March 15, 2011
By: Ron Grech
Resourcefulness becomes second nature when you grow up on a farm, says Normand Lacroix from the Hearst area of Northern Ontario.
“You develop a sense of débrouillardise,” Lacroix explained, using a French term for ingenuity. “We fabricated what we needed and always had to find our own solution” to any challenges that arose.
The qualities Lacroix learned growing up on his parents’ dairy farm in Hearst have resurfaced time and time again as he continues to tap into new business opportunities and build upon them.
He co-owns a logging operation with his brother Sylvain which indirectly feeds a value-added wood products plant – Industries LacWood – of which Lacroix is sole owner.
Industries LacWood employs about 60 people and produces shelving and bed slats for IKEA Furniture, as well as the EZ’nOrganized product line, kindling wood and core boxes for the mining industry.
Last year, the business added another product line – producing pellets from wood shavings.
“It’s the shavings produced from the value-added products that we’re selling,” Lacroix explained.
Those pellets are sold mainly as fuel for wood pellet boilers or pellet stoves, and lately, bedding for horse stables.
The recent provincial wood supply competition saw an influx of wood pellet-making plants being proposed.
Lacroix believes the only way these operations can be profitable is if they are developed in conjunction with another product line.
“I don’t see where cutting a tree to make pellets would be a feasible business unless you have a special contract with a corporation that is willing to pay for that activity.”
Growing up, Lacroix said he has always industrious with his time but also mindful of managing his own business. When he was not toiling on the farm, he was working in the bush as a cutter.
In 1980, he started a grain transport business called West-East, delivering grain from Thunder Bay to supply feed mills in communities throughout northeastern Ontario and northwestern Quebec.
He did that for seven years before buying a logging operation in 1988.
“I always liked working in the bush and had the opportunity to buy a business that was already established.”
That was Kenogami Lake Lumber which he and his brother Sylvain co-own.
They sell the bulk of their logs to the Olav Haavaldsrud Timber Company sawmill in Hornepayne which in turn produces the two-by-fours required by Industries LacWood for its value-added products.
Industries LacWood was started with Lacroix being spurred on by the Hearst Economic Development Corporation.
“A few people from the economic development office in Hearst heard about the fact IKEA wanted to establish a factory in Eastern Canada. They met with IKEA and asked about the product they wanted to be produced in this new factory, got some samples. And then they came to me because they knew I had in mind to develop a factory that involved the manufacturing of value-added wood products.
“Finally, we started the business in a temporary location in April 2005. We built a new facility at the end of that year and we’re now located in that new factory.”
His wife Denise is also a long-standing partner in the Lacroix’s business ventures.
“We always work together since we started the grain business.”
They have three grown-up children, a daughter Isabelle, and two sons Conrad and Steve. Conrad is as an accountant but is also involved in the wood pellet side of the family-run business. Steve is a mechanical engineer who also serves as general manager for Industries LacWood.
Emerging from a challenging period for Canada’s forest industry – a period in which his business expanded – Lacroix foresees positive developments ahead.
“As it looks now, we are hoping to increase volume,” he said. “When we started in business, our main customer was the U.S. and that put a lot of pressure when we had slower activity in the U.S.” with the crash of the housing market. “But today, we see an increase because we’re selling to the whole North American market and we’re also shipping to the U.K., Germany and even Asia through IKEA furniture.” <>
Monday, April 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wood is good; Greenpeace co-founder explains how using more wood will save our forests
National Post
Wed Mar 30 2011
Page: A17
Section: Issues & Ideas
Byline: Patrick Moore
Source: National Post
I believe trees are the answer to many questions about the future of human civilization and the preservation of the environment. Questions like, "What is the most environmentally friendly material for home construction?" "How can we pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and how can we offset the greenhouse gas emissions caused by our excessive use of fossil fuels?" "How can we build healthy soils and keep our air and water clean?" "How can we provide more habitats for wildlife and biodiversity?" "How can we increase literacy and provide sanitary tissue products in developing countries?" "How can we make this earth more green and beautiful?" The answer to all these questions and more is "trees." Trees show us there can be more than one answer to a question, and sometimes the answers seem to contradict one another. But I hope to demonstrate that just because we love trees and recognize their environmental value doesn't mean we shouldn't use them for our own needs.
Over the past 10,000 years we have converted nearly one-third of the world's forests into cities, farms and pastures, the best one-third in terms of fertility and productivity. As long as the planet's human population was reasonably small compared with the vastness of global forests, deforestation remained a very local issue. But as numbers grew and more land was cleared for crops and grazing animals, we began to take our toll on the natural world. During the 18th and 19th centuries, forests of the industrialized European countries were rapidly decimated and wood soon came into short supply.
We began to learn how to farm trees in the same way we had learned to farm food 10,000 years earlier. The art and science of silviculture, more commonly known as forestry, emerged in central Europe as a way to increase the wood supply to feed the growing demands of industry. Up until about 250 years ago, forests had merely been exploited and the land was either converted to farm land or left to grow back on its own, often with trees not as stately or useful as the ones that preceded them. Now people began to replant harvested areas with new trees of desirable species for timber production. Over the past 200 years the forested area of Europe has tripled from about 10% to about 30%, due almost entirely to the transition from pure exploitation to forest management.
Similar patterns have occurred more recently in China and India, where the demand for wood products from an emerging middle class has resulted in a doubling of forest area in recent decades. During the past 20 years, China has added more new forest than any other country and has adopted an aggressive reforestation program that will continue into the foreseeable future. The forests of Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and Japan are all stable or growing in area due to the application of sustainable forestry management. And even though there is a net loss of forests in Brazil and Indonesia due to clearing for farming, there is also a major effort afoot to establish sustainable plantation forestry over large areas.
It may seem ironic that with few exceptions the countries that use the most wood have a stable or growing area of forest whereas the countries that use the least wood are losing forest as more land is cleared for agriculture. There are two reasons for this apparent contradiction. First, the adoption of intensive agricultural practices in the industrialized countries makes it possible to grow much more food on the same amount of land. Second, it is precisely because we use so much wood that the area of forest is maintained. We may think that when we buy wood from a lumberyard we are causing a bit of forest to be lost somewhere. But what we are really doing is sending a signal into the marketplace to plant more trees to produce more wood to supply the demand in the lumberyard. It is no different from any other renewable crop; it's just that trees take longer to mature than annual farm crops. As long as the demand for wood is steady and strong, landowners, both private and public, will plant trees to supply that demand.
There is the same area of forest in both the U.S. and Canada today as there was 100 years ago; in fact, the area of forest has been growing in recent years. This is despite a tripling of population and an even larger increase in the consumption of food and wood products. About 85% of timber production in the U.S. is from private lands. Those millions of individual landowners could easily remove the forest from the land and grow crops like corn or cotton or raise cows for beef. But they choose to grow trees because they know they will get a good price for them to pay their taxes, send their children to college and live a good life. Because landowners choose to grow trees, the land remains forested, providing habitat for other plants and wildlife, pulling carbon from the air, protecting soil from erosion and making the landscape beautiful. Rather than illustrating the common belief that forestry destroys the forest, it is truly a win-win solution for the environment and the economy, maintaining the land in a forested state while providing an income for the owners.
Of course it is important to maintain large areas of land as parks and wilderness, and make them off-limits to industrial development for factories, managed forests or farms. The World Wildlife Fund, one of the largest nature protection groups, states that 10%of the world's forests should be protected from development. I would have no problem with 15% or even more in some cases. In California, about 25% of the natural range of the coastal redwood forest is completely protected. The redwood is a unique tree, the tallest in the world, and creates such a beautiful ecosystem, that it is reasonable to protect a significant percentage as natural forest. But some anti-forestry activists are never satisfied.
They would fight until every tree was protected as if using trees for wood products was unnecessary. Redwoods produce a unique wood that is both durable for outdoor use as well as beautiful in color and texture. Therefore it is also reasonable that large areas of the redwood forest be sustainably managed for timber. The most important thing is to make sure that as much of the forest as possible is retained either for protection or forest management, and as little as possible is deforested and converted to non-forest uses.
In recent years, anti-forestry activists have claimed forest harvesting and forestry in general has a negative impact on climate change. The group ForestEthics (an offshoot of Greenpeace) claims forestry amounts to a "carbon bomb," refer-ring to the release of CO2 from decomposing wood immediately after harvesting.
It is true that there is a net release of CO2 as a result of harvesting, but the activists fail to take into account that new trees are soon established and that they absorb all that CO2 back over time as they grow into a new forest. And they fail to take into account the reduction in wildfires in managed forests, which reduce the amount of carbon that goes into the atmosphere. A hot wildfire not only burns trees but it also burns soil, causing a far greater release of carbon than just harvesting the trees. And, most important, the wood harvested is used to build homes where the carbon in them remains stored for many years. In addition, when we use wood we avoid the use of non-renewable materials such as steel and concrete, which require large amounts of energy to manufacture, putting more CO2 into the atmosphere.
In the final analysis, the combination of harvesting trees and then reforesting the area, suppressing wildfire, storing carbon and using renewable wood instead of non-renewable materials has a large net positive impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet in order to further their anti-environmental aim of curbing the use of wood, activists distort the truth and mislead the public. They make these claims despite the fact that both the Kyoto Protocol on climate and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have clearly recognized the benefits forest management bring to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
When it comes right down to it, we must recognize that wood is the most abundant and most environmentally friendly renewable source of both materials and energy resources on earth. About 75% of all our renewable energy comes from wood, used mainly for cooking and heating but also for making charcoal, drying lumber and producing pulp and paper. Wood provides more than 90% of our renewable materials for buildings, furniture, packaging and sanitary products. One of the great ironies of the "environmental" movement today is that it claims to support all things renewable on the one hand while at the same time ignoring or rejecting the fact that wood is far and away the most important renewable resource. Environmental activists place huge importance on solar panels made from aluminum, silicon and gallium arsenide when in fact the most important solar collectors on earth are the leaves and needles of trees and other plants.
There is probably no better way to make trees the answer than to use more wood for our buildings and other infrastructure. All things considered it makes sense both environmentally and economically to use more wood in our buildings, especially where it is not exposed to the elements and kept dry. If wood is protected from water and sunlight, it will last for hundreds of years. The more wood we use, the more trees we must grow and therefore the more land will remain forested. That is the real win-win solution for the environment and the economy.
Excerpted from Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist, courtesy of Beatty Street Publishing, 2011.
Wed Mar 30 2011
Page: A17
Section: Issues & Ideas
Byline: Patrick Moore
Source: National Post
I believe trees are the answer to many questions about the future of human civilization and the preservation of the environment. Questions like, "What is the most environmentally friendly material for home construction?" "How can we pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and how can we offset the greenhouse gas emissions caused by our excessive use of fossil fuels?" "How can we build healthy soils and keep our air and water clean?" "How can we provide more habitats for wildlife and biodiversity?" "How can we increase literacy and provide sanitary tissue products in developing countries?" "How can we make this earth more green and beautiful?" The answer to all these questions and more is "trees." Trees show us there can be more than one answer to a question, and sometimes the answers seem to contradict one another. But I hope to demonstrate that just because we love trees and recognize their environmental value doesn't mean we shouldn't use them for our own needs.
Over the past 10,000 years we have converted nearly one-third of the world's forests into cities, farms and pastures, the best one-third in terms of fertility and productivity. As long as the planet's human population was reasonably small compared with the vastness of global forests, deforestation remained a very local issue. But as numbers grew and more land was cleared for crops and grazing animals, we began to take our toll on the natural world. During the 18th and 19th centuries, forests of the industrialized European countries were rapidly decimated and wood soon came into short supply.
We began to learn how to farm trees in the same way we had learned to farm food 10,000 years earlier. The art and science of silviculture, more commonly known as forestry, emerged in central Europe as a way to increase the wood supply to feed the growing demands of industry. Up until about 250 years ago, forests had merely been exploited and the land was either converted to farm land or left to grow back on its own, often with trees not as stately or useful as the ones that preceded them. Now people began to replant harvested areas with new trees of desirable species for timber production. Over the past 200 years the forested area of Europe has tripled from about 10% to about 30%, due almost entirely to the transition from pure exploitation to forest management.
Similar patterns have occurred more recently in China and India, where the demand for wood products from an emerging middle class has resulted in a doubling of forest area in recent decades. During the past 20 years, China has added more new forest than any other country and has adopted an aggressive reforestation program that will continue into the foreseeable future. The forests of Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and Japan are all stable or growing in area due to the application of sustainable forestry management. And even though there is a net loss of forests in Brazil and Indonesia due to clearing for farming, there is also a major effort afoot to establish sustainable plantation forestry over large areas.
It may seem ironic that with few exceptions the countries that use the most wood have a stable or growing area of forest whereas the countries that use the least wood are losing forest as more land is cleared for agriculture. There are two reasons for this apparent contradiction. First, the adoption of intensive agricultural practices in the industrialized countries makes it possible to grow much more food on the same amount of land. Second, it is precisely because we use so much wood that the area of forest is maintained. We may think that when we buy wood from a lumberyard we are causing a bit of forest to be lost somewhere. But what we are really doing is sending a signal into the marketplace to plant more trees to produce more wood to supply the demand in the lumberyard. It is no different from any other renewable crop; it's just that trees take longer to mature than annual farm crops. As long as the demand for wood is steady and strong, landowners, both private and public, will plant trees to supply that demand.
There is the same area of forest in both the U.S. and Canada today as there was 100 years ago; in fact, the area of forest has been growing in recent years. This is despite a tripling of population and an even larger increase in the consumption of food and wood products. About 85% of timber production in the U.S. is from private lands. Those millions of individual landowners could easily remove the forest from the land and grow crops like corn or cotton or raise cows for beef. But they choose to grow trees because they know they will get a good price for them to pay their taxes, send their children to college and live a good life. Because landowners choose to grow trees, the land remains forested, providing habitat for other plants and wildlife, pulling carbon from the air, protecting soil from erosion and making the landscape beautiful. Rather than illustrating the common belief that forestry destroys the forest, it is truly a win-win solution for the environment and the economy, maintaining the land in a forested state while providing an income for the owners.
Of course it is important to maintain large areas of land as parks and wilderness, and make them off-limits to industrial development for factories, managed forests or farms. The World Wildlife Fund, one of the largest nature protection groups, states that 10%of the world's forests should be protected from development. I would have no problem with 15% or even more in some cases. In California, about 25% of the natural range of the coastal redwood forest is completely protected. The redwood is a unique tree, the tallest in the world, and creates such a beautiful ecosystem, that it is reasonable to protect a significant percentage as natural forest. But some anti-forestry activists are never satisfied.
They would fight until every tree was protected as if using trees for wood products was unnecessary. Redwoods produce a unique wood that is both durable for outdoor use as well as beautiful in color and texture. Therefore it is also reasonable that large areas of the redwood forest be sustainably managed for timber. The most important thing is to make sure that as much of the forest as possible is retained either for protection or forest management, and as little as possible is deforested and converted to non-forest uses.
In recent years, anti-forestry activists have claimed forest harvesting and forestry in general has a negative impact on climate change. The group ForestEthics (an offshoot of Greenpeace) claims forestry amounts to a "carbon bomb," refer-ring to the release of CO2 from decomposing wood immediately after harvesting.
It is true that there is a net release of CO2 as a result of harvesting, but the activists fail to take into account that new trees are soon established and that they absorb all that CO2 back over time as they grow into a new forest. And they fail to take into account the reduction in wildfires in managed forests, which reduce the amount of carbon that goes into the atmosphere. A hot wildfire not only burns trees but it also burns soil, causing a far greater release of carbon than just harvesting the trees. And, most important, the wood harvested is used to build homes where the carbon in them remains stored for many years. In addition, when we use wood we avoid the use of non-renewable materials such as steel and concrete, which require large amounts of energy to manufacture, putting more CO2 into the atmosphere.
In the final analysis, the combination of harvesting trees and then reforesting the area, suppressing wildfire, storing carbon and using renewable wood instead of non-renewable materials has a large net positive impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet in order to further their anti-environmental aim of curbing the use of wood, activists distort the truth and mislead the public. They make these claims despite the fact that both the Kyoto Protocol on climate and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have clearly recognized the benefits forest management bring to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
When it comes right down to it, we must recognize that wood is the most abundant and most environmentally friendly renewable source of both materials and energy resources on earth. About 75% of all our renewable energy comes from wood, used mainly for cooking and heating but also for making charcoal, drying lumber and producing pulp and paper. Wood provides more than 90% of our renewable materials for buildings, furniture, packaging and sanitary products. One of the great ironies of the "environmental" movement today is that it claims to support all things renewable on the one hand while at the same time ignoring or rejecting the fact that wood is far and away the most important renewable resource. Environmental activists place huge importance on solar panels made from aluminum, silicon and gallium arsenide when in fact the most important solar collectors on earth are the leaves and needles of trees and other plants.
There is probably no better way to make trees the answer than to use more wood for our buildings and other infrastructure. All things considered it makes sense both environmentally and economically to use more wood in our buildings, especially where it is not exposed to the elements and kept dry. If wood is protected from water and sunlight, it will last for hundreds of years. The more wood we use, the more trees we must grow and therefore the more land will remain forested. That is the real win-win solution for the environment and the economy.
Excerpted from Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist, courtesy of Beatty Street Publishing, 2011.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Short-Rotation Woody Crops Field Day and Exhibition
Short-Rotation Woody Crops Field Day and Exhibition
Hearst, ON, September 28, 2010
Staff from Natural Resources Canada and the Town of Hearst co-hosted a one day event showcasing concentrated woody biomass (short rotation coppice) for bioenergy and bioproducts on September 28th, in Hearst, Ontario. They played host to upwards of 75 participants and guests from all over Ontario and Quebec. People in attendance included the staff from the OMNR, NRCan, energy and manufacturing sector, regional municipalities, forest consultants and their affiliates, private growers, interested NGO’s, and researchers. Presenters included staff from both organizations hosting the event as well as industry, consultants and owner-operators.
The host site is owned by Villeneuve Construction Ltd. and is one of four sites established under the Bioenergy Plantation Project for Northern Ontario. Funding for this 4-year project is provided in large part by Natural Resources Canada, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and FedNor, with each of the 4 partners contributing funding as well. Clients were given presentations in the morning at the university auditorium on a variety of topics including: short rotation coppice willow/hybrid poplar establishment; growth and yield; site and clone suitability; propagation options, methods and techniques for maintenance; input costs and economics (feasibility of such plantation ventures); carbon measurement and monitoring practices and protocols; biomass production systems; and harvest and recovery systems. Other topics included presentations by an owner-operator in southern Quebec, Cochrane Power Corporation and Anderson Group (commercially available bio-baler harvester). Demonstrations of mechanized approaches to establishment, cultivation techniques and harvesting systems were also included in the afternoon field visit of the plantation site.
For lunch, participants were served locally made burgers and sausages cooked on-site under a very welcoming tent. The weather was rather cool and windy. However, a great day was had by all.
Friday, October 22, 2010
La CDE à Syracus NY
Hearst, le 22 octobre 2010
Le directeur général de la Corporation de développement économique de Hearst revient d’un congrès à State University of New York College of Environment Science and Forestry SUNY-ESF à Syracus. La conférence portait sur les plantations de saules à croissance rapide; les défis et opportunités. La récolte de saules existe depuis plusieurs décennies en Europe et commence tranquillement à faire son apparition en Amérique du Nord. Le saule est utilisé comme approvisionnement de bois pour produire de l’énergie renouvelable. Le marché de biomasse provenant de plantations énergétiques est pour l’instant très restreint au pays. Malgré cela, la Corporation de développement économique de Hearst s’y intéresse depuis 2006. Elle croit fortement que l’énergie renouvelable constitue une opportunité de diversification économique prometteuse et que l’approvisionnement de bois à proximité d’usines de transformation sera la clé du succès de cette industrie.
SUNY-ESF a développé à travers les ans une expertise reconnue en Amérique du Nord dans la production d’espèces de saules propices à une multitude de climats et de sols. Ed White de SUNY-ESF avait présenté un atelier sur la plantation énergétique lors de la conférence BES en 2006. Le voyage a permis de renouer avec Ed White et celui-ci affirmait être agréablement surpris du cheminement de la communauté de Hearst depuis 2006. La Corporation de développement économique possède depuis 2007, en collaboration avec ses partenaires locaux et régionaux, une plantation énergétique à croissance rapide. Utilisée à des fins de recherche, elle a pour but d’aider à développer l’expertise locale et trouver les meilleures espèces propices à notre climat ardu. « Nous désirons développer cette industrie comme moyen de produire de la biomasse proche de notre communauté en utilisant des terres en friches » affirme Daniel Sigouin, directeur général de la Corporation.
En plus d’en apprendre plus sur les défis et les opportunités de cette industrie encore en développement, le congrès a permis d’établir de bons contacts avec des chercheurs et intervenants dans le domaine. Nous pouvons voir une photo de M. Sigouin avec Renato Pacaldo, Philippin et candidat au doctorat à SUNY-ESF. Renato Pacaldo est scientiste et étudie les sols et est aussi spécialiste du carbone provenant de la biomasse. Il affirme être très impressionné par le concept du Centre de technologies vertes et de nos efforts pour développer la bioéconomie dans le Nord de l’Ontario.
Des représentants de l’entreprise Villeneuve Construction étaient également présents lors du voyage. Ceux-ci s’intéressent grandement par ce nouveau produit et ont bien apprécié le voyage. Villeneuve Construction étudie actuellement la possibilité de planter 15 acres en saules à croissance rapide le printemps prochain. La compagnie possède plusieurs acres de terres en friches dans le Nord de l’Ontario et aimerait bien les exploiter.
Lumberjacks' goaltender Joel Vienneau enjoying life 'down south'
Published: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 10:19 PM Updated: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 10:24 PM
Ron Rop | The Muskegon Chronicle
Follow Share this story
Story tools
When you live as far “up north” as Joel Vienneau, there are certain things you can be assured of finding in your hometown.
Cold weather, plenty of snow, pond hockey, good hunting and excellent fishing are all traits of Hearst, Ont., a small town of less than 6,000 people and a “long drive to everywhere.” Hearst is a 12-hour drive north of Muskegon.
Vienneau, the No. 1 goaltender for Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League, is pursuing his dream of playing hockey, but he also misses his time back home in the great outdoors.
“I love to be in the bush to hunt and fish,” Vienneau said.
Among his targets while fishing are walleye, pike and smallmouth bass. Hunting season brings moose, birds and bears. At the age of 14, he bagged a calf moose that tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds.
“The last three years I’ve been playing juniors so there’s no time to hunt and fish,” said Vienneau, who started playing goaltender at the age of 5.
Vienneau is expected to be in net at 7:15 p.m. Saturday when the Jacks host the Indiana Ice.
“We’re only five games into the season,” Vienneau said. “It would be good to get that first home win.”
Vienneau has his sights set pretty high in hockey. He’s commited to playing at the University of Minnesota and he’s hoping to hear his name called next summer when the National Hockey League conducts its annual Entry Draft.
Vienneau, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, reached as high as No. 14 on the NHL Central Scouting report, but his name wasn’t called during this past year’s draft. That was a disappointment, but he’s determined to keep working.
“I need to play good to be ranked and Muskegon is the place to do it,” Vienneau said. “I just have to play good and keep winning.”
Last season, he led the Kingston Voyageurs to the playoff finals, where they lost in overtime of Game 7. During the regular season, he was 27-4-1 with a .928 save percentage.
“We did good, I think we lost eight games all year,” said Vienneau, who attended an offseason goaltender’s camp in Nashville, Tenn.
That success prompted a phone call from the expansion Lumberjacks.
“We firmly believed when we recruited him and offered him a tender that he had the talent and the ability to be our starter,” Lumberjack coach Kevin Patrick said. Vienneau was one of six players who were signed prior to the USHL draft.
Thus far, Vienneau has played in every game and posted a 1-3-1 record and a 3.98 goals-against-average. Despite the elevated GAA, the last two games have been stellar.
He blanked Sioux City last Friday on 19 shots and allowed two goals in a 2-1 setback the next evening in Fargo.
“His timing and his confidence continue to grow,” Patrick said. “Joel is a talented goaltender who has excellent size and athletic ability in the net. We look for him to be the backbone of our defense.”
Ron Rop | The Muskegon Chronicle
Follow Share this story
Story tools
When you live as far “up north” as Joel Vienneau, there are certain things you can be assured of finding in your hometown.
Cold weather, plenty of snow, pond hockey, good hunting and excellent fishing are all traits of Hearst, Ont., a small town of less than 6,000 people and a “long drive to everywhere.” Hearst is a 12-hour drive north of Muskegon.
Vienneau, the No. 1 goaltender for Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League, is pursuing his dream of playing hockey, but he also misses his time back home in the great outdoors.
“I love to be in the bush to hunt and fish,” Vienneau said.
Among his targets while fishing are walleye, pike and smallmouth bass. Hunting season brings moose, birds and bears. At the age of 14, he bagged a calf moose that tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds.
“The last three years I’ve been playing juniors so there’s no time to hunt and fish,” said Vienneau, who started playing goaltender at the age of 5.
Vienneau is expected to be in net at 7:15 p.m. Saturday when the Jacks host the Indiana Ice.
“We’re only five games into the season,” Vienneau said. “It would be good to get that first home win.”
Vienneau has his sights set pretty high in hockey. He’s commited to playing at the University of Minnesota and he’s hoping to hear his name called next summer when the National Hockey League conducts its annual Entry Draft.
Vienneau, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, reached as high as No. 14 on the NHL Central Scouting report, but his name wasn’t called during this past year’s draft. That was a disappointment, but he’s determined to keep working.
“I need to play good to be ranked and Muskegon is the place to do it,” Vienneau said. “I just have to play good and keep winning.”
Last season, he led the Kingston Voyageurs to the playoff finals, where they lost in overtime of Game 7. During the regular season, he was 27-4-1 with a .928 save percentage.
“We did good, I think we lost eight games all year,” said Vienneau, who attended an offseason goaltender’s camp in Nashville, Tenn.
That success prompted a phone call from the expansion Lumberjacks.
“We firmly believed when we recruited him and offered him a tender that he had the talent and the ability to be our starter,” Lumberjack coach Kevin Patrick said. Vienneau was one of six players who were signed prior to the USHL draft.
Thus far, Vienneau has played in every game and posted a 1-3-1 record and a 3.98 goals-against-average. Despite the elevated GAA, the last two games have been stellar.
He blanked Sioux City last Friday on 19 shots and allowed two goals in a 2-1 setback the next evening in Fargo.
“His timing and his confidence continue to grow,” Patrick said. “Joel is a talented goaltender who has excellent size and athletic ability in the net. We look for him to be the backbone of our defense.”
Monday, September 13, 2010
Update on Green Initiatives
The following are green initiatives projects undertaken by the community of Hearst.
The construction of our Green Business and Technology Center has begun. It is a 2.8 million dollar project that will house a bioscience lab, a multimedia space and a Green Business Incubator Space. The Regional Information Utility Network office will also be located in that building. The Center will be a green building and will be powered by solar wind, biomass and geothermal energy, and a 10 kW MFIT. The Center will focus on education, small scale research, demonstration, partnerships, business development and incubation in the green business sector.
A total of 10, 10 kW solar PV MFIT projects or installed or being installed, and we have approximately 5 that we know of, that are under review.
The fast growing willow plantation research project with NRCan and SSIC is coming to an end. Results of the research will be released at a tech transfer event being held in Hearst September 28th, 2010.
A 10 MW solar farm will be constructed in 2010.
A 10 MW biomass energy plant (Hearst Bio Energy LP) is awaiting Economic Connection Test from Ontario Power Authority. The owners have developed a process to burn heritage piles in the area.
A district heating study to provide heat to Columbia Forest Products to replace natural gas, and to heat municipal and school buildings along the river is near completion.
The municipality is currently evaluating the possibility of using some roof tops of their own buildings for energy production.
The Municipality has three trained energy auditors, which conduct energy audits in the community.
The local Green House will be installing geothermal energy in one green house for growing vegetables destined to the local market.
Lac Wood Industries is now producing bio fuel in the form of premium wood pellets for the domestic market.
2 local contractors offer solar PV, solar thermal and geothermal supply and installation services and several retailers of renewable energy products.
As part of our Community improvement plan, phytoremediation remediation (using plants to decontaminate) of the former shell bulk plant brown field will be performed.
The town now recycles all plastics (1 to 7), paper, metal, oil, tires, paints and stains (water & oil based), batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and electronic devices.
AGRIVA, a local organization that promotes local food and local products in the area, are very active in the community thanks to a very dynamic group of volunteers. They hold a market every two weeks on Saturday mornings. On average they have 25 local producers that sell their products.
Several green initiatives are being proposed under our Sustainable Development Plan that will be presented to the community in the next month. Such as community composting, bio gas production initiatives, carbon sequestration initiatives, carbon foot print tool for local businesses and industries and eco-industrial network strategy to name a few.
The construction of our Green Business and Technology Center has begun. It is a 2.8 million dollar project that will house a bioscience lab, a multimedia space and a Green Business Incubator Space. The Regional Information Utility Network office will also be located in that building. The Center will be a green building and will be powered by solar wind, biomass and geothermal energy, and a 10 kW MFIT. The Center will focus on education, small scale research, demonstration, partnerships, business development and incubation in the green business sector.
A total of 10, 10 kW solar PV MFIT projects or installed or being installed, and we have approximately 5 that we know of, that are under review.
The fast growing willow plantation research project with NRCan and SSIC is coming to an end. Results of the research will be released at a tech transfer event being held in Hearst September 28th, 2010.
A 10 MW solar farm will be constructed in 2010.
A 10 MW biomass energy plant (Hearst Bio Energy LP) is awaiting Economic Connection Test from Ontario Power Authority. The owners have developed a process to burn heritage piles in the area.
A district heating study to provide heat to Columbia Forest Products to replace natural gas, and to heat municipal and school buildings along the river is near completion.
The municipality is currently evaluating the possibility of using some roof tops of their own buildings for energy production.
The Municipality has three trained energy auditors, which conduct energy audits in the community.
The local Green House will be installing geothermal energy in one green house for growing vegetables destined to the local market.
Lac Wood Industries is now producing bio fuel in the form of premium wood pellets for the domestic market.
2 local contractors offer solar PV, solar thermal and geothermal supply and installation services and several retailers of renewable energy products.
As part of our Community improvement plan, phytoremediation remediation (using plants to decontaminate) of the former shell bulk plant brown field will be performed.
The town now recycles all plastics (1 to 7), paper, metal, oil, tires, paints and stains (water & oil based), batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and electronic devices.
AGRIVA, a local organization that promotes local food and local products in the area, are very active in the community thanks to a very dynamic group of volunteers. They hold a market every two weeks on Saturday mornings. On average they have 25 local producers that sell their products.
Several green initiatives are being proposed under our Sustainable Development Plan that will be presented to the community in the next month. Such as community composting, bio gas production initiatives, carbon sequestration initiatives, carbon foot print tool for local businesses and industries and eco-industrial network strategy to name a few.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Une économie en dent de scie
Une économie en dents de scie, se sont trois reportages de Louis Lessard journaliste à Radio Canada. Les reportages nous montrent un portrait de la crise actuelle et nous donnent un aperçu des efforts pour se sortir de cette crise.
Voici mes commentaires:
Le Nord de l’Ontario est depuis toujours gouverné comme une colonie sous un contrôle politique énormément centralisé. Lorsqu’une région ressource comme la nôtre fleurit économiquement et que les gens travaillent, le peuple est endormi par un confort artificiel. Lorsque l’on déstabilise ce style de vie, le sentiment d’impuissance s’installe et c’est le début de la dévitalisation des régions. L’incapacité de pouvoir se réinventer nous force à réagir et nous tourner vers le contrôle colonial afin qu’eux nous sortent du pétrin. Mais que faut-il faire? Dans le reportage Louise Bouchard fait nuance à la diversification de l’économie du Nord dans des secteurs non traditionnels, en effet pour se sortir du bois il faut peut être sortir du bois…
Voici mes commentaires:
Le Nord de l’Ontario est depuis toujours gouverné comme une colonie sous un contrôle politique énormément centralisé. Lorsqu’une région ressource comme la nôtre fleurit économiquement et que les gens travaillent, le peuple est endormi par un confort artificiel. Lorsque l’on déstabilise ce style de vie, le sentiment d’impuissance s’installe et c’est le début de la dévitalisation des régions. L’incapacité de pouvoir se réinventer nous force à réagir et nous tourner vers le contrôle colonial afin qu’eux nous sortent du pétrin. Mais que faut-il faire? Dans le reportage Louise Bouchard fait nuance à la diversification de l’économie du Nord dans des secteurs non traditionnels, en effet pour se sortir du bois il faut peut être sortir du bois…
Monday, May 10, 2010
More bioenergy than oil in Sweden
Newly published energy statistics for 2009 show that bioenergy today makes up a larger share of Sweden’s energy use than oil: 31.7 percent bioenergy compared to 30.8 oil. These numbers confirm that Sweden is a world leader in the field of bioenergy. Biomass is used for heat and electricity, for biofuels for transport, and as energy source in industry. Almost all Swedish cities and towns have district heating using biomass as fuel. All of these applications can be seen on study tours and excursions at World Bioenergy 2010 at the end of this month.
The numbers are based on preliminary statistics from the Swedish Energy Agency and were presented by Svebio – the Swedish Bioenergy Association. The final energy use includes all sectors of the Swedish society: industry, transport, residential, services, etc.
Svebios analyses also shows that the total share of renewable energy, using the definition in EU:s renewable energy directive (RED), was 46.3 percent in 2009. This is well ahead of the EU target trajectory, and only 3.7 percent short of the EU target for Sweden of 49 percent in 2020. The major renewable energy source beside bioenergy is hydropower. Wind power is still a relatively small contributor to the energy supply.
The main reason for the fast increase of renewable energy in recent years is the steady growth of bioenergy use. Biomass is the primary energy source in the district heating sector, which supplies more than half of the total heat demand in the residential sector. The use of by-products and residues in the forest industry is another major component. Bioelectricity has expanded both with combined heat and power plants in district heating and in the forest industry. Pellets and fuelwood play a major role in heating of single homes. Finally, more than 5 percent of transport fuels are biofuels – ethanol, biodiesel and biogas. In all, the Swedish bioenergy business sector is in a phase of strong expansion, which is confirmed by the statistics.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Governor General to visit Hearst. Sudbury, Timmins
By SooToday.com StaffSooToday.comThursday, April 29, 2010NEWS RELEASEGOVERNOR GENERALOF CANADA***************************
Governor General meets with citizens in Northern Ontario OTTAWA — Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, will undertake a regional visit to Hearst, Timmins and Greater Sudbury from May 3 to 5, 2010. His Excellency Jean-Daniel Lafond will be joining her for the visit to Greater Sudbury. “I wanted to visit Northern Ontario, a region that impresses me greatly with the cultural vitality and energy of its communities, especially its Francophone community and the Aboriginal communities who have planted roots in this area for hundreds of years,” said the Governor General. “I also want to find out how they are facing current challenges and what solutions they are proposing, particularly when many of the sectors on which the local economy is based are going through such a difficult period.”In Hearst, Her Excellency will participate in a discussion on various partnerships between the Town of Hearst, the Constance Lake First Nation and the Municipality of Mattice-Val Côté.The Governor General will then go to Timmins to visit Porcupine mines as the city celebrates 100 years of gold production.Their Excellencies will end this regional visit in Greater Sudbury. They will visit Collège Boréal and Laurentian University. Their Excellencies will also host an Art Matters forum exploring the theme, Art’s ability to breath new life to our communities, before attending, the following evening, the event that will launch the 2010 edition of the Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Chine: 15% d'énergie renouvelable d'ici 2020
La Chine oriente sa production énergétique autour des énergies renouvelables et du nucléaire, a affirmé le directeur de l'Administration nationale de l'énergie de la Chine, Zhang Guobao. 15% de la production énergétique chinoise en 2020 devrait être constituée d'énergies propres.
À l'occasion d'une entrevue accordée au quotidien China Daily la semaine dernière, Zhang Guobao a expliqué que l'atteinte de cet objectif sera rendue grâce à des investissements massifs du gouvernement chinois dans le cadre d'un plan qui s'étalera sur 10 ans.
Le directeur de l'ANE a cité le développement de l'énergie éolienne en exemple, rappelant que le potentiel énergétique lié à l'éolien pourrait s'établir à plus ou moins 2,6 milliards de KW, mais les installations actuelles ne détiennent qu'une capacité de 22 millions de KW.
Zangh a également souligné l'apport du nucléaire dans la stratégie nationale. À l'heure actuelle, 11 projets liés à l'énergie nucléaire sont en service ce qui représente un peu plus de 1% de la production d'énergie. Vingt-et-un nouveaux projets sont en construction.
Rappelons qu'en décembre dernier, lors du Sommet de Copenhague, le premier ministre chinois Wen Jiabao avait indiqué que l'Empire du Milieu désirait baisser ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 40% à 45% d'ici 2020 en comparaison de l'année 2005.
La Chine est le plus grand émetteur de CO2 de la planète en raison, entre autres choses, de sa dépendance au charbon qui représente toujours près de 70% de sa consommation énergétique, tandis que le pétrole, lui, représente 20%.
Source: China Daily, EIA
À l'occasion d'une entrevue accordée au quotidien China Daily la semaine dernière, Zhang Guobao a expliqué que l'atteinte de cet objectif sera rendue grâce à des investissements massifs du gouvernement chinois dans le cadre d'un plan qui s'étalera sur 10 ans.
Le directeur de l'ANE a cité le développement de l'énergie éolienne en exemple, rappelant que le potentiel énergétique lié à l'éolien pourrait s'établir à plus ou moins 2,6 milliards de KW, mais les installations actuelles ne détiennent qu'une capacité de 22 millions de KW.
Zangh a également souligné l'apport du nucléaire dans la stratégie nationale. À l'heure actuelle, 11 projets liés à l'énergie nucléaire sont en service ce qui représente un peu plus de 1% de la production d'énergie. Vingt-et-un nouveaux projets sont en construction.
Rappelons qu'en décembre dernier, lors du Sommet de Copenhague, le premier ministre chinois Wen Jiabao avait indiqué que l'Empire du Milieu désirait baisser ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 40% à 45% d'ici 2020 en comparaison de l'année 2005.
La Chine est le plus grand émetteur de CO2 de la planète en raison, entre autres choses, de sa dépendance au charbon qui représente toujours près de 70% de sa consommation énergétique, tandis que le pétrole, lui, représente 20%.
Source: China Daily, EIA
Forestry sector gets renewable power boost
Submitted by brett h on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 12:12.
Date: -->
Monday Mar 08, 2010
By
The Globe and Mail
Battling weak product prices and a strong loonie, Tembec Inc. chief executive officer Jim Lopez is eager to expand the company's ability to squeeze more value out of each tree felled to feed its operations.
With the sector in crisis across Canada, the federal government is encouraging companies to increase their investment in renewable power from forestry waste by establishing a $100-million fund and offering generous tax treatment.
The renewable power initiative - contained in last week's budget - was one of the few spending programs announced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Mr. Lopez said federal action is critical to spur investment because companies have seen their balance sheets and creditworthiness hammered by the recession.
Now, the provinces have to step up to ensure that forestry companies have full access to their renewable power programs to ensure there is an attractive market for the electricity produced.
In addition to its sawmills and pulp and paper operations in Canada. Tembec runs three pulp mills in France, where government programs ensure the company can sell power into the grid at profitable rates.
"If we had the incentives in Canada that they have in France, it would be a game changer for our industry," Mr. Lopez said in an interview.
Tembec lost $214-million last year, and racked up another $9-million in losses in the first quarter of 2010. Mr. Lopez said the company is already producing power and ethanol from wood waste, but is eager to expand that business, utilizing trees tops and branches that are now simply burned in the forest.
"It's all about converting biomass into electrons," he said.
"And if the government is going to pay for the electrons, you might as well pay for them to be produced at a pulp and paper complex so that you improve the profitability of the complex and keep it viable for the long term."
While the forestry sector already provides 60 per cent of its own electricity needs from wood waste, there is opportunity to triple its power production, according to a recent study by the Forest Products Association of Canada. That additional generating capacity would be the equivalent of three nuclear reactors.
Association president Avrim Lazar applauded Mr. Flaherty's budget measure to promote renewable power in the forestry sector, even as other clean-tech advocates complained about the government's decision to let other fund programs lapse.
The four-year, $100-million program - together with accelerated writeoffs for machinery and equipment - "will give Canada the edge it needs to move into the new bio-economy," Mr. Lazar said.
The forestry industry has been bleeding employment across the country, losing jobs in small communities that represent bedrock Conservative Party support. But the Harper government has to move cautiously in supporting the sector, lest the aid provoke retaliation from the U.S. government and lumber interests who vigilantly police the bilateral softwood lumber deal.
Last June, the government announced a $1-billion program to help pulp and paper companies improve energy efficiency and environmental performance.
The current program will assist companies to invest in more efficient steam-based power turbines so they can produce electricity for re-sale as well as their own use.
A "bio-pathways" report released by the forestry association earlier this year advocated just such an approach, arguing the added value from power production would help make the entire industry - from sawmill to paper mill - more economically sustainable.
Related Links:
The Globe and Mail
Add new comment
Your #1 source for forestry and forest industry news.
Date: -->
Monday Mar 08, 2010
By
The Globe and Mail
Battling weak product prices and a strong loonie, Tembec Inc. chief executive officer Jim Lopez is eager to expand the company's ability to squeeze more value out of each tree felled to feed its operations.
With the sector in crisis across Canada, the federal government is encouraging companies to increase their investment in renewable power from forestry waste by establishing a $100-million fund and offering generous tax treatment.
The renewable power initiative - contained in last week's budget - was one of the few spending programs announced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Mr. Lopez said federal action is critical to spur investment because companies have seen their balance sheets and creditworthiness hammered by the recession.
Now, the provinces have to step up to ensure that forestry companies have full access to their renewable power programs to ensure there is an attractive market for the electricity produced.
In addition to its sawmills and pulp and paper operations in Canada. Tembec runs three pulp mills in France, where government programs ensure the company can sell power into the grid at profitable rates.
"If we had the incentives in Canada that they have in France, it would be a game changer for our industry," Mr. Lopez said in an interview.
Tembec lost $214-million last year, and racked up another $9-million in losses in the first quarter of 2010. Mr. Lopez said the company is already producing power and ethanol from wood waste, but is eager to expand that business, utilizing trees tops and branches that are now simply burned in the forest.
"It's all about converting biomass into electrons," he said.
"And if the government is going to pay for the electrons, you might as well pay for them to be produced at a pulp and paper complex so that you improve the profitability of the complex and keep it viable for the long term."
While the forestry sector already provides 60 per cent of its own electricity needs from wood waste, there is opportunity to triple its power production, according to a recent study by the Forest Products Association of Canada. That additional generating capacity would be the equivalent of three nuclear reactors.
Association president Avrim Lazar applauded Mr. Flaherty's budget measure to promote renewable power in the forestry sector, even as other clean-tech advocates complained about the government's decision to let other fund programs lapse.
The four-year, $100-million program - together with accelerated writeoffs for machinery and equipment - "will give Canada the edge it needs to move into the new bio-economy," Mr. Lazar said.
The forestry industry has been bleeding employment across the country, losing jobs in small communities that represent bedrock Conservative Party support. But the Harper government has to move cautiously in supporting the sector, lest the aid provoke retaliation from the U.S. government and lumber interests who vigilantly police the bilateral softwood lumber deal.
Last June, the government announced a $1-billion program to help pulp and paper companies improve energy efficiency and environmental performance.
The current program will assist companies to invest in more efficient steam-based power turbines so they can produce electricity for re-sale as well as their own use.
A "bio-pathways" report released by the forestry association earlier this year advocated just such an approach, arguing the added value from power production would help make the entire industry - from sawmill to paper mill - more economically sustainable.
Related Links:
The Globe and Mail
Add new comment
Your #1 source for forestry and forest industry news.
Friday, December 11, 2009
NorthStar signs agreement with Hearst to implement MeterSense
NorthStar Utilities Solutions signed an agreement with Hearst Power Distribution to implement MeterSense as their Operational Data Store. MeterSense is a comprehensive meter data management solution (MDMS) designed to provide utilities with long-term storage of billing and operational data, validation, and through its configurable Rules Engine, intelligent real-time event management.
MeterSense creates real, quantifiable business process improvements in the growing world of smart meters.
(1888PressRelease) December 11, 2009 - OTTAWA - Hearst Power Distribution (Hearst) has signed an agreement with NorthStar Utilities Solutions, a division of Harris Computer Systems, to implement MeterSense as their Operational Data Store. In conjunction with the Ontario government's provincial Meter Data Management Repository, MDM/R, MeterSense will provide Hearst with a comprehensive solution to immediately validate the health and status of their metering infrastructure. It will also improve operational efficiencies by allowing Hearst to understand how their assets are performing. Through advanced reporting MeterSense provides invaluable information on distribution system loading and assists utilities in optimizing their assets in the field.The Province of Ontario has embarked on a plan that will see the implementation of resident smart meters on every household by 2011 and the move to time of use billing. This program is part of the government's overall strategy to create and promote a conservation culture and encompasses over four million residential smart meters. The incorporation of both smart grid technology and smart meters will facilitate the use advanced information-based technologies to increase grid efficiency, reliability and flexibility.Hearst contracted with Util-Assist, a leading industry consultant, to issue a request for proposal and review vendors. After a thorough review Hearst chose NorthStar's MeterSense solution based on its ability to meet both their immediate and long term smart meter objectives. "We are thrilled with the addition of Hearst to the MeterSense user community." said Rob DiMurro, General Manager of NorthStar Utilities Solutions, "Our MeterSense initiative has huge momentum as more utilities realize that they can gain operational efficiencies from a comprehensive meter data management solution like MeterSense."About Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd.:Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd. distributes electricity to the residents and businesses of the Town of Hearst. Ms. Nicole LeducGeneral ManagerHearst Power Distribution Company Ltd.Hearst, Ontario(705) 372-2815 nleduc ( @ ) ntl dot sympatico dot caAbout MeterSense:MeterSense is a comprehensive meter data management solution (MDMS) designed to provide utilities with long-term storage of billing and operational data, validation, and through its configurable Rules Engine, intelligent real-time event management. MeterSense is designed to reduce or eliminate the need for manual intervention in handling the significantly increased volume of data utilities are now faced with and act as the central point for integrating meter data and events with other business systems such as CIS, SCADA, GIS, OMS, WMS, and other critical utility systems. About NorthStar Utilities Solutions:NorthStar has been serving the utility market for more than 30 years. NorthStar provides utilities with integrated solutions for customer information and billing, financial management and meter data management. Our 200 customer in North American and the Caribbean, benefit from our solutions that let utilities manage their revenues, deliver superior customer service and improve efficiencies while reducing total cost of ownership. For more information on NorthStar Utilities Solutions and the NorthStar product suite please visit our website at www.northstarutilities.com.To learn more about MeterSense please contact:Mike Foley, Senior Account ExecutiveNorthStar Utilities SolutionsA division of Harris Computer Systems(613) 868-5594mfoley ( @ ) northstarutilities dot com About Harris Computer Systems: Since 1976, Harris has focused on providing feature-rich and robust turnkey solutions to public power and water markets as well as all levels of local government throughout North America. Harris' focus is on creating long-term relationships with our customers and ensuring that we meet the changing needs of our customers over time. For further information on Harris Computer Systems, please visit our website at www.harriscomputer.com or call 888-847-7747.
MeterSense creates real, quantifiable business process improvements in the growing world of smart meters.
(1888PressRelease) December 11, 2009 - OTTAWA - Hearst Power Distribution (Hearst) has signed an agreement with NorthStar Utilities Solutions, a division of Harris Computer Systems, to implement MeterSense as their Operational Data Store. In conjunction with the Ontario government's provincial Meter Data Management Repository, MDM/R, MeterSense will provide Hearst with a comprehensive solution to immediately validate the health and status of their metering infrastructure. It will also improve operational efficiencies by allowing Hearst to understand how their assets are performing. Through advanced reporting MeterSense provides invaluable information on distribution system loading and assists utilities in optimizing their assets in the field.The Province of Ontario has embarked on a plan that will see the implementation of resident smart meters on every household by 2011 and the move to time of use billing. This program is part of the government's overall strategy to create and promote a conservation culture and encompasses over four million residential smart meters. The incorporation of both smart grid technology and smart meters will facilitate the use advanced information-based technologies to increase grid efficiency, reliability and flexibility.Hearst contracted with Util-Assist, a leading industry consultant, to issue a request for proposal and review vendors. After a thorough review Hearst chose NorthStar's MeterSense solution based on its ability to meet both their immediate and long term smart meter objectives. "We are thrilled with the addition of Hearst to the MeterSense user community." said Rob DiMurro, General Manager of NorthStar Utilities Solutions, "Our MeterSense initiative has huge momentum as more utilities realize that they can gain operational efficiencies from a comprehensive meter data management solution like MeterSense."About Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd.:Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd. distributes electricity to the residents and businesses of the Town of Hearst. Ms. Nicole LeducGeneral ManagerHearst Power Distribution Company Ltd.Hearst, Ontario(705) 372-2815 nleduc ( @ ) ntl dot sympatico dot caAbout MeterSense:MeterSense is a comprehensive meter data management solution (MDMS) designed to provide utilities with long-term storage of billing and operational data, validation, and through its configurable Rules Engine, intelligent real-time event management. MeterSense is designed to reduce or eliminate the need for manual intervention in handling the significantly increased volume of data utilities are now faced with and act as the central point for integrating meter data and events with other business systems such as CIS, SCADA, GIS, OMS, WMS, and other critical utility systems. About NorthStar Utilities Solutions:NorthStar has been serving the utility market for more than 30 years. NorthStar provides utilities with integrated solutions for customer information and billing, financial management and meter data management. Our 200 customer in North American and the Caribbean, benefit from our solutions that let utilities manage their revenues, deliver superior customer service and improve efficiencies while reducing total cost of ownership. For more information on NorthStar Utilities Solutions and the NorthStar product suite please visit our website at www.northstarutilities.com.To learn more about MeterSense please contact:Mike Foley, Senior Account ExecutiveNorthStar Utilities SolutionsA division of Harris Computer Systems(613) 868-5594mfoley ( @ ) northstarutilities dot com About Harris Computer Systems: Since 1976, Harris has focused on providing feature-rich and robust turnkey solutions to public power and water markets as well as all levels of local government throughout North America. Harris' focus is on creating long-term relationships with our customers and ensuring that we meet the changing needs of our customers over time. For further information on Harris Computer Systems, please visit our website at www.harriscomputer.com or call 888-847-7747.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Four-Laning
Submitted by Editor on Mon, 12/07/2009 - 09:56.
Date: -->
Monday Dec 07, 2009
By
Temiskaming Speaker, Wednesday December 2 2009
Is it feasible to turn 1,650 kilometres of highways 11 and 17, stretching from North Bay to the Manitoba border, into a four-lane divided highway?“We can do it, fairly easily,” says Judy Skidmore, publisher of The Working Forest newspaper.“How much and when? A Vision for Ontario’s Trans Canada Highway, North Bay to the Manitoba Border” was commissioned by the newspaper, which is headquartered in Callander.The study concluded that the project — which would take in 85 bridges, 56 kilometres of road upgrades through urban centres, and almost 1,600 kilometres of highway — can be completed over 25 years, with work beginning in seven sections simultaneously.“The cost is only $600 million per year, an amount already in the budgets of provincial coffers,” the study concluded.What’s pushing the proposal?Safety, Ms. Skidmore said.“I’m sick of all the deaths,” she told the Temiskaming Municipal Association in Earlton last week.She said the stretch of the Trans-Canada through Northern Ontario is below standards elsewhere in the United States, Europe and even other parts of Canada.And yet, she said, “this is the permanent highway across Canada.”THE STUDYIt’s not the first time that the idea has been proposed.“Whenever we talked about it, it was always, ‘well, it’s going to cost too much, it’s going to take too long.’ So I wanted to know much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take.”The study was prepared by James Liddell of North Bay, and financed with support from the Manitoulin Group of Companies, headquartered in Gore Bay, and Villeneuve Construction of Hearst.Costing data for four-laning and major bridge replacements was drawn from Ontario Ministry of Transportation reports on ongoing Northern construction projects.The study came up with an average cost of $8.4 million per kilometre for road construction and $13.8 million per bridge.“We have not yet had anybody say those numbers are not good,” she said.“Construction people, ministry people have said, ‘sounds about right, sounds about the right amount of time.’”As early as the 1960s, she said Transport Canada identified divided highways as being the safest.The study cites a 2003 study commissioned by the federal department that came to the same conclusion, with the use of overpasses a second leading factor in reducing road crashes.In the European Union, she said it’s now understood that the designers of transportation systems are ultimately responsible for their operation, use and level of safety.“So those accidents that happen out there, the finger has to be pointed at the government who designed the road, who put us on 24 feet of pavement coming at each other at 100 kilometres per hour, separated by four inches of paint,” she said.The report outlines the work, cost and timeline in each of the seven sections.The 156-kilometre stretch from North Bay to Dymond would require the four-laning of several bridges, including crossings in Latchford, Net Lake and Granite Lake.Overpasses would be added at Highway 64 and the southern entrances to Cobalt and Haileybury.In communities split by the highway — such as Temagami and Latchford - -the roadway would be widened only enough to accommodate turning lanes.Total cost is pegged at $1.5 billion, with the work completed in under two and a half years.Looking north, the project would include overpasses at Highway 569, Highway 582 to Thornloe, the north and south entrances to Earlton, Highway 624 to Larder Lake and Highway 560 to Charlton.The study describes the four-laning of the bridge over the Englehart River as “a huge project,” and doubles the estimated cost to $27.6 million.RESPONSE“One of the biggest problems is you’ve got to get the guys in Toronto understanding that you can’t get from Toronto to Winnipeg through Canada without coming here,” she said.She urged that the route no longer be called “the Northern highway.”“Call it what it is — the Trans-Canada Highway. Then all of us in Canada have a stake in upgrading and making that a reasonable road.”A number of municipalities are reviewing the report and endorsing resolutions of support, she said.Further efforts to press the provincial government to move forward with the project are also planned.The Temiskaming Municipal Association donated $1,000 to help with the promotion campaign
Date: -->
Monday Dec 07, 2009
By
Temiskaming Speaker, Wednesday December 2 2009
Is it feasible to turn 1,650 kilometres of highways 11 and 17, stretching from North Bay to the Manitoba border, into a four-lane divided highway?“We can do it, fairly easily,” says Judy Skidmore, publisher of The Working Forest newspaper.“How much and when? A Vision for Ontario’s Trans Canada Highway, North Bay to the Manitoba Border” was commissioned by the newspaper, which is headquartered in Callander.The study concluded that the project — which would take in 85 bridges, 56 kilometres of road upgrades through urban centres, and almost 1,600 kilometres of highway — can be completed over 25 years, with work beginning in seven sections simultaneously.“The cost is only $600 million per year, an amount already in the budgets of provincial coffers,” the study concluded.What’s pushing the proposal?Safety, Ms. Skidmore said.“I’m sick of all the deaths,” she told the Temiskaming Municipal Association in Earlton last week.She said the stretch of the Trans-Canada through Northern Ontario is below standards elsewhere in the United States, Europe and even other parts of Canada.And yet, she said, “this is the permanent highway across Canada.”THE STUDYIt’s not the first time that the idea has been proposed.“Whenever we talked about it, it was always, ‘well, it’s going to cost too much, it’s going to take too long.’ So I wanted to know much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take.”The study was prepared by James Liddell of North Bay, and financed with support from the Manitoulin Group of Companies, headquartered in Gore Bay, and Villeneuve Construction of Hearst.Costing data for four-laning and major bridge replacements was drawn from Ontario Ministry of Transportation reports on ongoing Northern construction projects.The study came up with an average cost of $8.4 million per kilometre for road construction and $13.8 million per bridge.“We have not yet had anybody say those numbers are not good,” she said.“Construction people, ministry people have said, ‘sounds about right, sounds about the right amount of time.’”As early as the 1960s, she said Transport Canada identified divided highways as being the safest.The study cites a 2003 study commissioned by the federal department that came to the same conclusion, with the use of overpasses a second leading factor in reducing road crashes.In the European Union, she said it’s now understood that the designers of transportation systems are ultimately responsible for their operation, use and level of safety.“So those accidents that happen out there, the finger has to be pointed at the government who designed the road, who put us on 24 feet of pavement coming at each other at 100 kilometres per hour, separated by four inches of paint,” she said.The report outlines the work, cost and timeline in each of the seven sections.The 156-kilometre stretch from North Bay to Dymond would require the four-laning of several bridges, including crossings in Latchford, Net Lake and Granite Lake.Overpasses would be added at Highway 64 and the southern entrances to Cobalt and Haileybury.In communities split by the highway — such as Temagami and Latchford - -the roadway would be widened only enough to accommodate turning lanes.Total cost is pegged at $1.5 billion, with the work completed in under two and a half years.Looking north, the project would include overpasses at Highway 569, Highway 582 to Thornloe, the north and south entrances to Earlton, Highway 624 to Larder Lake and Highway 560 to Charlton.The study describes the four-laning of the bridge over the Englehart River as “a huge project,” and doubles the estimated cost to $27.6 million.RESPONSE“One of the biggest problems is you’ve got to get the guys in Toronto understanding that you can’t get from Toronto to Winnipeg through Canada without coming here,” she said.She urged that the route no longer be called “the Northern highway.”“Call it what it is — the Trans-Canada Highway. Then all of us in Canada have a stake in upgrading and making that a reasonable road.”A number of municipalities are reviewing the report and endorsing resolutions of support, she said.Further efforts to press the provincial government to move forward with the project are also planned.The Temiskaming Municipal Association donated $1,000 to help with the promotion campaign
Monday, December 7, 2009
It's Time to Rethink Forest Management
It's time to rethink forest management
More subsidies will not succeed
Susanne Ivey-Cook, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z28sXiPz The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Ontario's forest industry has changed fundamentally. Demand for newsprint has plummeted (U.S. consumption is down nearly 30% from last year) and lumber sales are doing even more poorly as a result of the slumping U.S. home-building sector. These factors, coupled with a high Canadian dollar and rising energy costs, have led to the shutdown of many of Ontario's pulp and paper mills.
The scale of the decline is staggering. Close to 8,000 jobs have disappeared in the past five years, forest-dependent communities are facing serious distress and best estimates suggest that wood extracted from public forests is down 40% from 2004 harvest levels. For Ontario's pulp-and-paper industry, this is not a cyclical downturn, but part of a larger industrial transformation caused by the rise of electronic media, declining newspaper use, and competition from places where trees grow more quickly and labour costs are lower. Consequently, waiting for a global economic recovery is not the answer; the structural changes are permanent.
Closed and idled mills mean lost jobs, towns without a sufficient tax base, and a province that is paying more to manage the forests than it can collect in logging fees.
So what can be done? The provincial and federal governments have tried grants, loan guarantees, road-building subsidies and special breaks on electricity prices, all with little success. Industry fundamentals have shifted dramatically and Ontario needs to rethink how to secure economic, social and environmental benefits from its forests and forest industry. More government subsidies will not succeed.
There is hope, and Ontario still has an opportunity to lead in new uses of forests that are better-suited to future demand. Our forests, all 50 million hectares of them, are, for the most part, healthy. Moreover, Ontario is a leader in forest sustainability with extensive areas certified to the rigorous Forest Stewardship Council standard, meaning green consumers from around the world will choose our forest products over those of other countries and regions. This tremendous public asset can provide a great place to invest and there are several promising industrial opportunities, such as biofuels, wood-based plastics and specialized structural and finish-wood products. Manufacturers of these products require access to wood supplies that are now tied to historical uses.
There will also be new markets for ecological services, notably carbon-intensive industries in the west paying for Ontario's forests to absorb some of the carbon they emit. Finally, Ontario's forests contain globally significant wilderness areas and all evidence points to growing demand for wilderness, while in most countries this asset is being decimated at unprecedented rates.
Unfortunately, new business ventures are prevented easy entry into Ontario because our publicly owned forests are locked into long-term licences to forest companies, some of which are no longer operating. Potential investors are therefore unable to access forest areas or wood supplies; placing constraints on resourceful individuals or communities eager to explore new ways to sell goods or services from the forests nearby.
We must replace the almost 100-year-old system under which forests are managed largely as supply departments for large integrated pulp-and-paper companies. Within the current licencing arrangement, forest companies have a business interest in keeping the cost of wood, labour and long-term investment low. After all, they don't own the forest and their profits are, in good measure, dependent on how low they can keep their costs.
In place of this antiquated system, Ontario needs to make room for new business opportunities by reforming the licencing system to provide citizens (the owners) with market-based prices for the wood cut, the carbon stored and the ecological services provided. The forests themselves would then become the asset and the centre of wealth creation. Retained profits could be invested in improved forest management, greater resource productivity, new recreational amenities and a stronger management infrastructure. These activities will create new and better jobs with more employment per cubic metre of wood harvested.
This new system would be easier to administer, increase citizen participation in the management of the forests, let the marketplace determine the best use of the wood harvested, and allow new companies to manage forests for multiple products and services of the highest value. Furthermore, it would undercut one of the key arguments made by the United States against Canadian lumber exports, namely that our logging fees are not set in a competitive market and therefore constitute a government subsidy.
We are at an important juncture; the Ontario government has launched a process to review forest tenure, licencing and pricing. Ontario's forests and forest communities will be much better off with a market-based licencing model. A decision is expected in the spring of 2010 and we encourage and support the Premier in doing what is best for all of Ontario.
--- - Susanne Ivey-Cook is the director of the Ivey Foundation, a philanthropic charity that supports environmental causes in Canada.Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z29KnVUd The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
More subsidies will not succeed
Susanne Ivey-Cook, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z28sXiPz The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Ontario's forest industry has changed fundamentally. Demand for newsprint has plummeted (U.S. consumption is down nearly 30% from last year) and lumber sales are doing even more poorly as a result of the slumping U.S. home-building sector. These factors, coupled with a high Canadian dollar and rising energy costs, have led to the shutdown of many of Ontario's pulp and paper mills.
The scale of the decline is staggering. Close to 8,000 jobs have disappeared in the past five years, forest-dependent communities are facing serious distress and best estimates suggest that wood extracted from public forests is down 40% from 2004 harvest levels. For Ontario's pulp-and-paper industry, this is not a cyclical downturn, but part of a larger industrial transformation caused by the rise of electronic media, declining newspaper use, and competition from places where trees grow more quickly and labour costs are lower. Consequently, waiting for a global economic recovery is not the answer; the structural changes are permanent.
Closed and idled mills mean lost jobs, towns without a sufficient tax base, and a province that is paying more to manage the forests than it can collect in logging fees.
So what can be done? The provincial and federal governments have tried grants, loan guarantees, road-building subsidies and special breaks on electricity prices, all with little success. Industry fundamentals have shifted dramatically and Ontario needs to rethink how to secure economic, social and environmental benefits from its forests and forest industry. More government subsidies will not succeed.
There is hope, and Ontario still has an opportunity to lead in new uses of forests that are better-suited to future demand. Our forests, all 50 million hectares of them, are, for the most part, healthy. Moreover, Ontario is a leader in forest sustainability with extensive areas certified to the rigorous Forest Stewardship Council standard, meaning green consumers from around the world will choose our forest products over those of other countries and regions. This tremendous public asset can provide a great place to invest and there are several promising industrial opportunities, such as biofuels, wood-based plastics and specialized structural and finish-wood products. Manufacturers of these products require access to wood supplies that are now tied to historical uses.
There will also be new markets for ecological services, notably carbon-intensive industries in the west paying for Ontario's forests to absorb some of the carbon they emit. Finally, Ontario's forests contain globally significant wilderness areas and all evidence points to growing demand for wilderness, while in most countries this asset is being decimated at unprecedented rates.
Unfortunately, new business ventures are prevented easy entry into Ontario because our publicly owned forests are locked into long-term licences to forest companies, some of which are no longer operating. Potential investors are therefore unable to access forest areas or wood supplies; placing constraints on resourceful individuals or communities eager to explore new ways to sell goods or services from the forests nearby.
We must replace the almost 100-year-old system under which forests are managed largely as supply departments for large integrated pulp-and-paper companies. Within the current licencing arrangement, forest companies have a business interest in keeping the cost of wood, labour and long-term investment low. After all, they don't own the forest and their profits are, in good measure, dependent on how low they can keep their costs.
In place of this antiquated system, Ontario needs to make room for new business opportunities by reforming the licencing system to provide citizens (the owners) with market-based prices for the wood cut, the carbon stored and the ecological services provided. The forests themselves would then become the asset and the centre of wealth creation. Retained profits could be invested in improved forest management, greater resource productivity, new recreational amenities and a stronger management infrastructure. These activities will create new and better jobs with more employment per cubic metre of wood harvested.
This new system would be easier to administer, increase citizen participation in the management of the forests, let the marketplace determine the best use of the wood harvested, and allow new companies to manage forests for multiple products and services of the highest value. Furthermore, it would undercut one of the key arguments made by the United States against Canadian lumber exports, namely that our logging fees are not set in a competitive market and therefore constitute a government subsidy.
We are at an important juncture; the Ontario government has launched a process to review forest tenure, licencing and pricing. Ontario's forests and forest communities will be much better off with a market-based licencing model. A decision is expected in the spring of 2010 and we encourage and support the Premier in doing what is best for all of Ontario.
--- - Susanne Ivey-Cook is the director of the Ivey Foundation, a philanthropic charity that supports environmental causes in Canada.Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/feeds/story.html?id=2094614#ixzz0Z29KnVUd The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Lumber could be the new oil
Submitted by brett h on Thu, 12/03/2009 - 08:57.
Date: -->
Thursday Dec 03, 2009
By
CBC News
Shares of several of Canada’s largest lumber exporters have skyrocketed in the past two months as new building codes in China allowing wood in construction have cracked open a previously inaccessible market for Canada’s long-suffering forestry industry.
Since Oct. 1, shares in International Forest Products Ltd. have soared 58.3%, while Canfor Corp. and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. shares jumped 31.4% and 28.4%, respectively.
The advances come in the wake of quiet implementation of new wood-frame construction codes in Shanghai in September. Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, later attended a launch in the city in early November. “We are confident that the Shanghai Local Code provides a framework that will be easily adaptable to other cities and provinces across China,” she said.
David Watt, a currency strategist with RBC Capital Markets, sees this development as a breakthrough for both the lumber industry and the loonie. “This is an opportunity the Canadian lumber industry has been dreaming about for years,” he said. “This gives us a chance to take advantage of a huge market that has suddenly overcome an aversion to your product.”
And the price of lumber has so far reflected that excitement, with lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for January 2010 rising 21% since October, closing Wednesday at US$231.
Lumber exports are also on the rise, with Pat Bell, B.C. Minister of Forests and Range, estimating that exports will reach a new high of 1.5 billion board feet for 2009, and top four billion in 2011.
Canadian lumber exporters have had a difficult time convincing the Chinese that wood-frame buildings could be as stable as concrete buildings. However, deadly earthquakes in China in the past few years have likely forced the Chinese government to reconsider their stance on using the material.
“With the earthquakes, it was clear some of the buildings made of wood held up a lot better,” Mr. Watt said. As for ties to the Canadian dollar, he suggests lumber could be the “oil of the next decade” in how it lifts the loonie.
“It may seem dramatic, but consider in 1999 a barrel of oil was US$12, so who would’ve thought oil would be the oil of the past decade?” he said. “Will there be an oil-like rise in lumber? Who knows? Why not?”
A Vancouver-based analyst said the news is positive for Canadian lumber, but warned it was too early to know how it would affect exports.
“It’ll definitely help fix the supply-demand balance, so any news out there will help, but in the next year or two it won’t be a huge driver,” he said, noting it will take at least a year to educate construction companies about wood frames.
Related Links:
CBC News
Date: -->
Thursday Dec 03, 2009
By
CBC News
Shares of several of Canada’s largest lumber exporters have skyrocketed in the past two months as new building codes in China allowing wood in construction have cracked open a previously inaccessible market for Canada’s long-suffering forestry industry.
Since Oct. 1, shares in International Forest Products Ltd. have soared 58.3%, while Canfor Corp. and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. shares jumped 31.4% and 28.4%, respectively.
The advances come in the wake of quiet implementation of new wood-frame construction codes in Shanghai in September. Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, later attended a launch in the city in early November. “We are confident that the Shanghai Local Code provides a framework that will be easily adaptable to other cities and provinces across China,” she said.
David Watt, a currency strategist with RBC Capital Markets, sees this development as a breakthrough for both the lumber industry and the loonie. “This is an opportunity the Canadian lumber industry has been dreaming about for years,” he said. “This gives us a chance to take advantage of a huge market that has suddenly overcome an aversion to your product.”
And the price of lumber has so far reflected that excitement, with lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for January 2010 rising 21% since October, closing Wednesday at US$231.
Lumber exports are also on the rise, with Pat Bell, B.C. Minister of Forests and Range, estimating that exports will reach a new high of 1.5 billion board feet for 2009, and top four billion in 2011.
Canadian lumber exporters have had a difficult time convincing the Chinese that wood-frame buildings could be as stable as concrete buildings. However, deadly earthquakes in China in the past few years have likely forced the Chinese government to reconsider their stance on using the material.
“With the earthquakes, it was clear some of the buildings made of wood held up a lot better,” Mr. Watt said. As for ties to the Canadian dollar, he suggests lumber could be the “oil of the next decade” in how it lifts the loonie.
“It may seem dramatic, but consider in 1999 a barrel of oil was US$12, so who would’ve thought oil would be the oil of the past decade?” he said. “Will there be an oil-like rise in lumber? Who knows? Why not?”
A Vancouver-based analyst said the news is positive for Canadian lumber, but warned it was too early to know how it would affect exports.
“It’ll definitely help fix the supply-demand balance, so any news out there will help, but in the next year or two it won’t be a huge driver,” he said, noting it will take at least a year to educate construction companies about wood frames.
Related Links:
CBC News
Biorefining research facility opens
Submitted by Editor on Sat, 12/05/2009 - 09:50.
Date: -->
Saturday Dec 05, 2009
By
The Working Forest staff
A new research facility in Thunder Bay will strengthen the North's emerging green energy and chemicals sector and create at least eight jobs within its first year of operation.
Developed with the support of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), Lakehead University's Biorefining Research Initiative (BRI) officially opened today. BRI will focus on developing new technologies for converting forest biomass into chemicals and biofuels that could be commercialized as green energy and chemicals alternatives.
For example, BRI could develop new processes for making bioethanol from forest residue such as tree tops, wood bark and irregular limbs. Ethanol is added to gasoline to make car engines work more efficiently.
. The NOHFC has invested $1 million for equipment and renovations for Lakehead University's new biorefining research facility.
. Over the next few decades, as fossil fuel supplies decrease and prices rise, biorefining technology will play a leading role in replacing petro-chemicals.
. A biorefinery is much like a petroleum refining system, except that forest biomass replaces crude oil as a resource to produce chemicals.
. Biomass is renewable plant material from agricultural (corn cobs, wheat
stalks) and forestry (trees, branches, sawdust, wood chips) residues that can be used to produce bioenergy.
. Northwestern Ontario has 18 million hectares of productive forest - about 45 per cent of the provincial total.
Add new comment
Date: -->
Saturday Dec 05, 2009
By
The Working Forest staff
A new research facility in Thunder Bay will strengthen the North's emerging green energy and chemicals sector and create at least eight jobs within its first year of operation.
Developed with the support of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), Lakehead University's Biorefining Research Initiative (BRI) officially opened today. BRI will focus on developing new technologies for converting forest biomass into chemicals and biofuels that could be commercialized as green energy and chemicals alternatives.
For example, BRI could develop new processes for making bioethanol from forest residue such as tree tops, wood bark and irregular limbs. Ethanol is added to gasoline to make car engines work more efficiently.
. The NOHFC has invested $1 million for equipment and renovations for Lakehead University's new biorefining research facility.
. Over the next few decades, as fossil fuel supplies decrease and prices rise, biorefining technology will play a leading role in replacing petro-chemicals.
. A biorefinery is much like a petroleum refining system, except that forest biomass replaces crude oil as a resource to produce chemicals.
. Biomass is renewable plant material from agricultural (corn cobs, wheat
stalks) and forestry (trees, branches, sawdust, wood chips) residues that can be used to produce bioenergy.
. Northwestern Ontario has 18 million hectares of productive forest - about 45 per cent of the provincial total.
Add new comment
Sunday, November 15, 2009
1st Annual OSEA Community Power Conference
I am currently participating at the 1st Annual OSEA Community Conferene in Toronto. The main theme of the conference is community power. There many benefits of Community power, espacially for communities in Northern Ontario. Despite the opportunity there are many challenges to overcome, such as grid transmission capacity in the Kapuskasing Sudbury Corridor. This grid line capacity is scheduled to be upgraded in 2017 only, but a number of projects are in jeopardy because of that. David Suzuki said "The future looks brighter if we can navigate the political paperwork".
Now that we have the legislation in place, we must make projects happen, but this could take long since the process and infrastructures are not in place. Lets hope we can find solutions sooner!
Daniel Sigouin
Now that we have the legislation in place, we must make projects happen, but this could take long since the process and infrastructures are not in place. Lets hope we can find solutions sooner!
Daniel Sigouin
Monday, October 19, 2009
Canada’s worst government - Comment
Canada’s worst government - Comment
Submitted by greg_g on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 09:56.
Date: --> Monday Oct 19, 2009
By Financial Post
Every now and then a province falls into the hands of blundering politicians so inept that their government ends up deserving of the title “Canada’s Worst Government.” It’s a rare award. At any time somebody has to be the worst, but no award for routine bottom-of-the-barrel performance seems necessary. Occasionally, however, the metric of incompetence is so large and conspicuousit demands special recognition. The Liberal regime of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, now slipping into deep deficits that are likely to exceed $30billion over two years and continue into the future, has hit the tipping point and triggered its candidacy as Canada’s Worst Government.
The new deficit outlook, announced yesterday and to be documented in a fiscal statement next week, comes in the wake of Ontario’s $1-billion eHealth fiasco. That followed the province’s Green Energy Act, a plan to force electricity users to pay 80 cents for a kilowatt hour of solar power and subsidize scores of industrial rent seekers. The province is also a leading promoter of endless nanny state rules and regulations that serve no purpose except to give the premier an opportunity to issue a statement and deliver one of his patented sanctimonious speeches.
Below the radar of media attention, there is more. This is about one of those so-far unrecognized bits of McGuinty Liberal bungling. Next week, the Ontario legislature will begin taking another look at two monster pieces of legislation allegedly aimed at bringing new order to the province’s shambling mining legislation. First is Bill 173, the Mining Amendment Act, which among other things is an attempt to bring Aboriginal communities into the administration of the province’s scatter-brained mining laws. Second is Bill 191, the Far North Act. It also attempts to bring Aboriginal participaton into decision-making over resource development of Ontario’s far north. What these two bills actually do, however, is trample on everybody’s property rights, from First Nation rights to the rights of cottage owners caught in the murky legislation that sets out mineral rights across the province.
The only happy campers here are green activists — theWorld Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense, various Wildlands groups — whose concern for property and other individual or corporate rights is as deep and sincere as a beer commercial. Under the Far North Act,all territory north of the 51st parallel — a 450-square-kilometre mass of land north of Timmins and Thunder Bay that makes up about 40% of the province — is set to become permanently out of bounds for all exploration and development. About half of that territory, 225,000 square kilometres, will be locked down as conservation lands. The other half will theoretically be open to exploration and development, but nobody looking at Bill 191 sees any hope that any mine or any other kind of development will ever take place.
Only about 24,000 people live in First Nation communities in Ontario’s Far North. One of those First Nations, the Nishnawbe Aski, declared its total opposition to Bill 191 after it was introduced last summer. Grand Chief Stan Beardy called for immediate withdrawal of the bill. He said the 225,000square-kilometre conservation area, established without consultation or consent, will prevent his people “from achieving economic independence by preventing development needed to build our communities and strengthen the Ontario economy. ”
Under Bill 191, in other words, Ontario confiscates half the far north and declares it a no-go zone, killing all development in the conservation area. But not much will happen on the other half of the far north territory under the convoluted “community-based land use planning” system set up under the draconian provisions of the bill. The province’s mining groups say the planning structure is a perverse attempt to carry out convoluted legal provisions that guarantee First Nations be consulted before development takes place on Crown lands.
All of this is fallout from the Supreme Court’s famous Haida decision and other rulings that force governments in Canada to consult with First Nations when dealing with the possible existence of treaty rights. Whatever the merits of those decisions, Toronto lawyer Neil Smitheman,with Fasken Martineau Du Moulin, says the Ontario government appears to be setting up structures that effectively allows the government to side step its duty and pass the burden of consultation on to the mining and mineral development industry. “To the extent that the legislative ammendments ‘download’ or delegate to industry what is properly the Crown’s duty, the new legislation could be deemed ultra vires, or beyond the scope of the Province’s legislative power. ”
Industry officials say that under Bill 191 no exploration or development will ever take place in Ontario’s far north. Jon Baird, executive director of the Prospectors and Developers Association, said yesterday “no self-respecting MPP should vote for this.” Bill 191, and its sister Bill 173 (which applies to territory south of the far north region) grant massive arbitrary power to the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and bureaucrats. Rulings are not appealable, no hearings need be called, environmental assessments are suspended.
The two bills are making their way through the legislature, with the government using closure to close down debate and bending the rules to get them through the legislative process. The Minister, Donna Cansfield, seems to be carrying out orders, even as nobody supports the bills except the greens and groups like the Canadian Borealis Initiative. They welcome the land set-aside as a new carbon sink, as one of the “largest ecosystems on earth” and the home of caribou and other wildlife.
The mining industry may not like that. On the other hand, the Canadian Mining Association is a member of the Canadian Borealis Initiative. No wonder Ontario’s far north will soon be out of bounds.
Submitted by greg_g on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 09:56.
Date: --> Monday Oct 19, 2009
By Financial Post
Every now and then a province falls into the hands of blundering politicians so inept that their government ends up deserving of the title “Canada’s Worst Government.” It’s a rare award. At any time somebody has to be the worst, but no award for routine bottom-of-the-barrel performance seems necessary. Occasionally, however, the metric of incompetence is so large and conspicuousit demands special recognition. The Liberal regime of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, now slipping into deep deficits that are likely to exceed $30billion over two years and continue into the future, has hit the tipping point and triggered its candidacy as Canada’s Worst Government.
The new deficit outlook, announced yesterday and to be documented in a fiscal statement next week, comes in the wake of Ontario’s $1-billion eHealth fiasco. That followed the province’s Green Energy Act, a plan to force electricity users to pay 80 cents for a kilowatt hour of solar power and subsidize scores of industrial rent seekers. The province is also a leading promoter of endless nanny state rules and regulations that serve no purpose except to give the premier an opportunity to issue a statement and deliver one of his patented sanctimonious speeches.
Below the radar of media attention, there is more. This is about one of those so-far unrecognized bits of McGuinty Liberal bungling. Next week, the Ontario legislature will begin taking another look at two monster pieces of legislation allegedly aimed at bringing new order to the province’s shambling mining legislation. First is Bill 173, the Mining Amendment Act, which among other things is an attempt to bring Aboriginal communities into the administration of the province’s scatter-brained mining laws. Second is Bill 191, the Far North Act. It also attempts to bring Aboriginal participaton into decision-making over resource development of Ontario’s far north. What these two bills actually do, however, is trample on everybody’s property rights, from First Nation rights to the rights of cottage owners caught in the murky legislation that sets out mineral rights across the province.
The only happy campers here are green activists — theWorld Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense, various Wildlands groups — whose concern for property and other individual or corporate rights is as deep and sincere as a beer commercial. Under the Far North Act,all territory north of the 51st parallel — a 450-square-kilometre mass of land north of Timmins and Thunder Bay that makes up about 40% of the province — is set to become permanently out of bounds for all exploration and development. About half of that territory, 225,000 square kilometres, will be locked down as conservation lands. The other half will theoretically be open to exploration and development, but nobody looking at Bill 191 sees any hope that any mine or any other kind of development will ever take place.
Only about 24,000 people live in First Nation communities in Ontario’s Far North. One of those First Nations, the Nishnawbe Aski, declared its total opposition to Bill 191 after it was introduced last summer. Grand Chief Stan Beardy called for immediate withdrawal of the bill. He said the 225,000square-kilometre conservation area, established without consultation or consent, will prevent his people “from achieving economic independence by preventing development needed to build our communities and strengthen the Ontario economy. ”
Under Bill 191, in other words, Ontario confiscates half the far north and declares it a no-go zone, killing all development in the conservation area. But not much will happen on the other half of the far north territory under the convoluted “community-based land use planning” system set up under the draconian provisions of the bill. The province’s mining groups say the planning structure is a perverse attempt to carry out convoluted legal provisions that guarantee First Nations be consulted before development takes place on Crown lands.
All of this is fallout from the Supreme Court’s famous Haida decision and other rulings that force governments in Canada to consult with First Nations when dealing with the possible existence of treaty rights. Whatever the merits of those decisions, Toronto lawyer Neil Smitheman,with Fasken Martineau Du Moulin, says the Ontario government appears to be setting up structures that effectively allows the government to side step its duty and pass the burden of consultation on to the mining and mineral development industry. “To the extent that the legislative ammendments ‘download’ or delegate to industry what is properly the Crown’s duty, the new legislation could be deemed ultra vires, or beyond the scope of the Province’s legislative power. ”
Industry officials say that under Bill 191 no exploration or development will ever take place in Ontario’s far north. Jon Baird, executive director of the Prospectors and Developers Association, said yesterday “no self-respecting MPP should vote for this.” Bill 191, and its sister Bill 173 (which applies to territory south of the far north region) grant massive arbitrary power to the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and bureaucrats. Rulings are not appealable, no hearings need be called, environmental assessments are suspended.
The two bills are making their way through the legislature, with the government using closure to close down debate and bending the rules to get them through the legislative process. The Minister, Donna Cansfield, seems to be carrying out orders, even as nobody supports the bills except the greens and groups like the Canadian Borealis Initiative. They welcome the land set-aside as a new carbon sink, as one of the “largest ecosystems on earth” and the home of caribou and other wildlife.
The mining industry may not like that. On the other hand, the Canadian Mining Association is a member of the Canadian Borealis Initiative. No wonder Ontario’s far north will soon be out of bounds.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Speech for the Community Forum on Tenure Reform in Ontario
By Daniel Sigouin – Economic Development Officer for Hearst Economic Development Corporation
HEARST October 3 2009 – I am speaking today not only as the Economic Development Officer but also as a resident who chose to live and invest in Hearst. I would like to share the concerns I have for the future of our community and to share some fundamental principles for a new tenure approach for the forest. What is currently taking place in Hearst and in other Northern communities is without precedent. We are experiencing a crisis in the forestry sector that persists, a crisis that started in 2003 but most importantly, a crisis that risk changing the landscape in northern Ontario forever. Luc Bouthillier says “IT WILL NEVER BE LIKE BEFORE”, and he is not the only one saying it. It is not a question of BOOM and BUST but unfortunately, many have yet to realise it. This crisis is structural, not cyclical but have we started to restructure in response to these changes? Well I believe a tenure reform is part of that restructuring process. Are we too late? Many people will say that it is never too late yet the most important question is, to what degree communities will be listened to or considered (ask Smooth Rock Falls)? Maybe it will be someone else who will decide which communities will survive and which ones will be eliminated. Can we take that chance?
Many say that Hearst is holding its own during this crisis. But are we really holding our own or living off an artificial economy? What I mean is; are we living off borrowed time? Are we living off the prosperity we generated in the past? Are we generating new wealth and prosperity in Hearst, for our community? We have to ask ourselves the right questions.
I will give you a concrete example. We are currently operating our mills at a loss and we have been for a few years now. We are not talking about thousands but rather of millions of dollars in losses. Every time you see a rail car or transport truck filled with lumber leaving our community, there is lost revenue attached to every container of wood. That is the community’s, businesses’ and workers’ money ... money that is lost to the community and most importantly money that could be invested differently.
When you eat at your capital, you impoverish yourself more and more. More importantly, it is the proof that our communities are not sustainable.
There exists much imbalance in the principles for sustainable communities. What is a sustainable community? Are communities in Northern Ontario Sustainable? Ask Smooth Rock Falls they will tell you, or ask Longlac, Marathon, White River, etc… Sustainability is a big word and one that is often overused and can have conflicting connotations. Sustainable Forest Management, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development, sustainable technologies…but what is a sustainable community?
It’s defined as achieving a healthy community and quality of life by addressing economic, environmental, and social issues through a long term integrated systems approach.
Economic issues include good jobs, good wages, stable businesses, appropriate technology development and implementation, business development, etc. If a community does not have a strong economy, then it cannot be healthy and sustainable over the long term.
From an environmental standpoint, a community can be sustainable over the long term only if it is not degrading its environment or using up resources. The impacts of climate change (warming is part of climate change) are pressing issues that also need to be addressed locally. Not only are they important challenges for our communities, but they can also provide important opportunities for the future, like carbon sequestration…the cap and trade issue.
A community must also address social issues. If a community has significant social problems such as serious crime and social inequities, it cannot be healthy and stable over the long term.
A major assumption of the sustainable community definition is that trying to address such issues in isolation, eventually ends up hurting some other part of the community's health.
Well tenure reform makes no exception… it has to be developed in an integrated manner. Tenure can influence all three pillars of sustainability. It’s not only about the size of the forest management unit, the method of wood allocation, the pricing and so on. It’s about considering who occupies the territory and who is living of it?
A tenure system ... regulates interactions between companies, communities, stakeholders and government while also determining who has authority and access.
The existing system is structured so as to ... expand on commodity production with the anticipation of offering larger returns for the province (Robinson 2008, Zhang & Pearse 1997) which has resulted in a system that primarily serves the primary commodity sector in pulp and paper and dimensional wood, sectors that have been in decline in the past decade.
Presently ... the tenure system has failed to provide a framework for the conversion of natural resources for economic development. Furthermore, the existing tenure system provides very little flexibility or capacity for communities and the forest industry to respond to changing markets and economic conditions as well as innovation in the forest sector.
Markets are shifting ... towards value-added products and environmental services. Nous sommes choyés parce que nous vivons dans une grande forêt en santé et qui offre un potentiel immense de services écologiques sur l’échelle internationale.
But where tenure change should be headed…to achieve sustainability in our communities?
• The economy is not only shaped by economic factors. Infrastructure and strategic planning go a long way to offer a stable and promising place for investments. However, until communities have access and have a form of decision-making authority on the forest, very little can be done in this regard.
• Decision-making capacity and access for communities in forest management is necessary to build sustainable and adaptive communities, businesses and forest sector.
Decentralized models such as community forests provide the principles necessary to a tenure system that allows for the necessary flexibility and control to respond to the changing landscape of the forest sector and world markets.
Finally, as a community, we owe ourselves to make a return to our core values that enabled the development of our regions and take root in our territory.
Northern Ontario is perceived as a resource base, only interesting because it can be extracted. We must counter this approach and repatriate our territory through a sustainable development process. Offer balance between the environment, the economy and the social. We also have to mend our ties with First Nations and Aboriginal peoples who were our first guides. They will help us restore our understanding of being part of the territory. We also need to restore principles of coexistence in order to build a stronger economy together.
The solution is not to do more of what brought us in this crisis.
The solution is to do things differently and to do things that will enable our community to prosper in the future.
We must accomplish this for the future of our children.
Merci,
Thank You
Meegwetch
HEARST October 3 2009 – I am speaking today not only as the Economic Development Officer but also as a resident who chose to live and invest in Hearst. I would like to share the concerns I have for the future of our community and to share some fundamental principles for a new tenure approach for the forest. What is currently taking place in Hearst and in other Northern communities is without precedent. We are experiencing a crisis in the forestry sector that persists, a crisis that started in 2003 but most importantly, a crisis that risk changing the landscape in northern Ontario forever. Luc Bouthillier says “IT WILL NEVER BE LIKE BEFORE”, and he is not the only one saying it. It is not a question of BOOM and BUST but unfortunately, many have yet to realise it. This crisis is structural, not cyclical but have we started to restructure in response to these changes? Well I believe a tenure reform is part of that restructuring process. Are we too late? Many people will say that it is never too late yet the most important question is, to what degree communities will be listened to or considered (ask Smooth Rock Falls)? Maybe it will be someone else who will decide which communities will survive and which ones will be eliminated. Can we take that chance?
Many say that Hearst is holding its own during this crisis. But are we really holding our own or living off an artificial economy? What I mean is; are we living off borrowed time? Are we living off the prosperity we generated in the past? Are we generating new wealth and prosperity in Hearst, for our community? We have to ask ourselves the right questions.
I will give you a concrete example. We are currently operating our mills at a loss and we have been for a few years now. We are not talking about thousands but rather of millions of dollars in losses. Every time you see a rail car or transport truck filled with lumber leaving our community, there is lost revenue attached to every container of wood. That is the community’s, businesses’ and workers’ money ... money that is lost to the community and most importantly money that could be invested differently.
When you eat at your capital, you impoverish yourself more and more. More importantly, it is the proof that our communities are not sustainable.
There exists much imbalance in the principles for sustainable communities. What is a sustainable community? Are communities in Northern Ontario Sustainable? Ask Smooth Rock Falls they will tell you, or ask Longlac, Marathon, White River, etc… Sustainability is a big word and one that is often overused and can have conflicting connotations. Sustainable Forest Management, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development, sustainable technologies…but what is a sustainable community?
It’s defined as achieving a healthy community and quality of life by addressing economic, environmental, and social issues through a long term integrated systems approach.
Economic issues include good jobs, good wages, stable businesses, appropriate technology development and implementation, business development, etc. If a community does not have a strong economy, then it cannot be healthy and sustainable over the long term.
From an environmental standpoint, a community can be sustainable over the long term only if it is not degrading its environment or using up resources. The impacts of climate change (warming is part of climate change) are pressing issues that also need to be addressed locally. Not only are they important challenges for our communities, but they can also provide important opportunities for the future, like carbon sequestration…the cap and trade issue.
A community must also address social issues. If a community has significant social problems such as serious crime and social inequities, it cannot be healthy and stable over the long term.
A major assumption of the sustainable community definition is that trying to address such issues in isolation, eventually ends up hurting some other part of the community's health.
Well tenure reform makes no exception… it has to be developed in an integrated manner. Tenure can influence all three pillars of sustainability. It’s not only about the size of the forest management unit, the method of wood allocation, the pricing and so on. It’s about considering who occupies the territory and who is living of it?
A tenure system ... regulates interactions between companies, communities, stakeholders and government while also determining who has authority and access.
The existing system is structured so as to ... expand on commodity production with the anticipation of offering larger returns for the province (Robinson 2008, Zhang & Pearse 1997) which has resulted in a system that primarily serves the primary commodity sector in pulp and paper and dimensional wood, sectors that have been in decline in the past decade.
Presently ... the tenure system has failed to provide a framework for the conversion of natural resources for economic development. Furthermore, the existing tenure system provides very little flexibility or capacity for communities and the forest industry to respond to changing markets and economic conditions as well as innovation in the forest sector.
Markets are shifting ... towards value-added products and environmental services. Nous sommes choyés parce que nous vivons dans une grande forêt en santé et qui offre un potentiel immense de services écologiques sur l’échelle internationale.
But where tenure change should be headed…to achieve sustainability in our communities?
• The economy is not only shaped by economic factors. Infrastructure and strategic planning go a long way to offer a stable and promising place for investments. However, until communities have access and have a form of decision-making authority on the forest, very little can be done in this regard.
• Decision-making capacity and access for communities in forest management is necessary to build sustainable and adaptive communities, businesses and forest sector.
Decentralized models such as community forests provide the principles necessary to a tenure system that allows for the necessary flexibility and control to respond to the changing landscape of the forest sector and world markets.
Finally, as a community, we owe ourselves to make a return to our core values that enabled the development of our regions and take root in our territory.
Northern Ontario is perceived as a resource base, only interesting because it can be extracted. We must counter this approach and repatriate our territory through a sustainable development process. Offer balance between the environment, the economy and the social. We also have to mend our ties with First Nations and Aboriginal peoples who were our first guides. They will help us restore our understanding of being part of the territory. We also need to restore principles of coexistence in order to build a stronger economy together.
The solution is not to do more of what brought us in this crisis.
The solution is to do things differently and to do things that will enable our community to prosper in the future.
We must accomplish this for the future of our children.
Merci,
Thank You
Meegwetch
Massive north-south divide in province
Massive north-south divide in province The Ottawa Sun Wed Oct 7 2009 Page: 11 Section: Editorial/Opinion Byline: BY CHRISTINA BLIZZARD Column:
Queen's Park I sometimes think Dalton McGuinty's government has given up on northern Ontario. With record unemployment rates and with EI claims soaring in northern communities, you'd think the brain trust in the premier's office would be trying to find new ways to bolster the ailing forestry and pulp and paper businesses. That's not the case. As New Democratic Leader Andrea Horwath pointed out in question period this week, the number of people receiving Employment Insurance in northern communities has risen by a staggering amount. In greater Sudbury, StatsCan figures show a 152% increase. Northern Development Minister Mike Gravelle responded by reporting Thunder Bay is about to become the "Popsicle stick capital of the world." I'm sure it's wonderful that Global Sticks is investing there, but popsicle sticks won't lick the problems of the dying forestry and pulp and paper industries. There's a massive north-south divide in this province. You can see the frustration in politicians like Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson and Howard Hampton, from Kenora-Rainy River. Forestry giant Tembec recently closed its pulp mill in Smooth Rock Falls -- a one-industry town north of Timmins. Make that a no-industry town if the government doesn't act. A consortium has raised $50 million to build a multi-purpose plant on the Tembec site. They've got everything they need -- except the wood allocation and the government is dragging its feet, even though the ministry has the authority to allocate timber rights. "It literally means the survival of our community," said Smooth Rock Falls Mayor Kevin Somer, who came to Queen's Park to see Gravelle Tuesday. The project would provide 100 direct jobs, plus 200 indirect jobs. And it would revitalize the local tax base. But Gravelle was on the defensive. "Unfortunately, the reality is that much of the wood supply is licensed and allocated to another company, which is also fighting to survive in Ontario," he told the House. Bisson says Tembec, which now owns the wood rights, has agreed to the allocation. Hampton, the former NDP leader, brings a unique, northern perspective to this. As the north bleeds jobs, who profits? The south does -- from the excess hydro the north generates through its fast-running rivers. Hampton points to a recent "green energy" announcement, in which the government said it would spend $2.3 billion on transmission lines. "What it's about is building transmission lines to take the electricity surplus that's been created in northeastern and northwestern Ontario and bringing it to southern Ontario," Hampton told me. He says the government needs a vision for beleaguered northern communities. "You could simply say, 'If you are an industry that cares about having a clean, green image, we have the cleanest, greenest energy on the planet and it also happens to be the lowest cost energy on the planet. Come and locate here. Create jobs and economic activity here,' " he said. In other words, instead of paying $2.3 billion to ship the electricity south, invite the world to the north. Every time a mill closes in the north, it frees up energy for the south. Hampton rattles off 10 paper machines that have shut down. "You've probably created 300 MW or more of surplus electricity right there," he said. A cynic might say that's the new Liberal vision for the north: Turn off the lights in the forestry and pulp and paper business -- and ship the electricity, and the jobs, south.
Queen's Park I sometimes think Dalton McGuinty's government has given up on northern Ontario. With record unemployment rates and with EI claims soaring in northern communities, you'd think the brain trust in the premier's office would be trying to find new ways to bolster the ailing forestry and pulp and paper businesses. That's not the case. As New Democratic Leader Andrea Horwath pointed out in question period this week, the number of people receiving Employment Insurance in northern communities has risen by a staggering amount. In greater Sudbury, StatsCan figures show a 152% increase. Northern Development Minister Mike Gravelle responded by reporting Thunder Bay is about to become the "Popsicle stick capital of the world." I'm sure it's wonderful that Global Sticks is investing there, but popsicle sticks won't lick the problems of the dying forestry and pulp and paper industries. There's a massive north-south divide in this province. You can see the frustration in politicians like Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson and Howard Hampton, from Kenora-Rainy River. Forestry giant Tembec recently closed its pulp mill in Smooth Rock Falls -- a one-industry town north of Timmins. Make that a no-industry town if the government doesn't act. A consortium has raised $50 million to build a multi-purpose plant on the Tembec site. They've got everything they need -- except the wood allocation and the government is dragging its feet, even though the ministry has the authority to allocate timber rights. "It literally means the survival of our community," said Smooth Rock Falls Mayor Kevin Somer, who came to Queen's Park to see Gravelle Tuesday. The project would provide 100 direct jobs, plus 200 indirect jobs. And it would revitalize the local tax base. But Gravelle was on the defensive. "Unfortunately, the reality is that much of the wood supply is licensed and allocated to another company, which is also fighting to survive in Ontario," he told the House. Bisson says Tembec, which now owns the wood rights, has agreed to the allocation. Hampton, the former NDP leader, brings a unique, northern perspective to this. As the north bleeds jobs, who profits? The south does -- from the excess hydro the north generates through its fast-running rivers. Hampton points to a recent "green energy" announcement, in which the government said it would spend $2.3 billion on transmission lines. "What it's about is building transmission lines to take the electricity surplus that's been created in northeastern and northwestern Ontario and bringing it to southern Ontario," Hampton told me. He says the government needs a vision for beleaguered northern communities. "You could simply say, 'If you are an industry that cares about having a clean, green image, we have the cleanest, greenest energy on the planet and it also happens to be the lowest cost energy on the planet. Come and locate here. Create jobs and economic activity here,' " he said. In other words, instead of paying $2.3 billion to ship the electricity south, invite the world to the north. Every time a mill closes in the north, it frees up energy for the south. Hampton rattles off 10 paper machines that have shut down. "You've probably created 300 MW or more of surplus electricity right there," he said. A cynic might say that's the new Liberal vision for the north: Turn off the lights in the forestry and pulp and paper business -- and ship the electricity, and the jobs, south.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)