QUEBEC REPORT: A New Minister, A New Vision
by Audrey Harvey, Communications Coordinator, AETSQ. Translated by David Hayne

Last April, the citizens of Quebec decided to elect a minority Liberal government. The Premier, Jean Charest, had to form a new ministerial team. Mr. Charest underlined the importance of the forestry portfolio by naming Claude Béchard to the post of Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife, the previous minister, Pierre Corbeil, having not been reelected. Mr. Béchard’s former post was Minister of Sustainable Development, of the Environment, and of Parks. The few conversations that have already taken place with the new team suggest that the future may be more promising for the silvicultural industry. In fact, the status quo does not appear to be a serious option for Mr. Béchard and his team. The Minister had his first opportunity to announce the new approach at the Council of the Forestry Industry conference on May 10th. His message was perfectly clear: “The forestry industry is going through an unprecedented crisis and all the elements are in place for a thorough reexamination of our forestry administration.” Among the measures contemplated to reestablish our forests, the government intends to launch the largest reforestation program ever undertaken. Mr. Béchard stated his intention of managing our forest beyond what is already foreseen in the present management plans, and proceeding in such a way that this resource, so precious in the eyes of Quebeckers, can regenerate itself and provide wood of sufficient quality and quantity for its citizens.

Mr. Béchard repeated his intention very recently when the principal stakeholders in the forestry sector met in preparatory sessions for the Summit on the Future of the Forestry Sector in Quebec. As these lines are being written, discussions are in full swing at Montmorency Forest, the forestry and experimental school of Laval University. The Minister reiterated that the results expected from the Summit have aroused great expectations. “The current crisis forces us to make changes,” he added. “Reorganization is inevitable and it will have to be carried out with minimal impact on local communities and workers.”

Although it is too early to announce the results of these discussions, it is nevertheless known that the initiatives will follow the path indicated by the Minister. Indeed, the participants around the table agreed that we must move on to the solution stage. In the course of his presentation, the Minister asked everyone to consider the situation from a fresh point of view: “If the present forestry administration didn’t exist, how should we create it?” He appealed to the stakeholders in attendance to keep this idea in the back of their minds during the discussion, in order to give free rein to imagination.

Finally, Mr. Béchard invited attendees to make suggestions and to propose modifications to present forestry policy, i.e. measures designed to facilitate the restructuring of the industry in the short term. It is understood that such modifications would remove uncertainty in the communities and among their residents while we await the new forestry administration. For the present, the Minister has identified four criteria to guide the reorganization: the economic viability of the project, its transparency for the workforce, involvement of the communities, and the minimizing of job losses. The overall meeting is still scheduled for the fall of 2007.