Canadian standards keep forestry industry towering above the rest

In any discussion of the Canadian forestry industry, we should recognize that Canadians stand on the shoulders of two giants, in any serious understanding of the historical evolution and importance of this staple to Canada. Firstly, Queen's University economist W.A. Mackintosh taught us the importance of incorporating geographical and historical factors in the analysis of an economy instead of the traditional focus on individuals, politics and ideology. And secondly, University of Toronto professor Harold Innis developed two extraordinarily powerful ideas—the staples thesis and the centrality of transportation and communications—to acquire a deeper and more complete understanding of the development of Canada. At a very early stage of Canada’s evolution, forestry and lumber products became a very important export. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia: “Wood was the staple of Canadian trade for much of the 19th century. Fuelled by European demand, the timber trade brought investment and immigration to eastern Canada, fostered economic development, and transformed the regional environment far more radically than the earlier exploitation of fish and fur.” But some hard data is necessary to illuminate the continued importance of the forestry industry and lumber products to Canada today. Canada occupies the second-largest geographic footprint of any country in the world, spanning approximately 25 per cent of the northern hemisphere and encompassing seven time zones. Due to the vastness of this land, Canada is home to nine per cent of the world’s forests while 90 per cent of those forests in Canada are on land owned by governments or Indigenous peoples, strongly suggesting this is no “ordinary industry.” Indeed, the resources of the forestry industry employs more than 300,000 people (direct and indirect), including approximately 12,000 Indigenous peoples, and contributes $33-billion in Canadian exports. The forestry industry is especially critical to the well-being of 300 communities, mostly in rural and often remote parts of Canada, due to the $11-billion in wages earned by workers in this industry. Moreover, the industry generates almost $2-billion annually in tax revenues to provincial and territorial governments, which is critical, as we move into an unprecedented era of a rapidly aging population with consequent lower long-term average GDP growth rates, which will yield significantly lower federal and provincial revenues. However, in recent times, some activists have criticized this industry for logging of “old forests,” “logging scars,” and deforestation more generally. Yet, when we examine empirical, evidence-based data from Statistics Canada and Natural Resources Canada, we learn that approximately only 0.2 per cent of Canada’s forests are being harvested. In empirical terms, 779,000 hectares of a total 347 million hectares of forests were harvested in 2015. And Canadian law requires that every tree that is harvested must be replaced. This points to why more than 600 million seedlings are planted annually across Canada. In addition to this, a very small amount—less than half of one per cent of Canada’s forests—are being deforested for non-forest use. What is more remarkable is that Canada’s forest sustainability policies are widely considered to be at the leading edge of countries in the world. Indeed, while only 10 per cent of the world’s forests are independently audited and certified, Canada is far ahead of any other country in the world, including Sweden, Finland, and Australia, in independent audits and certification of its sustainable forestry practices. Most importantly, the forestry industry and lumber products are renewable resources being harvested at a time when Canadians are being urged to focus on renewable resources rather than resources that are depleted when used. It is widely believed that renewable resources are closely related with the sustainability of resources. Privileged urbanites living in prosperous neighbourhoods, far removed in distance from and understanding of the forestry industry, must become mindful of demanding—ironically—unsustainable forestry practices far in excess of the very high sustainable forestry standards that have been adopted in Canada, as this could render forestry harvesting unsustainable in Canada. There are significant numbers of Indigenous people and working-class people in hundreds of rural communities across Canada whose very livelihoods depend on the forestry industry and the jobs provided. Greater sensitivity is required by the privileged towards less-affluent, ordinary Canadians in rural and remote communities in Canada working in critically important renewable resource industries. Ian Lee is an associate professor in the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University. He has no financial interests—direct or indirect—in the forestry or natural resources sector. However, he grew up on a 200-acre farm with 125 acres of old growth forest that he explored throughout his youth. The Hill Times