Caribou protection: forestry workers want to be part of the dialogue

This text is part of the special Syndicalism booklet

Woodland and mountain caribou have been designated as vulnerable and threatened species respectively in Quebec. While the provincial government is working on its strategy to better protect them, the Unifor union wants forest industry workers, whose jobs are potentially at risk, to take part in social dialogue on the issue.

“There is a real urgency to act,” reads the report of the Independent Commission on Woodland and Mountain Caribou, released in August 2022. While habitat changes caused by human activities, including logging, have direct and indirect effects on the survival of woodland caribou, the document recommends creating more protected areas in Quebec. While the report emphasizes that this could reduce the volumes of wood harvested, it mentions the benefits that the forest industry could derive from such a measure.

This is also what the Unifor union believes, which recognizes the consequences of human activities on the weakening of caribou populations. “We want to find a balance between the protection of caribou, the prosperity of biodiversity and forestry activity,” says Daniel Cloutier, Quebec director of the organization. Let’s think now about good sustainable practices, rather than questioning ourselves every five years. »

In Quebec, the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) will unveil its strategy to protect woodland and mountain caribou in the summer of 2023. Ottawa is not ruling out intervene if he judges that it is insufficient to ensure the survival of the species, indicated the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault. This could take the form of a five-year executive order preserving up to 35,000 square kilometers of forest, but which would deprive the forest industry of more than 40% of its annual supplies, according to Unifor. A real carnage, warns the union.

Foster dialogue

Faced with this scenario, Unifor is also concerned that workers will be excluded from the ongoing discussions. “We don’t want to be faced with a fait accompli,” continues Daniel Cloutier. This is an issue related to the energy transition and one of the first real tests to pass together. This test, the union hopes to pass through social dialogue including first peoples, environmental groups and members of the forest industry.

If factory closures and job losses are to be expected, Unifor is asking for more than compensation. The union is asking for a plan that will make it possible to adapt or transform the economy in the affected areas, maintain good jobs and support those affected by the reduction in logging. “We agree that we must decarbonize society, and one of the solutions to capture carbon is to use more wood, argues Daniel Cloutier. You understand the impasse: if we want wood to take up more space and replace other materials, there must still be a possibility of cutting it. »

Wood is indeed an ecological material whose use makes it possible, among other things, to extend the life cycle of carbon by storing it. However, its production is not necessarily sustainable and largely depends on the way in which the forests are exploited. The forest industry accounts for 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada, in addition to those caused by the degradation of boreal forests, according to the American organization National Resources Defense Council. Adopting “clean” technologies in forest management is part of Canada’s strategies to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Ongoing decline

The woodland caribou was designated as a “vulnerable” species in 2005 under Quebec’s Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species, and the mountain caribou of Gaspésie, as a “threatened” species in 2009. The latest figures unveiled at the start of the year by the provincial government show that the caribou population in the Gaspé has shrunk by nearly 80% in just 15 years.

Just like in Val-d’Or, the last caribou in Charlevoix are now surviving in captivity. Their decline began in 1992 and has accelerated over the past thirty years, mainly due to habitat loss. Other herds are also showing signs of decline, including that of the Pipmuacan territory, near Pessamit. In August 2022, the Innu Council of Pessamit sent a formal notice to Ottawa and Quebec in order to put in place immediate protective measures.

Minister Steven Guilbeault believes that the maintenance of the Quebec herds is unlikely if nothing changes, after consulting members of the First Nations and data provided by the Quebec government. Unifor solicits meetings, but gets little information on the ongoing discussions. A march will take place on March 18 in Saint-Félicien, as part of the union campaign “Caribou: we need to talk to each other”, which aims to ensure that workers in the forestry industry are heard in the matter.

This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.

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