Donald Teuma-Castelletti
FORT COULONGE
Jan. 26, 2019
A group of Pontiac citizens frustrated with a lack of transparency, money and careers in the local forestry sector held a meeting on Saturday, seeking to see the territory benefit from its natural resources.
Close to 40 people gathered at the Knights of Columbus Hall that afternoon, where business leaders, local politicians and forestry sector workers spoke at the meeting assembled by Ronald Godin of the Anishinaabek Fort de Coulonge Kichesipirini.
“Now we’re coming to a point that our wood is [leaving] the Pontiac and we get that much, zero for it,” said Godin.
“The people of the Pontiac want to work together and keep our money here in the Pontiac,” he continued.
Complaints about the managing of local forestry resources have been extensive in recent years, as workers are upset about a lack of jobs for MRC Pontiac residents, profits not returned to the area, and companies being unclear about their intentions for the area.
The meeting was intended to draw attention to these issues, while exploring avenues that could see jobs reopen in the Pontiac.
MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller, Fort Coulonge Mayor Gaston Allard, and Mansfield et Pontefract Mayor Gilles Dionne were in attendance, as well as many of the two municipalities’ councillors.
These officials agreed that they did not like to see the money and jobs go to people from outside the area, though they have yet to come to a full agreement on how to handle the situation. At the latest council of mayors meeting, Dionne requested a suspension on forestry activities, until a more favourable situation can be worked out. Toller was hesitant to agree, as there are still individuals in the Pontiac who drive the trucks delivering the wood outside the area and stopping work would take these jobs away from them.
“The reason we didn’t just say, ‘Moratorium: yes,’ is because we learned from some mayors that there are people in the Pontiac right now working for Lauzon and Louisiana Pacific and Commonwealth Plywood,” said Toller. “They don’t like driving the logs out of the Pontiac but it’s putting bread on the table.”
The warden reiterated her commitment to supporting the industry and seeing it thrive once again in MRC Pontiac, though she suggested the area will need to shift away from the thought of traditional forestry work. She pointed to other options explored previously, like working with pulp and biomass.
“There are many things that can be done with pulp and biomass, and this is the new kind of forestry,” said Toller. “We can’t go back to the old forestry.”
Toller announced to the group that she had arranged for a meeting with Pierre Dufour, the Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks, on Jan. 29 to discuss the issues in her MRC.
Some attendees did let their frustration with the loss of local jobs and profits show, as voices and questions to politicians grew louder at different points in the two-hour meeting. Blame for the current standing of the forestry industry was shifted to higher levels of government, as the provincial government was accused of leaving local government out of the decision-making process.
“Unfortunately, nobody [from the municipal level of government] was part of political decisions, no cutting rights were protected … and we haven’t been able to attract an experienced mill operator to reopen a mill and make it successful,” said Toller. “Until we have a business plan the provincial government has not wanted to listen.”
As for Godin, he was clear on what would be an ideal turn of events for the forestry sector in the Pontiac.
“It’s about time we stand up for ourselves,” said Godin. “We want to work for the Pontiac people. We want the Pontiac people to cut the bush. We want to restart our industry. And on that, we want to start a co-op and try to get our industry going.”
