Submitted by Brett H on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 10:50.
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Thursday May 07, 2009
By
Ron Grech
A revision of Ontario’s forest tenure system will hinge largely on the findings of a task force comprised of individuals "with no vested interest" in the management of Crown forests says Minister of Natural Resources.
"Their role will be to have that initial discussion and examine different options," said The Honourable Donna Cansfield in an interview with The Working Forest. "There are people with experience in world markets, advisors to the forest industry, people who have been in business and are now retired, academics – we have a wide range of experts to choose from, who have no vested interest but can provide valuable input.
"We want to bring in experts who know the industry, who understand the climate change perspective, silviculture, different types of products and requirements from the industry. We want people who are knowledgeable of the industry but can look at it without having a particular bias."
While speaking at the annual conference of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association in Sudbury in late April, Cansfield announced plans to conduct a review Crown tenure and pricing systems.
While the task force members may be independent of industry influences, Cansfield said she would be seeking input from industry as well as organizations such as the OPFA.
She said members of the association have been asking for such a review and her government has decided "now is the time" to do it.
"While our current (tenure) system has changed incrementally over time, it is not as flexible as it should be. That makes it hard for new entrants to get access to forest resources."
One of the fundamental goals driving this change is Cansfield’s view that the forest industry needs to be more diversified. She said she also wants to encourage forest sector investment, innovation and employment.
"This is the first real slump in the industry’s history. Those communities that have a mill and nothing else to fall back on are feeling the brunt of this. With diversification we could create more opportunities. There’s no reason why we can’t use the skills of people in this industry in a variety of ways."
Through this review, a variety of possibilities appear to be up for discussion.
Asked whether the MNR is considering taking back full control of forest management, Cansfield said it’s another matter which will have to be discussed by the task force.
"Some land may come back to the Crown … It’s hard to know how certain things are going to play out, for example with AbitibiBowater."
The task force will also be examining pros and cons of having either a uniform tenure system across the province or variations from one region to the next.
Not up for discussion, however, is the privatization of currently managed provincial forests.
"We are not selling Crown land," Cansfield said.
The review raises questions about the future of the reorganization of SFLs into co-operatives.
Again, Cansfield was non-committal. She said that’s a matter which will have to be discussed by the task force. However, her comments didn’t suggest a ringing endorsement of the progress that’s been made so far.
"It’s been a slow process. We’ve had a couple of SFLs convert to cooperatives. But that’s part of what we’ll be discussing."
Cansfield said she isn’t sure how long the review will take or when a revised tenure system may be finalized and implemented.
One thing Cansfield is sure of, she doesn’t want to see the process dragging on for years and years.
"I don’t want to make this my life’s work," she said. "I want this completed within a reasonable time frame. We want to emerge from the recession and be able to look at resources differently to attract investment." <>
