Category Archives: Guidelines & Legislation

The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed Catalyst Paper‘s appeal of their North Cowichan property taxes.

The court sided with the district of North Cowichan, saying the community tax bylaw was not unreasonable and that municipalities can apply different tax rates to different kinds of property.

Catalyst Paper had appeal their assessment because they said the taxes were too high and they bore no relationship to the municipal services they actually used.

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Nova Scotia has released its new, long-awaited, Natural Resources Strategy.

Read the new strategy:
The Path We Share: A Natural Resources Strategy for Nova Scotia, 2011-2020

Read the Action Plan:
From Strategy to Action

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Nova Scotia is finally going to release its new Natural Resources Strategy next week.

The process begin in 2007 with a citizen engagement phase, followed by a phase of technical expertise and stakeholder engagement. Originally, the province had planned to release the strategy by the end of 2010, but is release has been delayed.

The province’s current policies for its natural resources (forests, minerals, and parks) have been in place since the 1980′s are in need of renewal. The province plans to also establish a policy on biodiversity.

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The citizens of Northern Ontario are disgusted that the consultations for Bill 151, the Forest Tenure Modernization Act, will take place only in Toronto.

“We didn’t have any input into the City of Toronto Act and that’s how stupid this is,” Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield said. “Not to have hearings in the Northwest and Northeast? Why are we treated like apartheid, for God’s sake? This is bizarre.”

Progressive Conservative Party critic for Northern Development, Mining and Forestry, Randy Hillier, filibustered the General Government Committee Thursday to protest the cancelling of the Northern Ontario consultation dates.

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The Wood First initiative started in British Columbia. Their provincial government passed the Wood First Act in 2009 that requires wood to be considered as the primary building material in all new publicly-funded buildings, such as schools, libraries or sports complexes.

The goal of the Wood First Act is to encourage a cultural shift toward viewing wood as the first choice for construction, as well as for interior design, as well as strengthening B.C.’s traditional lumber, pulp and paper sectors.

33 communities in British Columbia have now adopted local Wood First resolutions and bylaws.

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Pacheedaht First Nation is the 14th First Nation to sign a new type of agreement that sees a percentage of forestry revenue returned directly to the community, announced Forests, Mines and Lands Minister Pat Bell today.

Bell visited the Pacheedaht community near Port Renfrew to celebrate the signing of the three-year Forestry Consultation and Revenue Sharing Agreement (FCRSA). The new agreement gives the First Nation a percentage of revenue from forestry activity in their traditional territory, which will be used to support social and community development programs. In the first year, Pacheedaht will receive approximately $104,000 under the agreement.

In addition to the FCRSA, Bell confirmed that he had approved the transfer request from Western Forest Products to Pacheedaht/Canadian Overseas of Tree Farm Licence 61 near Jordan River. Tree Farm Licence 61 covers 20,213 hectares and has an allowable annual cut of 108,500 cubic metres.

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The proposed Ontario Forest Tenure Modernization Act was introduced today.

If passed, the act would change the forest tenure system and allow for greater market forces in the allocation and pricing of Crown timber. The proposed legislation would maintain the government’s existing authority to manage this critical public resource, while bringing more competition and opportunity to the forest sector.

This includes providing support for two new forest management models:

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Press Release from Bruce Hyer, MP:

Conservatives vetoed a motion in the House of Commons late Wednesday that would have allowed a compromise to be reached on Bill C-501, a New Democrat private member’s bill on protecting worker pensions and severance when their employers go under.

“I was in the House when most Conservative MPs voted against C-501.” said Bruce Hyer, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North. “They opposed putting workers back-wages, severance, termination pay and pensions at the top of the creditors list because their friends at the banks said it was too risky for lenders.”

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The province of Ontario is proposing to protect woodland caribou habitat and protect economic growth in Northern Ontario.

The environmentalists and forest companies who signed the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) are pleased to welcome the public consultations on woodland caribou protection announced today by the government of Ontario.

The CBFA is an historic agreement between 9 environmental organizations and 21 forestry companies that has caribou conservation as one of its key goals .

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The Ontario government is introducing enabling legislation to modernize its forest tenure and Crown timber pricing system to create new jobs and attract investment, while ensuring Crown forests continue to be managed sustainably.

The new tenure system will establish two governance models for sustainable forest licences (SFLs):

• Local forest management corporations (LFMCs), which would be established as Crown agencies
• Enhanced shareholder SFLs, which would be developed working with the Ministry of Natural Resources, forest industry, Aboriginal peoples and local stakeholders

The goal is to initially establish two LFMCs.

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