To the Editor:
As we close the curtain on the 2011 International Year of Forests, it's a good time to take stock of one of Canada's oldest and most important industries - about where it is and where it wants to go.
As we leave 2011, the Canadian forest products sector will acknowledge a year that was far better than 2010. However with economic storm clouds swirling through much of the world, it will be a sober year end celebration. Countries are teetering on the brink or have already tumbled back into recession. Emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil are slowing down. There is global angst about the crisis in sovereign debt.
Still, the member companies of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) are looking to 2012 with self-confidence. The sector has been doing much to reinvent itself to ensure its survival and prosperity in these unsettled times. Instead of simply waiting for better economic conditions, the sector has been retooling and reinventing itself to become a dynamic player in the global marketplace of the 21st century.
Companies have reduced costs, taken out excess capacity, and enhanced productivity. In fact, the Canadian forest sector has consistently outperformed the general economy in terms of labour, capital, and productivity growth, and its productivity ranks higher than its U.S. counterpart.
Instead of sitting back and waiting for the return of the U.S. housing market, the industry has been boldly cultivating new markets, especially in Asia. Forest products are now Canada's number one export to both China and India.
Canadian forest companies have also developed world leading environmental credentials. For example, Canada by far has more forest land independently certified as well managed than any other country. And 21 forest companies have joined leading environmental groups to sign the landmark Canadian Boreal Forest agreement, considered the largest conservation agreement ever reached.
The sector is also poised to become a major player in the new bio-economy by extracting more value from each tree in the form of innovative bio-fuels, bio-chemicals and bio-materials. Renewable wood fibre can be used in everything from airplane parts, to clothing, to food additives. Canada is now a world leader in research into the likes of nano-crystalline cellulose and bioactive paper. Governments have played an important role in this transformation. Fortunately the days when governments' response to a crisis was to subsidize the status quo are mostly over. Instead they have been supporting the sector's transformation into an industry that is more productive, greener and more diversified in its products and markets. And this has helped make the industry more competitive.
Six hundred thousand Canadians, mainly in rural Canada, depend on the forest industry for their livelihood, and a more competitive forest industry is the only way we can sustain those jobs.
So as we look forward to 2012, we intend to build on the momentum of transformation. The industry will continue the hard work of retooling itself for tomorrow's jobs while looking to the governments for ongoing strategic support in the re-invention of Canada's forest industry.
Avrim Lazar, President and CEO, FPAC.
