QUEBEC REPORT: An Early Spring in Quebec
by Audrey Harvey, Communications Coordinator, AETSQ. Translated by David Hayne

First harbinger of spring: AETSQ held its seventh annual congress on February 21-23. The event took place around the theme “Silviculture: The Inevitable Road to the Summit”. The objective was to bring together the major stakeholders who will be taking part in the Summit on the Future of the Forestry Sector in Quebec in order to stimulate discussion and to ascertain their views on the future of forestry management. The discussions that were held at the AETSQ Congress allow us to be optimistic. In fact, everyone expressed satisfaction with the exchanges that occurred. That meeting allowed each and every one of us to become aware of the visions of other groups and to catch a glimpse of some points that might lead to a consensus. Since the success of the Summit and the revival of the Quebec forestry industry require a genuine dialogue between the partners, we have grounds to believe there is hope. In any case, a few weeks before the congress it was announced to us that, in view of the magnitude of the task and the shortage of time, it had been unanimously decided to delay the Summit until next fall. That is good news, as it seems to have been decided to give dialogue a real chance.

What’s new for the industry?
As these lines are being written, the Quebec election campaign is in full swing. After consulting the election platforms of the various parties involved, we have to say that forestry workers are not a high priority with our politicians. In actual fact, no proposal stands out more than the others. Nevertheless, there might be good news for the silvicultural industry because each of the parties promises, if elected, to give massive support to silvicultural activity in order to restore our forests to a healthy state. Is this just an election promise, or is it indicative of a future project? That remains to be seen.

One more year for the rate schedule
Another sign that winter is coming to an end: the government has released its ministerial order on the value of silvicultural processes, usually called the rate schedule. The indexation proposed is equivalent to the rise in the cost of living (or consumer price index), namely 2.34%. Consultations are under way. Interested participants must make official. There is a new feature this year: the Minister is undertaking a study of camp costs to be able to index the grant for forestry camps, which would become effective as of April 1, 2007. The objective is to bring shelter rates to a level closer to the real costs of doing the work.