The Nova Scotia government says renewed agreements with Port Hawkesbury Paper will be good for the forests — and the economy — and take significant steps toward implementation of the 2018 Lahey Report that called for a shift to ecological forestry.
Under the agreements, the province has reduced the amount of timber the company can take from Crown land, while increasing the amount it will pay for management of public and private forests.
Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton says the agreements strike a good balance.
“This was something that we agreed in the terms of it that there’s prosperity for the company, there’s sustainability for the province and it still allows us to meet our targets and goals with the Lahey review,” he said.
Port Hawkesbury Paper agrees with the changes, which have become necessary as the business model for forestry has changed in the province, said Geoff Clarke, the company’s manager of business development.
Under its forest utilization licence, the paper company can harvest up to 275,000 tonnes of timber annually from Crown lands, which is down from 400,000 tonnes.
Geoff Clarke, the company’s manager of business development, says the deal shouldn’t reduce the amount of wood fibre available. It will just shift it from Crown to private land. (Tom Ayers/CBC)
Taking less Crown timber will mean a shift to the private sector, he said.
“It’s the way it has to be,” Clarke said. “It’s part of the premise to look more towards the private lands to make up the difference of the drop in the allowable harvest off of Crown land.
“It shouldn’t have an impact on the amount of fibre that’s available.”
In addition, with the closure of Northern Pulp, more wood waste has become available to Port Hawkesbury Paper.
The Strait-area mill used to get five per cent of its supply from sawmill residue, but that has jumped to 40 per cent now, Clarke said.
“The model changes and we evolve along with it.”
Under the company’s separate fee-for-service agreement, Port Hawkesbury Paper will be paid $5 million a year to support sustainable forestry management on Crown and private lands.
Fees will help with ecological forestry training
That’s up from $3.8 million, which the province says will cover inflation and an increased focus on ecological forestry.
Clarke said the increased fees will go — in part — towards training and educating private woodlot owners on sustainable ecological practices.
For example, he said, in some cases cutting operations will leave more trees standing.
Raymond Plourde, senior wilderness co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, said he is pleased with the announcements.
Raymond Plourde of Ecology Action Centre says the agreements are good news in terms of the Lahey Report recommendations and it’s good that the company is in step. (Ecology Action Centre)
Taking less timber from Crown lands was a key recommendation of the 2018 report authored by University of King’s College president William Lahey.
“This is a very positive thing and it responds directly to the implementation of the Lahey Report,” Plourde said.
“Also a good thing is that the company itself is being progressive and is working with government and not fighting this, but rather doing what Professor Lahey recommended.”
Rushton said the agreements follow the full implementation of the so-called triad model of forest management recommended by Lahey.
Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton says the government has made significant steps towards implementation of the Lahey Report. (Robert Short/CBC)
The first part of the triad, called the conservation zone, exempts 35 per cent of Crown lands from forestry, including old-growth forests, parks and protected areas.
The second was introduced last year involving new guidelines for mixed-use forests representing 55 per cent of Crown lands, which are mostly Acadian forests on the mainland.
In that zone, new and previously approved harvest plans must follow low-intensity practices that prioritize biodiversity.
Rushton said Port Hawkesbury Paper is also launching a pilot project to apply new silviculture guidelines in mixed-use boreal forests in Cape Breton.
‘Still work left to do’
And last month, the province approved the third part of the triad by announcing a high-production zone will make up 10 per cent of Crown lands where clear-cutting will be allowed, but the contractor has to improve the soil afterwards and replant the area.
“We’ve achieved a lot in the last year,” said Rushton. “There’s still a lot of work left to do … and we’re still committed to making the steps forward to achieving those goals.”
OTTAWA – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is making some changes to mortgage rules to help more Canadians to purchase their first home.
She says the changes will come into force in December and better reflect the housing market.
The price cap for insured mortgages will be boosted for the first time since 2012, moving to $1.5 million from $1 million, to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
On Aug. 1 eligibility for the 30-year amortization was changed to include first-time buyers purchasing a newly-built home.
Justice Minister Arif Virani is also releasing drafts for a bill of rights for renters as well as one for homebuyers, both of which the government promised five months ago.
Virani says the government intends to work with provinces to prevent practices like renovictions, where landowners evict tenants and make minimal renovations and then seek higher rents.
The government touts today’s announced measures as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” and it comes after a year of criticism over high housing costs.
The Liberals have been slumping in the polls for months, including among younger adults who say not being able to afford a house is one of their key concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.4 per cent to $71 billion in July, helped by higher sales in the petroleum and coal and chemical product subsectors.
The increase followed a 1.7 per cent decrease in June.
The agency says sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector gained 6.7 per cent to total $8.6 billion in July as most refineries sold more, helped by higher prices and demand.
Chemical product sales rose 5.3 per cent to $5.6 billion in July, boosted by increased sales of pharmaceutical and medicine products.
Sales of wood products fell 4.8 per cent for the month to $2.9 billion, the lowest level since May 2023.
In constant dollar terms, overall manufacturing sales rose 0.9 per cent in July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
