McGuinty breaks faith on protecting the Boreal Forest

"This move undermines everything the Premier has said about the value of Ontario's Boreal Forest," said Christy Ferguson, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace. "When it comes to forest conservation, Premier McGuinty is giving with one hand and taking with the other."

In July 2008, Premier McGuinty extolled the global significance of Ontario's Boreal Forest and committed to protect at least 50 per cent of its northern reaches. This followed his government's May 2007 announcement of a new Endangered Species Act for Ontario which included protection for woodland caribou.

The newly approved forest management plan for the Ogoki Forest, northwest of Armstrong, allows logging company Buchanan Forest Products to log and build roads in one of the most ecologically valuable areas left in Ontario's Boreal Forest. Because local sawmills have closed, one hundred per cent of what's logged will be delivered to the Terrace Bay pulp mill for the manufacture of tissue and other disposable paper products.

The size, location, and near pristine state of the one million hectare Ogoki Forest make it critical habitat for the threatened woodland caribou, while its carbon-dense trees and soils make it critical for mitigating climate change.

In April 2008, environmental groups across the province requested that the Ministry of Environment conduct an individual environmental assessment to determine the plan's impact on caribou before proceeding. The Ministry has denied the request, even while acknowledging in correspondence that the logging and road-building activities within the plan may impact woodland caribou populations.

"This is just one example of the problems that persist in Ontario's Boreal Forest," said Carly Armstrong, a forest campaigner with Earthroots. "With logging companies exempt from the Endangered Species Act, no new protected areas in the managed forest, and the ongoing approval of plans like this one, it appears that little has changed."

An Earthroots assessment released today details many of the problems with the plan and with forestry in Ontario's Boreal Forest as a whole, including the fact that the forest industry is currently exempt from the province's Endangered Species Act.

"If the Premier wants to retain any credibility whatsoever, he needs to step in and rectify this situation," said Ferguson.