Quebec Report: A Summit on the Future of the Forestry Sector in Quebec
by Annie Beaupré, training coordinator, AETSQ. Translated by David Hayne

Last September, Mr Denis Brière, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Earth Sciences of Laval University, announced that his faculty would host a summit meeting in the spring of 2007 on the future of the forestry sector in Québec. Various stakeholders in the forestry sector (Conseil de l’industrie forestière du Québec, Centre de recherche industrielle du Quèbec, Fédération québécoise des coopératives forestières, Fédération québécoise des municipalités, Fédération des pourvoiries du Québec, Fédération des gestionnaires de zecs, and the research institutes Forintek, FERIC, and PAPRICAN) had requested such a meeting, hoping that Laval University would organize the event.

Quebec cannot continue for much longer in the present crisis situation in forestry, which threatens the survival of several single-industry communities. The study commission on the management of public forests in Quebec, better known as the Coulombe Commission, had as its general mandate a survey of the management of public forests in Quebec, with recommended improvements that would enhance forestry administration and ensure sustainable development. The commission wound up its work in December 2004, and submitted its report to the Minister of Natural Resources, Wildlife, and Parks. The analyses are completed and it is now time for the players to sit down together and speed up the implementation of the new direction that the forestry industry must take.

The upcoming summit does not intend in any way to redo the work already done by the Coulombe Commission, but it will certainly take its lead from all the material made available during the latter’s activities. The purpose of the summit is rather to work toward the implementation of the Coulombe Commission’s recommendations and to reach a consensus leading to a common vision of the new forestry management model that the bulk of the stakeholders in the forestry sector want to see established.

The AETSQ should be part of this event. It wants to participate in order to arrive at a consensus on the topics that concern it, such as the implementation of a genuine policy of intensification of forestry management, solutions for the lack of competent replacement personnel in silviculture, the creation of a system of competence certification for silvicultural businesses, and the establishment of a forestry administration better focused on management objectives and adapted to regional and local realities.

Various other groups are concerned about the resources represented by Quebec’s forests and the possibilities they offer, which is why all stakeholders will be included in this major event, which aims at real dialogues and meaningful conversations.

Let us hope that this summit on the future of the Quebec forestry sector will meet our expectations and will allow us to formulate a common vision of a management model that will ensure the protection and the utilization of all the resources of the forestry sector. It is essential to arrive at an agreement that, while respecting economic, social and environmental considerations, will allow us to achieve real sustainable development of our forests.