The protection of woodland caribou does not have to be carried out at the expense of jobs in the forest industry, argues a union in the forest industry which received a visit from the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, on Wednesday.
• Read also: Caribou: the forest industry criticizes the Gélinas Commission
At the invitation of the Steelworkers union, the Minister traveled to Chibougamau and Chapais, in the Nord-du-Québec region, to meet with representatives of the organization and discuss the issue with them.
“Caribou protection will likely impact the amount of timber available for industry. We must have the means to mitigate these impacts. The wood that remains, let’s do better with it and transform it”, explained Alexandre Fréchette, of the Steelworkers, during a telephone interview, specifying that this is the message that was transmitted to Mr. Guilbeault during his visit. In the region.
The union, which represents 2,500 Quebec workers in the forestry industry, would therefore like it to be possible to do better with less by betting on an increase in secondary and tertiary wood processing, recalling that for a volume of Given trees, a traditional sawmill generates about ten jobs, compared to about fifteen for secondary and tertiary processing.
Alexandre Fréchette described the meeting as “constructive” and a minister “attentive”, at the dawn of discussions with Quebec on the protection of woodland caribou.
No wall-to-wall solution
For Steven Guilbeault, to whom we also spoke after his meetings, the challenge is to propose means adapted to the reality of each forest region.
The recent agreement in principle between Quebec and Ottawa on the protection of woodland caribou provides for the protection of 65% of deer habitat, whereas currently this proportion varies from 30 to 35%, assesses the minister.
“What does 65% mean on the territory in different regions? How do we do that in such a way as to, once again, ensure the sustainability of jobs, but also of the ecosystem? questions the Minister, adding that he found it interesting to visit the Chantiers Chibougamau company “which uses everything that enters the yard where other companies leave it in the forest and even burn in some cases what they consider like residues.
“We add value, we transform that, we create more jobs per cubic meter,” pleaded Steven Guilbeault, who will be visiting the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region on Thursday.