targets

FEA – Forest Economic Advisors
March 13, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

Quebec had planned to nearly double its timber harvest by 2080, but the targets are now being called into question due to wildfires, climate disruption, and the province’s commitments to protect territory, Radio-Canada’s ICI Quebec reported. …Now, that plan is being called into question by Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Among the factors being considered, the MNRF points to the threat of forest fires and the province’s commitments to protected areas. Quebec wants to reach a goal of 30% protected areas on its territory by 2030. Furthermore, a recent MNRF study shows Quebec plantations are not meeting expected yields, Radio-Canada’s ICI Quebec reported. Due to recent forest fires, Quebec has already reduced its allowable cut for the 2023–28 period on the recommendation of the Office of the Chief Forester. Some 1.3 million hectares of forests burned in 2023, including 920,000 hectares subject to calculations of the allowable cut in public forests.

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Bruce Trail Conservancy preserves 463 acres on the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula

By Bruce Trail Conservancy
Cision Newswire
March 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

DUNDAS, ON – The Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) is thrilled to announce the creation of the MapleCross Nature Reserve at Hope Bay, forever preserving 463 acres on the majestic Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula. The creation of this nature reserve protects an ecological corridor containing dense interior forest, a declining habitat in Ontario. This environment is critical for area-sensitive bird species, such as American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler and Ovenbird, as well as mammals like the elusive Fisher and Black bear. This area also boasts cliff and talus features, which are uncommon in Ontario and provide sheltered habitats for many rare bats and snakes. The MapleCross Nature Reserve at Hope Bay will preserve these precious ecosystems, ensuring a natural haven where wildlife can thrive.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Google Canada announces new research grants to bolster Canada’s AI ecosystem

By Google Canada
Cision Newswire
March 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, ON – Google Canada will announce new research grants that will help pave the way for the future of AI in Canada. Google.org will provide a total of $2.7 million in grant funding to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) and the International Center of Expertise of Montreal on AI (CEIMIA) to support AI research in areas such as sustainability and the responsible development of AI. …The Google.org grant to CIFAR will support its Accelerated Decarbonization program, which brings together experts in carbon capture, storage, and utilization, biochemistry, chemistry, biology and more, to address the carbon cycle and offer new ways of solving climate-related problems. …”Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. This partnership enables our CIFAR researchers to drive impact and advance work towards a core piece of the climate change puzzle,” said, Director, Research and Lead, Impact at CIFAR.

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Government of Canada supports Indigenous climate action with new funding stream under the Indigenous Leadership Fund

By Environment and Climate Change Canada
Cision Newswire
March 12, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

SAINT JOHN, NB – Indigenous partners are making significant contributions to lowering Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and producing green energy through Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led renewable energy projects. Supporting Indigenous climate leadership is key to helping Canada meet its 2030 emissions reduction target and net-zero emissions by 2050. Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced a new designated funding stream under the Low Carbon Economy Fund’s Indigenous Leadership Fund. The designated funding stream is open until March 31, 2027, for eligible applicants who are not already included in the funding streams for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. This can include Indigenous-owned businesses; corporations and not-for-profit organizations; Métis Settlements; and Indigenous research, academic, or educational institutions. Through this new stream, up to $7.39 million will be spent to support Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led renewable energy, energy efficiency, or low-carbon heating projects that provide benefits to Indigenous peoples and communities.

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Brian Mulroney ‘got’ the issue of climate change, long before others did

By Donald Wright political science professor, University of New Brunswick
The Ottawa Citizen
March 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney, whose state funeral is Saturday, is rightly remembered for his leadership on acid rain, yet he also took climate change seriously. Put simply, he got it when most world leaders didn’t, and some still don’t, or at least one doesn’t. Indeed, Mulroney was one of only two heads of state to attend the first World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere. Held in Toronto in June 1988, the conference brought together more than 300 scientists and policymakers from over 40 countries. That the conference — later dubbed the “Woodstock of climatology” — was hosted by Canada was Mulroney’s doing. It reflected his environmentalism and confirmed his belief in Canada as a middle power and helpful fixer on the global stage. Welcoming delegates to the World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere, Mulroney didn’t mince his words. It “is not just about the atmosphere, it is not just about the environment, it is about the future of the planet itself.”

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Health & Safety

OHS investigating workplace death at Slave Lake pulp mill

By Jennifer Ivanov
Global News
March 14, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

SLAVE LAKE, Alberta — The company that operates Slave Lake Pulp has confirmed to Global News that a contractor was killed at the site on Wednesday. “A contractor was fatally injured at our pulp operation in Slave Lake. The incident occurred when the individual was working to repair a piece of mobile equipment. The mill was not operating at the time,” said Joyce Wagenaar, communications director for West Fraser, which operates Slave Lake Pulp. The spokesperson said West Fraser is cooperating with Alberta Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) during its investigation. “Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, colleagues, and our Slave Lake Pulp team during this difficult time,” Wagenaar said. Alberta Health Services said EMS responded to a site in Lesser Slave River just before 2 p.m. on March 13. A man was pronounced dead, AHS said. [END]

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Q&A: Bringing forest therapy indoors can improve your health

By the University of British Columbia
Phys.Org
March 13, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

For centuries, people have found solace in walks through the forest and the practice of “forest bathing.” Now, researchers at UBC are delving into the science behind this tradition to understand its benefits better and make them accessible to all. Leading the experiment is Dr. Guangyu Wang, a professor at UBC’s department of forest resources management and director of the Multidisciplinary Institute of Natural Therapy (MINT). In this Q&A, Dr. Wang shares insights into their findings thus far. …Research indicates that forest bathing or forest therapy can alleviate stress, uplift mood and boost cognitive and immune functions. It may also reduce blood pressure and heart rate and improve sleep quality. At MINT, we explore this phenomenon. Our previous experiments revealed that exposure to negative ions and natural forest sounds significantly reduces stress and improves sleep quality, while even a two-hour forest therapy session can lower blood pressure and stress levels.

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