PRESIDENT’S MESSAG ‘Brazil of North’ charges not based on reality — by Gerry Stoney lhe recent award from the prestigious Goldman Institute of San Francisco to B.C. environmental activist Colleen McCrory has been heavily criticized by many in the forest industry. Whether or not those people agree with Ms. McCrory’s points of view in general is one matter. What she is saying about Canada being the “Brazil of the North” is quite another. Ms. McCrory, now a high profile recipient of a Goldman Environmental prize, which is given annually to environmentalists from six continents intends to, along with others, now go on a global campaign to sling mud at Canada’s forest industry. Her message, which was delivered this month at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, where she also received the UN’s Global 500 Award, is designed to get people to believe that our forest practices are the same as those in Brazil. What the Goldman Institute and the UN have neglected to do is assess Ms. McCrory’s message for what it is - absurd! In Brazil they are not cutting their forests with the policy of replenishing them for future generations. In large areas of Brazil, rapid deforestation is taking place because of severe demands of a starving population. In Canada, we harvest the forests and replant them in planning for future crops of timber. In Brazil, the Amazonian rain forest is being lev- elled and burned for other reasons. In Brazil much of their wood cut down is not utilized either for commercial wood products or for fire wood. In the place of those rain forests, the remaining soils are used for cattle raising, and agricul- tural food produc- tion. The tropical soils are inevitably de- pleted in less than a generation and the as “Brazil of the North” is entirely monious. She and her supporters are trying to capitalize on a negative conno- tation by comparing Canada with Brazil. Logically, if one follows what the are trying to capi ize on, it is the even- tual shutdown of the forest industry. They are saying that Canada har- vests forest like Brazil does. There- fore, according to their thinking, to save the planet not exploitive cycle of eliminating the for- est continues in Brazil as the slash and burn escalates. Brazil has a population of over 150 mil- lion, and rates as one of the world’s most impoverished countries. Nearly two thirds of its people live in abject poverty. Its government doesn’t have a plan to reforest the areas cut down. It has no plans to grow future crops of trees. There are no plans to make Brazil’s forest industry sus- tainable. In Canada we are not levelling our forests to turn them into massive agricul- tural spreads. We are farming our trees - and farming is the operative word. We are farming our forest lands for future generations who will require forest products. And to deny that we will need forest products in the future to bury our heads in the sand. McCrory’s one sided portrayal of Canada only must we halt destruction of the Brazilian rain forest, but we must also halt the logging of Canadian forests. Rather than sling mud at the industry and mislead people, Ms. McCrory and her followers should join the debate of how we can best manage our forests for the vast number of values that they contain. It’s time to tune out the non-constructive rhetoric and roll up our sleeves to first find out what forest lands we will be logging, and secondly to harvest and replenish the forests with all our collective skill and knowledge. It’s time to bury the rhetorical hatchet and work together to first finally establish clearly where the working forest is. Then after doing so we must work together to regrow more each year than we cut down. Canada is not and never will be the Brazil of the North. one sided and acri- SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPM Environment and Land-use department undergoes change by Claire Dansereau Ihe Environment and Land-Use depart- ment at the National office has gone through a number of significant changes in the past few months. The departures of Jack Munro, Roger Stanyer and Clay Perry had temporarily left the department short-handed at a time when environmental problems were increasing daily. These three people were instrumental in forming and shaping the department. With their help and vision IWA-CANADA was able to become a credible voice on all matters dealing with forestry and the environment. Brother Munro’s continued interest and con- cern for the membership over environment issues was unfailing. He wasted no opportunity to tell the world about our forest policy, our environment committees and our continued involvement in shaping environmentally and economically-sound government and corporate policies. His caring and his presence will be sadly missed by this department. Brother Stanyer was the chairman of the National Environment Committee and the Vice-President responsible for forestry and environmental issues. He provided many insights, vision and strength during times when others of us despaired at the lack of solu- tions. He is now working with the British Columbia government as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of Forests. He also will be missed. Everyone at the National office was sorry to see Brother Clay Perry go as well. His dedica- tion to the membership of this organization is unquestionable. The countless weekends he devoted to government committees, education and research attest to this. He provided us with a great historical and philosophical per- spective that helped shape many policies. He has moved onto the Commission on Resources ~ and the Environment and in his new posi- tion will undoubtedly continue to speak out for the working peo- ple of this country. We wish him all the best. Though these times of change have been full of turmoil, with change often comes opportunity. Those that moved into the vacancies left behind are more than welcome by this department. Brother Gerry Stoney’s concern for the mem- bership in all policy areas, including the envi- ronment, equals that of Jack Munro. He has already proven to be a strong leader in this area and continues to stay involved. Brother Warren Ulley, ex-president of the Logger’s Local 1-71, has stepped into the office vacated by Roger Stanyer. Brother Ulley is unquestionably Brother Dave Haggard, president of Local 1- 85; Brother Norm Rivard, president of Local 1- 2995; Brother Wilf McIntyre, president Local 1- 2693; Brother Klaus Offermann, Local 1-405; and, finally Brother Bob Freer, Local 1-71 are currently members of the National Environment Committee. Together, these Brothers are active in their Local Unions on many environmental issues and in future will provide assistance to other Locals. The priorities for the Environment Committee have been streamlined to ensure that each one is attended to efficiently. The first priority for the Committee will be to develop an education program so that Local Unions can feel comfortable in dealing with environmental issues that affect them. An edu- cation manual will be given top priority by the department. The manual will be used both to help establish environment committees and by the environment committees in their day-to- day work. A second priority of the Committee will be to raise IWA-CANADA’s profile with respect to environmental issues. In suited to the task and brings to it renewed strength and a sense of orga- nization. His expe- rience in this area will provide us with” some added exper- tise. The Logger’s The National Environment Committee met in June to establish a new structure, priorities and mandate order to do this, the Committee will be prepar- ing a kit of speaking material, videos, slides, etc. that Local Unions can use when presenting IWA- CANADA’s forest policy on positions on the environ- ment. Local has been faced with confrontational and non-confronta- tional environmental problems for many years and Brother Ulley was active in all of them. As an Executive Board Member Brother Ulley was instrumental in establishing this department. Because of these welcome additions, the department is taking on a new life. The National Environment Committee held a meet- ing in early June to propose new priorities, a structure and a mandate. The Environment Committee now includes two representatives from Ontario, three from British Columbia and one from the prairie provinces, It is hoped that in this way, the con- cerns expressed by all Local Unions will be addressed by someone located close to them geographically. 5 The third priority of the Committee will be to continue promoting our forest policy and our concerns to all levels of government and corporations. And finally, the Committee will continue to provide assistance through research and brief preparation/presentation to Local Unions. All of us in the department and the Committee look forward to the upcomin; months.The challenges faced by this Naat Union everywhere in the country are on the rise. Claire Dansereau is IWA-CANADA’s Forest and Environmental Planner. | 4/LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1992