For the past 17 years, I have been a
wilderness advocate. I have worked with environmental groups,
logging companies, and the Ministry of Natural Resources to try
to ensure balance between resource extraction, wild life
habitat, and social needs for wild spaces.
I was very discouraged to hear David Ramsay,
my MPP, and the Minister of Natural Resources say earlier this
week that the small sawmills in Ontario are a thing of the
past. This is wrong. It is wrong for the forests. It is wrong
for the communities dependant on those forests. It is wrong for
the long-term sustainability of both.
Ramsay spoke about the need to compete
globally, and how this can only be done by building super-mills
running two or three shifts that produce their products
cheaply. Does this support communities? No. Does this enhance
our quality of life? No. What sort of family life is there for
these workers who are forced to do the midnight shift?
Do super-mills support sustainable
development? No. Sustainable jobs? No. One big mill employs
fewer people than the three mills it replaces.
Already our forests are stressed to provide
enough trees for industrial demand. Will super-mills reduce
this stress? No. In fact, the super-mills in
northwestern Ontario are demanding a decrease
in wildlife habitat reserves.
Ramsay said we have to support the
super-mills or the big companies will walk away from Northern
Ontario. I say good riddance. How do we benefit in any way from
the threats and bribes from these companies? They cut more wood
with fewer workers, and end up holding all the cards when it
comes to making tough decisions about our forests and
communities. And when the shareholder profits are shaky, the
mill moves away (note Weyerhaeuser in Sturgeon Falls).
Super-mills only serve to make us hostage to
the demands of the owners.
On the other side, the many smaller, family
run mills that still exist in the northeast employ more workers
in a more sustainable way.
If one mill shuts - the whole area does not
decline. The workers more often than not are able to find work
at the remaining smaller mills, because the dedicated wood
supply remains local.
If Ramsay says no to the super-mills, and
they do leave the north, this will surely bring new investment
in all the smaller mills. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, so
does industry. Twenty small businesses have a much greater
chance of creating stable employment than one big one.
Ramsay also spoke of developing many
secondary' industries in the smaller communities. Value-added
mills, such as finger-jointing mills, can indeed create much
needed jobs in our small communities. These are long overdue,
and very welcome to our northern communities. But they are
totally unrelated to wether we have super-mills or not.
Who is most important in the decision-making
processes in Northern Ontario? The multi-national companies?
The Minister of Natural Resources? Or the people who live
here?
Let's take back the control of our
communities and our forests. Write a letter to Ramsay, and send
a copy to the editor. If you work in the forest industry, you
would do well to start taking a political interest in your
future. Phone the minister. Or better yet, write a letter, and
get everyone you know to do so as well. When enough people take
notice, so do the politicians - let your voice be heard.
Tell Ramsay to say no to shutting down
smaller mills and moving wood supply out of communities; to
stop bowing to the bribes (we'll make jobs) and threats (or
we'll leave). The big companies do not serve the best interest
of long-term sustainability of communities on the north. Phone
Ramsay at
1-888-701-1105, or sent him a fax to (705)
647-1976.
