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FPAC asks feds to spur economic recovery in the forest products sector

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) appeared before federal MPs this week to speak about how government can work with the forest sector to advance economic recovery.

FPAC Senior Vice-President Kate Lindsay and President Derek Nighbor made a statement to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources, outlining several potential solutions to stimulate the economy.

One was to advance over 140 projects worth over $1.5 billion that the organization says can lower Canada’s carbon footprint, increase competitiveness on the global stage, and grow forestry jobs.

FPAC also shared several ideas to secure a sustainable working forest for workers, contractors and communities, and to improve market access opportunities for Canadian wood-based products and bio-products on the national and international stages.

Nighbor and Lindsay requested the government provide greater clarity on access to the working land base, citing mountain levels of duplication between the federal and provincial governments a roadblock to attracting capital.

They also asked for renewed focus on trade markets and building code modernization, and for the government to play a stronger role in sharing Canada’s sustainable forest management practices with the world in light of anti-industry groups and misinformation compromising business opportunities.

“Sustainable forest management and the carbon benefits that it brings is at the core of Canadian forestry’s value proposition. We carefully manage our forests to reduce the risk of carbon emissions from pest and fire outbreaks, to promote renewal by growing new forests and keeping them as forests forever, and to keep carbon out of the atmosphere by locking it into essential long-lived wood products,” said Nighbor in a statement.

“We are in a unique position to drive these environmental and community safety benefits and at the same time create economic opportunity for workers, Indigenous businesses and communities, and 600 forestry cities and towns across the country. We look forward to working with the federal government to be a key partner in economic recovery – especially for northern and rural families.”