Letters to the editor.

• Author: Galloway, Rob
• Position: Letter to the editor

Dear Editor:

It was with great interest that I read the article in your January 2007 issue concerning wood supply going to Quebec. I am sure that we would all agree that the forest industry is going through a difficult period, but I would like to clarify some of the other points made in your article. The Province of Ontario monitors the flow of public owned wood into Quebec. Historically about 2 % of Ontario's annual harvest goes to Quebec, the majority of which is low-grade hardwood which has limited market in Ontario. The Ministry has held more than one competitive process to try to develop local Ontario industry for this material, but so far we still have more low-grade hardwood than we can use. Selling the current low quality surplus to Quebec mills provides harvesting jobs in Ontario and allows us to get to the higher quality trees to supply Ontario veneer and sawmills. In both Northeastern and Southern Ontario, our Ministry has a protocol in place that requires loggers to make wood available to Ontario mills before selling outside the province. Quebec has a similar policy and Ontario mills can purchase logs from Quebec and, for example, at least one Ontario mill is receiving high quality logs this winter, sourced from Quebec.

Crown wood is made available to Timmins area mills annually, but that does not mean that the mill holds a commitment for specific trees in a forest nor does it mean that the expected volume can be left and stored in the forest and allowed to accumulate year over year. More than just the mills depend on the forest management activities for their livelihood. There are many types of bush work contractors that depend on steady work throughout the year to support their business and their employees. If there is a...