Dear Editor,
A response to Warden Jane Toller’s letter to the editor of THE EQUITY on March 3, 2021.
In this letter to the editor, Warden Toller fails to acknowledge the work done by previous wardens, previous Councils of Mayors and previous staff in the advancement of the forestry files.
Following the closure of Smurfit Stone (approximately 2008), the MRC responded to the crisis with an . . .
extensive process of collaboration with all community stakeholders to set a direction for the economic future of the Pontiac.
This collaboration resulted in Vision 2020 (approximately 2009), which identified five main economic development areas to pursue. Forestry was one of those five main areas.
Under Warden Mike McCrank the MRC hired Pierre Vézina in 2011 as an Industrial Commissioner to pursue forestry files. Pierre Vezina had and still has extensive experience and is recognized and well respected as a forestry expert in Quebec.
Under Warden Raymond Durocher the MRC, through its Economic Development Committee, contracted Pierre Vézina as a Forestry Consultant to further pursue forestry files. As a consultant Pierre Vézina was able to approach companies and examine the latest technologies as far away as Sweden and the United States.
It was during this time that the MRC started to get serious about a Biomass Valorization Centre [ CVB]. The decision was made by the MRC to pursue a CVB at the Pontiac Regional Industrial Park in Litchfield in order to take advantage of, and solve the problem of the excessive pulp and biomass in the Pontiac.
Also during this time the MRC created Fibre Pontiac, a non-profit corporation, to be able to apply for and secure grants to advance the Biomass Valorization Centre.
The efforts continued under Warden Jane Toller. Pierre Vezina was able to establish, through studies done by the National Research Council and Canmet Energy, that Renmatix had the latest and best “water based” technology. Rematix has visited the site and has expressed an interest in coming to the Pontiac pending the on-going studies. The availability of biomass, the cost of electricity and the value of the Canadian dollar work to our advantage.
Natural Resources Canada, the National Research Council and Canmet Energy have embarked upon seven studies in order to establish the viability of the Biomass Valorization Centre and Biopark. Three studies have been completed. The fourth study is almost complete, and the last three studies are to be completed in 2021 and 2022. The National Research Council and Canmet energy plan to establish a demonstration project at the Pontiac Industrial Park.
This is where we have been, and this is how far we have come.
And now this project has been featured in the world-renowned scientific Journal “Elsevier.” This article reports on the studies done right here in the Pontiac and focusses on the viability of the project in the scientific, economic and environmental aspects. Being featured in the international Journal of Environmental Management is certainly a “feather in our cap.”
We have come a long way. The studies to date are showing viability. The journey is not over. The file is very well built. We have a strong base of information.
Stay tuned and thank you for reading.
Winston Sunstrum
Regional Councillor, L’Isle aux Allumettes Mayor, MRC Pontiac
