VOUUMELS4 No 3 Third Constitutional Convention set for October 2-6 Approximately 200 delegates from six provinces will be in Vancouver at the New World Harbourside Hotel between October 2-6 to attend IWA- CANADA's Third Constitutional Con- vention. The meeting of the delegates will also mark the Fifty-Second Annual Convention of the TWA in Canada. Hosting this year’s convention is Courtenay, B.C., Local 1-363. Local President Sy Pederson will give the welcoming address to the delegates. Federal New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent will be present to give a speech on opening day. Mr. Broadbent, in his final year as party leader has, with few exceptions, brought messages to IWA convyen- tions since he became the NDP leader in 1975. Also scheduled to appear this year will be Shirley Carr, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, and Ken Georgetti, President of the B.C. Fed- eration of Labour. Mike Harcourt, President of the New Democrat Party of British Columbia is scheduled to address the delegates. Representing the IWA in the United States will be Bob Gerwig, staff member and former Secretary- Treasurer of the old international union. Delegates will debate more than 100 resolutions. It is expected that environmental and economic issues should be focal points of many reso- lutions. Other areas of debate and discus- sion will include legislative matters, both federal and provincial, occupa- tional health and safety, and constitu- tional matters. e CLC President Shirley Carr chats with I[WA-Canada President Jack Munro at last year’s national convention. Sister Carr is scheduled to bring a message to this year’s ‘Third Constitutional Convention. Munro appointed to B.C. Forest Resources Commission VANCOUVER, BC. — On June 29, 1989, Dave Parker, Forests Min- ister, announced the formation of a janent Forest Resources Com- mission. The eleven-member Com- mission, will include [WA-CANADA President, Jack Munro who has accepted a two-year appointment. ieee erue, tcuacy, ups, industry, and the public, slong with Brother Munro will work with a Commis- sion Chairman. The Chairman, who has not been appointed as of press time, will replace previous appoin- tee Don Munroe, who resigned on August 28. Mr. Munroe could not make a full-time commitment to the Commission, but will be avail- able to it as a member. The Commission’s function will be to examine technical forest land use issues. It will make fully inde- pendent reviews and submit rec- ommendations to the Forests a “This Commission is a in the right direction,” says eee Na- tional President. “Although in ad- dition, we desperately need a ‘Round Table’ in which a cross- section of people can deal with (Continued on page 20) Saco pee REMAN STUDIES/9 Federal Department of Forestry Announced despite spending cuts An Act to establish a full Depart- ment of Forestry was introduced to the House of Commons in Ottawa on June 22. The first reading of Bill C 29 revealed concerns over the direction the Tory government is taking on forest policy. Although Prime Minister Brian Mulroney promised to create a full department during his 1984 election campaign, his government’s recent actions in parliament are a scaled- down commitment to the forest sector of Canadian Industry. Before creating the new depart- ment, the government’s April 27 bud- get contained spending cuts to the Canadian Forest Service, the main component of the Forestry Depart- ment, of $28 million in the fiscal year 1989-90, along with additional man- power cuts. At the same time federal contribu- tions to Economic Regional Develop- ment Agreements (ERDAs) are being slashed by 25% in 1990, to be followed by cuts over the next three years averaging 6%. Joint Federal- Provincial Forestry Resource Devel- opment Agreements (FRDAs) which receive their funding from ERDAs, are scheduled to suffer dramatic spending cuts. Such cuts will cause further reduc- tion in reforestation and silviculture and threaten future harvest levels. “The federal government’s actions to create a full Department of For- estry while planning to slash the vari- ous FRDAs nationwide and cut back on the Canadian Forest Service, con- stitutes sheer hypocrisy,” says Clay Perry, Director of Environment and Land Use ‘Department at IWA- CANADA. “While creating this new department, the government is sim- ply trying to cover up the fact that, in terms of spending, it has dramati- cally reduced its commitment to the management of our forests.” | | f Brother Perry says that a new Department of Forestry should havea budget that will allow it to return to forest lands an amount which corres- ponds to its significance in Canada’s economy. Federal coffers will reap about $3 billion in revenues from the forest industry in 1989. One of the duties of the Minister of Forests, according to the new legisla- tion, will be to “have regard to the sustainable development of Canada’s forests and the enhancement of the international competitiveness of the Canadian forest sector.” ““Sustainable development’ is a term the Tories have picked up from the Bruntland Commission,” says Brother Perry. “The Mulroney gov- ernment has picked up on this buzz word. However, the new department. will be so lean that it certainly won’t be able to promote sustainable development.” In Western Canada, FRDA agree- ments have been funded by the West- ern Economic Diversification Office in Manitoba since 1985. In BC. the provincial Ministry of Forests is requesting federal contribu- tions of $350 million for a five year FRDA plan beginning in April of 1990. But federal Minister of State for Forestry Frank Oberle is saying that B.C. will have to bear more of the burden. Any cuts to further federal funding will almost certainly result in a reduction of tree planting and silviculture work. Oberle is also non-committal on future FRDAs with other provinces across Canada. This year, $420 mil- lion in FRDAs expired with Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Quebec’s $300 million FRDA and a $48 million program with Newfound- land both expire at the end of March next year.