Charles,
Can you blog this for me?
Thank you
Mr. Denis Landry (Member for Centre-Péninsule, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick):
THEN
"I was a logger—not a lawyer, but a logger—for 17 years of my life. We were unionized, and everything was
going well until mechanization appeared.
In 1991 we were kicked out of the forest. It was a really sad thing that happened to 200, 300, 400 people...we fought
hard against mechanization.
I was thrown into jail. I went through a big trial. I tried to convince the company and government at that time that there was a
place for men in the forest.
That mechanization did this. It kicked men out from crown land, where there were all kinds of regulations, we were controlled by the natural resources department, and everything was under surveillance.
But the thing that happened is that they sent us on committees, they were trying to put those people back into schools, trying to get them new skills. Where I used to work, at that time in 1991, the average age was 49 years old. It was a pretty high average age. But all those people were not able to get back into schools, and some of them didn't even know how to read. They went on welfare.
One of the most important things that happened was that even the contractors who were on crown land at that time found other ways to cut wood. They came to their neighbourhoods and cut on private land.
They started to buy, and those loggers who had logged the jobs on crown land were working and are still working for those contractors. It's a bad, bad thing that happened. They overcut crown land. They are overcutting crown land.
When those people were kicked out of crown lands, a lot of people were thinking they would be back on other jobs, but that was not the fact. They're overcutting private land, and there's not that much surveillance. They're cutting near the creeks, the rivers, and everything.
I'm part of government now and I'm trying to explain to somebody that there will be plenty of jobs in the forests of New Brunswick if somebody wants to hear people out. Instead of putting big mechanization in forests, plenty of work is still available there, but we'll have to use smaller mechanization."
NOW
Special permits to be issued for long wheelbase truck tractors March 16, 2007
FREDERICTON (CNB) - Special permits will be issued to the trucking industry to allow drivers to use truck tractors with a longer wheelbase, Transportation Minister Denis Landry announced today.
"Allowing long wheelbase truck tractors in New Brunswick will provide more flexibility in the movement of freight and will
contribute to our goal of making the province self-sufficient in the next 20 years."
The special permits will be available upon application beginning March 19. The permits will allow truck tractors of model year 2003 and newer, with a wheelbase greater than 6.2 metres, but no greater than 7.2 metres, to operate with a semi-trailer, as long as the overall length of the vehicle combination does not exceed the current maximum length of 23 metres.
"The trucking industry is a major player in the economic development of New Brunswick. Our department is pleased to work with the industry in finding ways to contribute to its success," Landry said.
4 comments:
Just for the record?
I really like Denis. He's a very nice guy and maybe he'll reply to that individual concerns?
Who knows?
I am sorry but I can't agree with this blog at all. Yes mechanization in the forest is a sad thing because people lost their jobs, but are we going to stop selling trucks and cars and go back to horse and buggy, because people lost their jobs due to the automobile? It's called technical advancement it happens everyday in all areas of our lives, get over it.
As far as the over cutting of crown land I have to disagree there also. Recently I have been to a public presentation about the forest management plans that Professional Foresters do and the amount of technology and time they use. It takes about 2 years to revise a 25 year plan and each plan is revised every 5 years. These plans make sure that all values from the forest are available sustainably for 80 years. From what I seen in those management plans is that we are not over cutting the crown land. The amount of restrictions that are imposed on companies also ensures that wildlife values are protected and so are rivers and lakes. Now as far as private land you do have a point there and I agree with that. Some private land owners don't care and do destroy water habitat and that yes it does look like it is being over cut.
shouldn't cut any trees at all, forest management, how can it be a forest when you replant the same trees everywheres, what happened to mixed forest, the only trees that are replanted are trees that can be cut again in 20 years, bunch of balony if you ask me.
Glad there is agreement on the private land issue. However, go talk to the private landowners and you'll see why-these so called 'wood supply guarantees'. You may be quite happy with the current plans, that's your opinion, however, as the recent story on the ospreys shows, current wildlife practises are far from 'habitat friendly'. Obviously when you cut away habitat you destroy forest life.
And the above post also misses the point that wood supply guarantees on crown land means private landowners need to cut more to stay in business. Go look at the recent budget, New Brunswickers got $5 million less in timber royalties this year than last, even though more trees are being cut.
And 'regulation' is largely been passed over to industry, so there is far less enforcement of all those regulations that look good on paper, but mean little in the forest.
Wood supply guarantees were opposed by virtually ALL Department of Natural Resource scientists, yet the government has gone ahead with increased cut sizes anyway.
So when you combine cutting down more trees and getting less money for them in an industry that employs only a tiny workforce that gets smaller all the time I think it's time to look at the 'big picture'.
That of course doesn't mean horse and buggy, what it does mean is not letting technology replace people unless it is justified. If taxpayers are getting less for their resource than previously, while losing more of it, then quite obviously the only 'perk' NB gets is in jobs. So what kinds of policies create the most jobs? Well, certainly not the practises of the leaseholders, they are getting rid of workers as fast as they can.
So its far from the case that 'everything is fine'. The province is losing one of its most valuable resources for almost nothing. That has far reaching impacts on other things as well-normal river flow, water retention, well levels, as well as the possibility of other economic possibilities like eco-tourism. France makes more money from their wild truffles than New Brunswick does from all their timber resources.
I suspect the point of the above though is to point out that a minister who griped and complained about technology is now embracing it. More loads and bigger trucks means fewer trucks, which means fewer drivers, so its unclear how exactly that will get NB on the way to 'self sufficiency'.
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