More than 300 demonstrators gathered on the front lawn of the New Brunswick legislature Tuesday to protest the government’s new forestry strategy.
The protesters say the strategy will lead to an increase in clear-cutting and a reduction in government monitoring of forestry companies. They are also hoping the plan will be a main issue in the upcoming election campaign.
“Your government doesn’t give a damn about public opinion on how Crown forest should be managed,” said Tom Beckley, a forestry professor at the University of New Brunswick, at the protest. “You’ve told them, but they don’t give a damn.”
The 10-year plan announced in March will allow the forestry industry to harvest an additional 660,000 cubic metres of softwood a year -- a hike of 20 per cent from existing levels.
Tree stumps dotted the front lawn of the legislature on Tuesday, similar to recent protests when seismic testing flags were stuck in the ground to symbolize opposition to fracking.
The new director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick says the issues of forestry and fracking complement each other going into an election campaign.
“I think there’s one theme that seems to be tying a number of issues together, a number of environmental and human health issues, and that’s the lack of transparency,” says Lois Corbett.
Natural Resources Minister Paul Robichaud is defending the forestry plan. He says it will create 500 new jobs in the woods and generate more than 1,200 construction jobs as 40 mills in the province begin to modernize.
“Of course you always have people who are against something,” says Robichaud. “I was very surprised to see the Liberal opposition to be against the fact that we added two more days to the moose hunting season. You know, you will always have people who are against government’s decision.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore and The Canadian Press
