According to an article in the Rainy River Record, the motions call on the federal government to provide funding and loans to shift towards the emerging bio-fuel, bio-chemical, and bio-medical product markets, convene bi-annual forestry summits and counter unfair foreign subsidies in competing nations.

Rafferty said several regional developments over the last decade and in the last few weeks convinced him that the troubles in the forestry sector must remain on the agenda in Ottawa.

“We’ve lost more than 60,000 direct forestry jobs in the last decade in Ontario, and the recent layoffs at the Resolute Forest Products mill in Fort Frances and the closure of the Terrace Bay mill tell me the crisis is ongoing and possibly intensifying. Ottawa must act now and I feel that I am obliged to offer some solutions as a Member of Parliament.”