Retraining workers is not helping forest industry: Green Party
10.01.2008
NEW GLASGOW - The Green Party of Canada panned Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s aid package to the forest industry as irrelevant to industry demands. Mr. Harper delivered the package outside of Fredericton, New Brunswick, today, avoiding the more northern towns that are impacted most by mill closures.
“What forest workers and forestry-dependent communities want is to keep the jobs they have – not have retraining programs for jobs that don't exist,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “I have met repeatedly with the Forest Products Association of Canada. The industry has been clear that the U.S. housing down-turn, combined with the high Canadian dollar and the tax regime in Canada combine to force mills into closure. Government policy must change to protect existing jobs.”
The Green Party notes that in many communities, the local pulp and paper or saw mill is the sole employer and that when operations are sustainable and pollution control is state of the art, mills can be part of the green economy.
“When you consider that the forest industry has succeeded in meeting its Kyoto target, and in fact has delivered a seven-fold improvement on Kyoto in terms of greenhouse gas reductions, some form of assistance is particularly appropriate,” said Natural Resources critic Andrew Lewis. “Perhaps the Harper government could eliminate investment taxes for companies that are not profitable.”
“Taking workers from our forests and moving them to the tar sands is not sustainable,” said Ms. May. “Remote communities will be hard hit if the industry down-turn continues. Harper's plan is like nails in the coffin of the industry.”
http://www.greenparty.ca/en/releases/10.01.2008
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