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Michael Gravelle, minister of northern
development, mines, and forestry (left); Jamie Lim, president and CEO of the
Ontario Forest Industries Association (centre); and Harold Wilson, president of
the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce (right).
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Jan. 14, 2011 – Ontario intends to
introduce legislation in 2011 that would modernize its forest tenure and
pricing system. The proposed system, if passed, would establish two governance
models for managing and harvesting wood from Ontario's forests. Local Forest
Management Corporations (LFMCs) would be government agencies that manage Crown
forests and oversee the competitive sale of the timber in a given area.
Enhanced Shareholder Sustainable Forest Licences would consist of a group of
mills and/or harvesters that collectively form a new company to manage Crown
forests under the Sustainable Forest Licence that is issued to them. This would
help make Ontario's timber supply and prices more responsive to market demand,
create new business opportunities for entrepreneurs, and facilitate greater
local and Aboriginal participation in the sector. The proposed legislation was
developed following several months of consultation on the proposed framework
released in April 2010.
"During consultations last fall, the government heard loud and clear that
many Ontarians wanted change. Our approach contains many of their
recommendations, including more involvement by local and Aboriginal communities
as well as the separation of forest management operations from the mills where
warranted. I am pleased that our government is moving forward on tenure
reform," says Linda Jeffrey, minister of Ontario natural resources.
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