Even as the Liberal government aims to plant two billion trees to fight climate change, Quebec wants to chop them down due to forest fires it says are caused by climate change.The province’s government is asking Ottawa to ‘harvest’ trees in areas particularly hard hit by last summer's forest fires. These aren’t deadfall, but rather, healthy trees funded in part from the Liberal’s $3 billion planting fund..“There is a broad consensus from the sector, forestry communities and industries that revolve around the forest to the effect that the federal program should be more flexible,”Quebec Forestry Minister Maite Blanchette Vezina.More to the point, it wants the money from the fund to plant trees it can in turn cut down. And it’s accusing Ottawa of interfering in its internal affairs by telling it how it can spend its share of the dollars.In a letter to Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, his provincial counterpart Maite Blanchette Vezina is asking him to allow the province to harvest the trees and use them in the production of green building materials.That’s because the 2 Billion Trees program doesn’t fund trees designated for commercial use, about 40% of which have been planted in La Belle Province to date. The letter was co-signed by more than 100 Quebec municipalities, forestry associations and unions..The summer of 2023 was one of the worst fire seasons in Quebec history, with more than 4.5 million hectares torched. Smoke from the fires enveloped much of the eastern US, including cities such as New York and travelled as far as Europe..In the letter, she asks Wilkinson “to review the provision requiring that planted trees cannot be harvested in the long term and transformed into construction materials” and that reforested trees “be added to the forestry possibilities of the regions most affected by forest fires.”“There is a broad consensus from the sector, forestry communities and industries that revolve around the forest to the effect that the federal program should be more flexible,” Vézina said in interview with the QMI Agency.The summer of 2023 was one of the worst fire seasons in Quebec history, with more than 4.5 million hectares torched. Smoke from the fires enveloped much of the eastern US, including cities like New York and travelled as far as Europe..In January, a Quebec man who posted conspiracy theories on social media that the fires were deliberately set by the government pleaded guilty to 14 counts of arson, including setting blazes that forced hundreds of people from their homes.Last fall, the provincial government launched plans to promote economic recovery in the hardest hit areas.But critics say allowing commercial cutting of trees under the program would undermine Ottawa’s climate goals and the main reason for the program.
Even as the Liberal government aims to plant two billion trees to fight climate change, Quebec wants to chop them down due to forest fires it says are caused by climate change.The province’s government is asking Ottawa to ‘harvest’ trees in areas particularly hard hit by last summer's forest fires. These aren’t deadfall, but rather, healthy trees funded in part from the Liberal’s $3 billion planting fund..“There is a broad consensus from the sector, forestry communities and industries that revolve around the forest to the effect that the federal program should be more flexible,”Quebec Forestry Minister Maite Blanchette Vezina.More to the point, it wants the money from the fund to plant trees it can in turn cut down. And it’s accusing Ottawa of interfering in its internal affairs by telling it how it can spend its share of the dollars.In a letter to Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, his provincial counterpart Maite Blanchette Vezina is asking him to allow the province to harvest the trees and use them in the production of green building materials.That’s because the 2 Billion Trees program doesn’t fund trees designated for commercial use, about 40% of which have been planted in La Belle Province to date. The letter was co-signed by more than 100 Quebec municipalities, forestry associations and unions..The summer of 2023 was one of the worst fire seasons in Quebec history, with more than 4.5 million hectares torched. Smoke from the fires enveloped much of the eastern US, including cities such as New York and travelled as far as Europe..In the letter, she asks Wilkinson “to review the provision requiring that planted trees cannot be harvested in the long term and transformed into construction materials” and that reforested trees “be added to the forestry possibilities of the regions most affected by forest fires.”“There is a broad consensus from the sector, forestry communities and industries that revolve around the forest to the effect that the federal program should be more flexible,” Vézina said in interview with the QMI Agency.The summer of 2023 was one of the worst fire seasons in Quebec history, with more than 4.5 million hectares torched. Smoke from the fires enveloped much of the eastern US, including cities like New York and travelled as far as Europe..In January, a Quebec man who posted conspiracy theories on social media that the fires were deliberately set by the government pleaded guilty to 14 counts of arson, including setting blazes that forced hundreds of people from their homes.Last fall, the provincial government launched plans to promote economic recovery in the hardest hit areas.But critics say allowing commercial cutting of trees under the program would undermine Ottawa’s climate goals and the main reason for the program.
