Forest Tenure Reform
WHEREAS the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development Mines and Forestry has released a proposed framework with the aim of modernizing Ontario’s forest tenure and pricing system;
AND WHEREAS NOMA speaks for the interests of all Northwestern Ontario municipalities, many who have already taken the opportunity to provide a diverse range of feedback on this Forest Tenure reform.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association calls upon the province to ensure that any reforms adhere to the following principles.
• Accommodate the business needs of the existing operating users both large and small, review the business plans of the dormant ones who are waiting for the market to return in order to restart their facilities, and encourage new entrants, particularly value added in order to protect the existing job base and encourage new job creation in the forestry sector.
• Encourage fuller use of the forestry resources and promote the sustainability of the harvest.
• Reduce government bureaucracy in order to obtain and retain greater competitiveness with those outside Ontario.
• Permanent protection of Ontario’s 26 million cubic meters of sustainable industrial fibre
• Move quickly to clarify the considerable ambiguity around the existing proposals in order to stabilize future forest sector investments.
Adopted by the membership: April 2011
