Shockwaves felt in N.B. forestry sector as Maine mill halts Canadian imports
Decision by Woodland Pulp cuts off revenue source for dozens of N.B. producers, says businessman
Woodland
Pulp stopped buying Canadian timber in October because of the added
costs resulting from a 10 per cent tariff U.S. President Donald Trump
slapped on timber imports.
(Submitted by Scott Beal)
A 10 per cent tariff that U.S. President Donald Trump slapped on timber imports this fall has prompted at least one mill in Maine to suspend shipments from New Brunswick, sending shockwaves through parts of the province's forestry industry.
Woodland Pulp LLC halted its purchases of New Brunswick timber starting Oct. 14, in light of the new tariff on softwood and certain hardwood timber, said company spokesperson Scott Beal.
"It certainly adds cost to the business and, you know, like other wood users, I mean we're always looking and hoping and trying to source fibre at the least cost," Beal said.
Beal said the company's purchase of wood had already been reduced in recent months due to a downturn in the global pulp market.
That downturn more recently prompted the company to pause receiving wood for 60 days, in addition to a planned 26-day long suspension of operations at its Baileyville, Me., which started over the weekend.
The shutdown has resulted in about 140 workers — about a third of the workforce — being laid off at Woodland Pulp, and at a neighbouring mill run by a sister company.
WATCH | How newer U.S. tariffs are having knock-on effects for N.B. industry:
Maine mill's halt to buying Canadian timber shakes N.B. forestry sectorDuration 2:03
U.S.
tariffs imposed in October have prompted a pulp mill in Maine to halt
purchases of Canadian timber, resulting in lost revenue and fewer work
for dozens of New Brunswick producers and truckers.
While poor market conditions were the primary reason for suspending operations, Beal said the tariffs didn't help, adding that up to 30 per cent of the wood the company processed until October came from New Brunswick.
"Once we come up out of the [shutdown] next month, we'll have to assess how this tariff will play into the grand scheme of things going forward. Right now, I don't think that that's fully understood," Beal said.
At least 50 producers affected in Sussex region alone
Woodland Pulp's demand for timber is something Karl Von Waldow built part of his business around over the past two years.
The owner of Waldow Farms said that in addition to sending his own timber across the border, he operated a wood yard near Sussex, where at least 50 producers would bring their product for him to truck across the border for them.
Almost all of it was headed to Woodland Pulp.
"I've had to change drastically what we're doing on this side and even pivot some of my operations just because we, we don't have the work. I mean it went from … 50 to 70 [tractor-trailer] loads per week to five," he said.
Von Waldow said he directly employed a handful of people full time to transport the wood to Maine. Some of them have been laid off, while others have been redeployed in different parts of the business.
He said redirecting the wood to other mills in New Brunswick isn't an alternative option because of the low prices being offered, or quotas limiting the amount of wood the mills can receive.
"For myself, there's probably five to six jobs [affected], but if you take what that translates to, you know, the mechanics working on equipment to, you know, guys in the forestry sector that maybe is not as busy and they're laying some people off because of it, you know, maybe it is 30 to 50 jobs [affected] in the region."
$1M in sales to Woodland Pulp in 2024
Sales of timber to Woodland Pulp also served as a source of revenue for producers in western New Brunswick, said Kim Jensen, manager of the Carleton-Victoria Forest Products Marketing Board.
But even before the latest tariff wiped out their demand for New Brunswick timber altogether, she said there were already signs that demand had been waning.
She said sales of timber by the marketing board's members alone totalled about $1 million for all of 2024, but slid to only about $200,000 over the past 12 months.
Jensen estimates her marketing board only represents about a third of producers who were selling product to Woodland Pulp, meaning the dollar-figure loss for the region is likely much larger.
"Almost essentially all of the hardwood that is being harvested now is just being cut for stove wood," Jensen said.
Some mills in Maine are still buying imported poplar wood, Jensen said, even though the rates they offer aren't as attractive.
With many producers paying for loans on trucks and other expensive equipment, she said their only option is to pivot, even if doing so doesn't bring in the kind of money they'd anticipated.
"There’s always low points, but this has been a really low point."
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in August a $1.25 billion lifeline for Canada's embattled softwood industry, to be distributed by banks but backed up by the Business Development Bank of Canada.
However, it remains unknown when exactly that support will be made available.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WOODLAND PULP LLC
144 Main Street
Baileyville, ME 04694
Phone: (207) 427-3311
Joint Committee for Charitable Giving
Woodland Pulp and St. Croix Tissue, Inc have an established committee that meets on a monthly basis to consider all requests for donations and sponsorship opportunities that have been received. For any requests of this nature to be brought before the committee, please send these requests to Scott Beal at the following email address: Collin.beal@igic.com or mail directly to Scott’s Attention at: Woodland Pulp
CV Marketing Board Staff
Kim Jensen
General Manager
Worked at CVWPA since 2022
kim.jensen.cvfpmb@outlook.com
(506) 392-5584
Janet Thibodeau
Receptionist
Worked at CVWPA since 2008
E-Mail: janet.thibodeau@cvwpa.ca
Kim McCowan
Financial Admin
Worked at CVWPA since 2024
E-Mail: kim.mccowan@cvwpa.ca
Chantal Coté-DeMerchant
Silviculture Manager, Licensed Scaler
Worked at CVWPA since 2016
E-Mail: chantal.cote@cvwpa.ca
CV Wood Producers Association Staff
Dean Waugh
Equipment Operator
Worked at CVWPA since 2020
Linda Bell
General Manager / Accountant
Worked at CVWPA since 1999
E-Mail: linda.bell@cvwpa.ca
Mobile: (506) 391-5005
Randy Waugh
Slasher Operator
Worked at CVWPA since 2019
Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick's Post
Day 25: Joerg, Jane, Karl and Blake von Waldow, Cornhill, NB
Pour lire cette histoire en français, cliquez ici: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4141817865908981&id=2103213396436115
Joerg and Jane farm with their sons, Karl and Blake, and their trusted employees
Joerg:
I was born in West Germany, but my family originally came from East
Germany. They had a farm there but they were chased away by the
Russians, so they moved West as refugees. My parents were divorced and I
grew up with my mother and step-father in Germany on a mixed farm with
dairy, sheep, pigs and grain. My father had moved and was living in
Cambridge - Narrows, New Brunswick where they raised beef and chickens
after running a farm in Argentina.
Joerg:
I came to Canada in 1967, and I worked in Alberta and Saskatchewan for a
couple of years on a grain farm and beef ranch. Then I returned to
Germany and made $5000.00 and came back here to NB to start farming. I
wanted to raise beef cattle, but the banker told me there wasn’t enough
money in beef, and that I should start milking cows. I had 11 milk cows
here when we started – just one Holstein and a few Guernsey cows and a
couple of crossbreds, along with a few beef cows. I shipped my milk to
the Havelock Cheese Factory and my first milk cheque was $34.00! But I
only paid $40,000 for the farm, so it was all relative. It was a
100-acre farm when we started. There was 200 acres available here at the
time, but I could only get the money from the bank for the 100 acres.
The land was worth $40.00 an acre at that time. But over the years we
have been able to buy several more pieces of land that surround the
farm.
Joerg:
As soon as I started farming, I began getting more cows whenever I
could. Soon I had over 100 beef cows, but the price of beef was terrible
so I sold them and used that money to purchase a 20-cow herd from a
farmer that was ready to retire. I bought out 3 or 4 herds over the
years from farmers who were looking to get out of the business, which is
how we were able to grow our cows and quota so quickly. When Jane came
to the farm in 1983, we were milking 80 cows.
Jane:
I knew nothing about cows at the time. I was babysitting for a doctor
down the road, and Joerg stopped in to deliver milk there, and I asked
the doctor, “Who’s your milkman?” And he said, “Oh, he’s the farmer who
lives up the road.” So that’s how I met Joerg. After we got married, I
started milking cows while he was in the fields. The learning curve was
steep! When he became a member of the Milk Marketing Board, and had to
be away from the farm more, I decided I had better learn to give an IV
and learn how to breed cows. He was on the Milk Marketing board for 6
years and he was on the board of directors for Northumberland Dairy for 9
years, so I got lots of practice at managing the farm on my own.
Joerg:
We started out with a double four parlour, and then we went to six, and
then eight as the herd grew. In 1989, we had a barn fire and we lost
all of the free stall part of the barn, but fortunately not the parlour.
In January of 1990 we started building and in April we moved in and had
room for 170 stalls. We milked like that for quite a while, until the
boys grew up, and decided to come back to the farm. Karl returned to the
farm first and then Blake.
Jane:
After Karl came home, we made plans to build a new barn with a rotary
parlour. The old barn was overcrowded by the time we moved in to the new
barn because we were going to need a lot more cows to fill the new
barn. We moved into the new barn on March 18th, 2010. It’s hard to
believe that was over 11 years ago! And now we have both boys home on
the farm and we’re milking 325 cows.
Karl:
I always knew I wanted to be on the farm. Even though there is a lot of
work that goes into it, I like seeing the corn seeds you planted in the
spring turn into a crop that you can harvest in fall. Some years are
not as good, but we have never had a year that has failed completely. I
run a forestry operation as well, with two harvesters, a porter, and
five trucks running. And over the last couple of years, we have started a
construction and paving business in Moncton. That does take up a fair
bit of my time. We had up to 35 employees last year, and we will
probably have close to 50 employees this year. I try to leave the
construction management to another person because I prefer to spend my
time here on the farm, especially during cropping season. Farming is one
of my favourite things to do.
Blake:
I went to NBCC and studied electrical engineering technology and then
went to Grand Prairie to get my helicopter licence, but it wasn’t for
me, so I decided to come home to farm. I finished school when they were
in the process of building the new barn and I went down to see the
parlour equipment while they were doing the installation so that I would
know how everything worked and I’ve been here ever since. My education
has come in handy very often on the farm, if there is anything
electrical-related that needs taken care of then I’ll look after it. I
look after the cow side of things more, like the herd management, while
Karl looks after the cropping on the farm.
Karl:
We crop about 1800 – 2000 acres in total. We do most of our own crops.
We grow most of our own barley and under seed the barley with alfalfa
or grasses and use the straw on farm. We grow about 800 acres of corn.
We usually pick about 500 of that for high moisture corn and then we
have about 1000 acres of grass silage to feed all of our animals,
including dry cows and heifers. We usually try to do first cut in about a
week, if possible, which means 150 - 200 acres of silage per day. I
usually try to start mowing early in the morning, like 3 or 4 o’clock,
and by 9 am, I have enough mowed that we can start merging it and then
chop it in the afternoon. It makes for some really long days. Last year
with a light crop, we were mowing and chopping at the same time. From a
grass perspective, it’s harder and harder every year to get enough grass
forage, so we may have to look at feeding more corn silage than grass
from now on. Even in the bad years, we can still grow a pretty good crop
of corn.
Karl:
Years ago, I probably wanted to expand more than we have and keep
growing, but that is hard in the industry and the margins for dairy
farms have changed over the last 10 – 15 years. It gets tougher and
tougher every year. The possibility for expansion isn’t there like it
used to be.
Jane:
It used to be that when a farm was ready to sell out, another farmer
could buy their farm, cows and quota and join them to their existing
operation, which is how Joerg expanded when he first started. But now,
due to DFNB regulations, another dairy farm can’t buy the farm, cows and
quota as a package and join them with an existing dairy business. This
is intended to preserve the small farm, but it’s also the biggest factor
that keeps herds from expanding. We built the barn thinking we’d be
able to fill it and produce enough milk to service our debt load;
however, it came at a price as we purchased most of the quota needed
before the cap of $24,000 per kg was implemented as we knew it would be
hard to obtain once the cap was in place.
Karl:
Now we’re focusing on becoming more efficient with our farming
practices. If your margins are less, you have to find ways to improve
every year. Protein feed costs have jumped by 30% in the last year, but
our milk price hasn’t increased at the same rate, so you have to find a
way to justify or offset that increase in farm expenses. A lot of farms
are diversifying like we did with our forestry and paving businesses in
order to bring in more revenue, but that isn’t always an option. I think
we need to be more open minded in order to become more efficient. Like
cropping in partnership with your neighbour, instead of both of you
going out to buy new equipment. Or maybe someone who isn’t quite ready
to retire, but can’t justify building a new barn at that point in their
career can take their quota and form a partnership with somebody like a
new entrant who is just getting started. That way the money stays in the
dairy sector. I think there are lots of different ways to become more
efficient if we’re innovative.
Joerg:
It takes a lot of people to run a farm this size. We have one employee
that has been with us for a very long time. Jorge came to us from Mexico
and he has been here for 33 years now, and he tells us that he wants to
work for a few more years yet. We have a fulltime mechanic on staff as
well, and between the forestry business and the farm, he keeps busy. We
have 4 local people working here, along with 2 part time ones. We don’t
have a hard time finding people to work, but a lot of the times they
only want to work here for the summer doing fieldwork. It is harder to
find people who want to work in the barn. Farming isn’t a 9 to 5 job, so
it’s not appealing to a lot of people.
Jane:
So, when Karl said he wanted to get married in Costa Rica, I said,
“Seriously? We are all going to leave the farm at the same time?” So
that gave us a year’s notice, and Blake and I said that we were going to
hire more people with dairy management experience.
Blake:
We applied for a LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) number, and
when we advertised the job, there were 200 applicants, but very few were
Canadian, and some of those were students seeking summer employment or
people that had no dairy experience. Training employees takes a lot of
time, so we were really hoping for people who at least had some basic
cow knowledge.
Karl:
In Canada, agriculture isn’t promoted as a career option. You don’t go
to school to learn to “work” on a farm usually unless it is to be a
veterinarian. In other countries there are university programs that
teach you about agricultural work. I know people can go to AC and take
programs there, but how do you get someone who is not from a farm to
take those programs? If there were programs where you could train people
to run tractors or GPS equipment, or the basics in cow care, it would
be a real asset to the agricultural sector. It would be great to have
those kinds of workers on the farm.
Blake:
We ended up hiring three Ukrainians to work here. They came two years
ago this spring, so their contracts are up, but they have all renewed
and will stay for another two years. They all had educational degrees in
dairy farming and had dairy experience. Two worked on 1000-cow farms in
Denmark and in New Zealand and one is a veterinarian who worked on a
state dairy farm in the Ukraine with roughly 200 cows. When they came to
us, they had to learn about our farm routine, but there was very little
training time, which made a big difference. The only difficulty was
that one of them didn’t speak much English – Google Translate is
wonderful!
Jane:
We’ve had quite a few high school co-op students work here over the
years. They usually work in the afternoons, and because we milk three
times a day, they were able to get a good idea about what is involved in
working on a farm. Some have even stayed to work with us. Overall, we
have been quite fortunate with help over the years.
Blake:
We hold Open Farm Day every year in September. Hundreds of people come
from all over to see where their milk comes from and how it’s produced.
Far fewer people have grown up on a farm, and so they are removed from
agriculture and what farming means. Often, they’ll have a simplified
picture of a farm with a couple of cows and a couple of pigs and
chickens, so they’re surprised to see the size of our farm; but you
can’t make a living with that kind of farm anymore.
Jane:
I think education is key in getting our consumers to understand what
actually happens on a farm. We don’t try to hide anything on Open Farm
Day. We put out all our feed ingredients so that everyone can see what
we feed the cows and we answer all of their questions honestly. I know
one year there was a doctor who came to our farm and asked to see all
the hormones we fed to the cows and I had to tell him that we didn’t
feed any on the farm. That’s just one example of the misconceptions
people have about our industry, and that’s why we are so transparent on
Open Farm Day. We even want them to see some of the bad things that
happen on our farm, like a hard calving, as well as all of the good that
happens on our farm. We want people coming to our farm to see what
actually goes on and we want them to ask questions. We need to have an
open dialogue with our consumers, and maybe then they’ll realize how
much care is taken in producing quality milk.
N.B. receiving less than nothing on softwood pulpwood after Crown timber royalty changes
Timber royalties in New Brunswick increased in August but with one notable exception
The New Brunswick government reset timber royalties as promised last month but not all charges to forest companies went up as the province has been suggesting, including to MLAs last week.
In one case, royalties levied for cutting softwood pulpwood on Crown land have been slashed to levels so low the wood is now effectively being made available for less than free to companies that cut it.
Liberal finance critic René Legacy said that is a surprise to him, especially since MLAs on the legislature's public accounts committee put questions about timber royalties to the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development just last week.
"We were in committee asking questions and there was no indication this was happening," said Legacy.
"We never seem to get the complete picture."
According to new regulations filed Aug. 30, the province reset what it charges forest companies to cut trees in publicly owned forests. Most royalty rates on most types of wood have increased but with exceptions.
Amounts the province charges forest companies for spruce, fir and jack pine pulpwood cut on Crown land dropped more than half in August from $7.59 to $3.40 per cubic metre.
Other softwood species used for pulp, like red pine, also fell to $3.40 per cubic metre but from a previous level of $5.50.
Royalty is now less than fee paid to companies
A royalty of $3.40 is too low to generate net revenue for government because of a $3.90 fee the province is required to return to forest companies on every cubic metre of qualifying wood they cut on Crown land. That includes all pulpwood.
The "licence management service fee" is listed in regulations as "compensation for forest management expenses" that companies incur looking after Crown forests on behalf of the province.
Because the management fee owed by the province to companies on every cubic metre of softwood they cut for pulp is now 50 cents higher than what the province gets back in royalties, it has become a net loser on softwood pulp that companies take on Crown land.
That amount varies annually but over the last five years companies have been cutting between 150,000 and 260,000 cubic metres of softwood pulpwood from Crown holdings.
The cut in royalty charges on softwood pulp was not mentioned by government forestry officials last week when Legacy and Progressive Conservative MLA Ross Wetmore both asked questions about the subject at the public accounts committee.
Chris Ward, assistant deputy minister of Natural Resources, told Wetmore simply that "higher timber royalty rates" in the province had taken effect.
'Looks to me like a quid pro quo'
Green Party Leader David Coon, who was also at the committee hearing, was also unaware that royalty rates on softwood pulp had been cut.
He worries that will force private sellers of softwood pulp to lower their own prices or lead forest companies to bypass private sellers in favour of accessing more softwood pulp from Crown land.
"It's dreadful. It's another big impact on woodlot owners," said Coon, who wondered if it was done to quiet criticism among forestry companies about rates increasing on other types of timber.
"It looks to me like a quid pro quo."
Most softwood pulpwood in New Brunswick, including most of the softwood pulp cut on Crown land and by smaller woodlots, goes to J.D Irving Ltd.'s Sussex wood chipping facility.
The company's vice-president of communications, Anne McInerney, referred questions about the royalty changes to the province.
In a written statement, the department said softwood pulp is a small percentage of wood cut in New Brunswick and that prices paid to private sellers of softwood pulp are already depressed with the lower royalty rate following that trend, not leading it.
"The softwood pulpwood market has been relatively weak and the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development has seen significant volume of material either left in the woods during harvest operations or used instead as roundwood biomass," said the statement.
"The Department expects this new rate to better reflect fair market value and result in better utilization of this resource."
The department also said other higher-value wood with higher royalty rates are cut at the same time as softwood pulp, earning more than enough so "the Crown is never losing money."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Oct 6, 2025
New Brunswick woodlot owners are keeping a close eye on U.S. lumber tariffs.
Oct 29, 2025
A New Brunswick woodlot owner discusses the latest impacts from tariffs imposed by the United States.
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From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
To: Susan.Holt <Susan.Holt@gnb.ca>, Frank.McKenna <Frank.McKenna@td.com>, dominic.leblanc <dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca>, fin.minfinance-financemin.fin <fin.minfinance-financemin.fin@canada.ca>, djtjr <djtjr@trumporg.com>, David.Coon <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, kris.austin <kris.austin@gnb.ca>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, robert.mckee <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, Jules Bosse <jbosse3058@gmail.com>, robert.gauvin <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, charles.murray <charles.murray@gnb.ca>, Bill.Oliver <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, Bill.Hogan <Bill.Hogan@gnb.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, John.Williamson <John.williamson@parl.gc.ca>, Mike.Comeau <Mike.Comeau@gnb.ca>, Mark.Blakely <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, Michelle.Boutin <Michelle.Boutin@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>, Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, michelle.conroy <michelle.conroy@gnb.ca>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>, news <news@dailygleaner.com>, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, Kevin.leahy <kevin.leahy@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, Jacques.Poitras <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, rdoucett <rdoucett@nbpower.com>, <nbfwo@nbnet.nb.ca>, david.young <david.young@mcinnescooper.com>, <snb@nb.aibn.com>, <devans@coxandpalmer.com>, markandcaroline <markandcaroline@gmail.com>, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, news <news@kingscorecord.com>, <nbfwo@nb.aibn.com>, <melanie.joly@ised-isde.gc.ca>, melissa.lantsman <melissa.lantsman@parl.gc.ca>, pierre.poilievre <pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, <ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@ps-sp.gc.ca>, <mike.dawson@parl.gc.ca>, <david.myles@parl.gc.ca>, don.davies <don.davies@parl.gc.ca>, len.hoyt <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>, <yscfredericton@yscnb.ca>, <ED@nbwoodlotowners.ca>
Cc: david.wilkins <david.wilkins@nelsonmullins.com>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, Tammy.Scott-Wallace <Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca>, <Don.Monahan@gnb.ca>
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
To: Susan.Holt <Susan.Holt@gnb.ca>, Frank.McKenna <Frank.McKenna@td.com>, dominic.leblanc <dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca>, fin.minfinance-financemin.fin <fin.minfinance-financemin.fin@canada.ca>, djtjr <djtjr@trumporg.com>, David.Coon <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, kris.austin <kris.austin@gnb.ca>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, robert.mckee <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, Jules Bosse <jbosse3058@gmail.com>, robert.gauvin <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, charles.murray <charles.murray@gnb.ca>, Bill.Oliver <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, Bill.Hogan <Bill.Hogan@gnb.ca>, rob.moore <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, John.Williamson <John.williamson@parl.gc.ca>, Mike.Comeau <Mike.Comeau@gnb.ca>, Mark.Blakely <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, Michelle.Boutin <Michelle.Boutin@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>, Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, michelle.conroy <michelle.conroy@gnb.ca>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>, news <news@dailygleaner.com>, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, Kevin.leahy <kevin.leahy@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, Jacques.Poitras <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, rdoucett <rdoucett@nbpower.com>, <nbfwo@nbnet.nb.ca>, david.young <david.young@mcinnescooper.com>, <snb@nb.aibn.com>, <devans@coxandpalmer.com>, markandcaroline <markandcaroline@gmail.com>, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, news <news@kingscorecord.com>, <nbfwo@nb.aibn.com>, <melanie.joly@ised-isde.gc.ca>, melissa.lantsman <melissa.lantsman@parl.gc.ca>, pierre.poilievre <pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, <ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@ps-sp.gc.ca>, <mike.dawson@parl.gc.ca>, <david.myles@parl.gc.ca>, don.davies <don.davies@parl.gc.ca>, len.hoyt <len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com>, <yscfredericton@yscnb.ca>, <ED@nbwoodlotowners.ca>
Cc: david.wilkins <david.wilkins@nelsonmullins.com>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, Tammy.Scott-Wallace <Tammy.Scott-Wallace@gnb.ca>, <Don.Monahan@gnb.ca>
Atlantic Watch
Tariff impacts on N.B. woodlot owners
A New Brunswick woodlot owner discusses the latest impacts from tariffs imposed by the United States.
On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 10:05 AM David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
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From: Minister of Finance / Ministre des Finances <minister-ministre@fin.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Subject: Automatic reply: Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
The Department of Finance Canada acknowledges receipt of your electronic correspondence.
Please be assured that we appreciate receiving your comments.
Le ministère des Finances Canada accuse réception de votre courriel.
Nous vous assurons que vos commentaires sont les bienvenus.York Sunbury Charlotte Forest Products Marketing Board
680 Allée Strickland, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3C 0B5, Canada
Mailing Address: PO Box 424, STN A Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z9 (506) 444-6644 Fredericton Office (506) 466-5914 St Stephen Office (506) 444-0517 FAX Email: yscfredericton@yscnb.ca
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Date: Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
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On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 9:42 AM David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> wrote: The Current
with Matt Galloway
What’s the impact of US tariffs on New Brunswick?19 minsNov. 20, 2025New Brunswick is one of the provinces most vulnerable to US tariffs. And they’re hitting wood product makers and soft-wood harvesters the hardest. We'll hear from James McKenna, who owns a kitchen cabinet business, about how he's trying to keep his company afloat in the face of 50 per cent tariffs coming in January. Then Premier Susan Holt will tell us what the province is doing to help and what kind of support she's expecting from the federal government.
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From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 6:53 PM
Subject: Re: Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
To: blaine.higgs <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, <georges.r.savoie@neguac.com>, David.Coon <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, kris.austin <kris.austin@gnb.ca>, Rene.Legacy <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, robert.mckee <robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, Robert. Jones <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, <jbosse3058@gmail.com>, robert.gauvin <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>, Dorothy.Shephard <Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca>, charles.murray <charles.murray@gnb.ca>, <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, Bill.Oliver <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, Bill.Hogan <Bill.Hogan@gnb.ca>, <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>, <John.williamson@parl.gc.ca>, <hugh.flemming@gnb.ca>, Mike.Comeau <Mike.Comeau@gnb.ca>, Mark.Blakely <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, martin.gaudet <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, Holland, Mike (LEG) <mike.holland@gnb.ca>, Michelle.Boutin <Michelle.Boutin@rcmp-grc.gc. ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>, Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, michelle.conroy <michelle.conroy@gnb.ca>, andrea.anderson-mason <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca> , andre <andre@jafaust.com>, <Dominic.Cardy@gnb.ca>, <news@dailygleaner.com>, <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, Arseneau, Kevin (LEG) <kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, <kevin.leahy@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, Jacques.Poitras <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, <rdoucett@nbpower.com>, <nbfwo@nbnet.nb.ca>, <david.young@mcinnescooper.com>, <snb@nb.aibn.com>, <devans@coxandpalmer.com>, markandcaroline <markandcaroline@gmail.com>, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, news <news@kingscorecord.com>, <nbfwo@nb.aibn.com>
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2023/07/softwood- timber-royalties-in-new.html
Thursday, 20 July 2023
Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/timber- royalties-decade-low-1.6910492
Softwood timber royalties in New Brunswick at decade low after system overhaul
Woodlot owners worry royalty reforms mostly benefited industry
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Jul 19, 2023 6:00 AM ADT
Eight bundles of cut wood lying horizontally in front of six vertical
stacks of cut wood Sawmills in New Brunswick posted record incomes in
2021 and 2022 as lumber prices surged. The province held off on
raising timber royalties it charges companies until late 2022,
when,the bonanza was mostly over. (Nicolas Steinbach/Radio-Canada)
Softwood lumber prices in North America this summer have been hovering
at levels up to 50 per cent higher than they were eight and nine years
ago.
But under a complex new timber royalty system set up this year by the
New Brunswick government, forestry companies are paying lower
royalties now for wood the lumber is made from than they did back
then.
That is generating concern the new royalties are designed to benefit
industry and will undercut what private sellers of wood will be able
to charge mills this year for what they sell.
"I don't think anybody's feeling overly positive as to where we've
landed at this point," said Rick Doucett, the president of the New
Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners about the new royalty system.
The province moved to overhaul timber royalties this year after
acknowledging its former policy of charging forestry companies a flat
rate for wood cut in public forests had failed to take advantage of a
two-year explosion in international lumber prices.
Rick Doucett poses for a photo Rick Doucett, president of the New
Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners, says he had high hopes for a
new timber royalty system but has been disappointed by the result.
(CBC)
"When a new normal is established, you know, our systems must reflect
that," Mike Holland, the natural resources minister, said in May 2022
about the need for changes.
The new royalty system Holland's department created is two-tiered with
a base rate paid on timber cut in public forests and a secondary
floating rate that rises and falls monthly with the prices of various
wood-based commodities.
"Over-performing markets equals higher royalties, under-performing
markets equals lower royalties," the province has explained in various
presentations about the new system around the province.
Pile of cut square lumber The new royalty system in New Brunswick is
designed to rise and fall with markets like those for lumber. (Michel
Nogue/Radio-Canada)
Independent woodlot owners have long supported royalties that are tied
in some way to markets, but there is worry the province has set its
base rates too low and placed restrictions on the floating rate that
will end up with forestry companies paying lower royalties than they
used to, not more, as originally expected.
Doucett said that in early meetings with the province he was expecting
much higher charges to be levied than what he thinks the new system
can produce.
"It feels like we discussed sort of a ham dinner.and now we're being
presented with a bone that has been cleaned by the vultures," said
Doucett.
About 60 per cent of the wood cut by companies in public forests in
New Brunswick ends up as softwood lumber of some kind.
About one million cubic metres of spruce, fir and jack pine saw logs
are taken from Crown land annually. Last year the royalty rate on
those was raised for the first time in eight years to $40.60 per cubic
metre.
Under this year's new system the base royalty rate for those logs has
been dropped almost in half, to $21.83 per cubic metre. Although a
floating royalty rate is then added to that amount, it starts out at
75 cents and doesn't increase until lumber prices rise above $637 per
1,000 board feet.
That's significantly below levies charged on softwood saw logs in New
Brunswick in the past.
In the 2015 fiscal year, with softwood lumber prices averaging $471
per 1,000 board feet, royalties on softwood logs in New Brunswick were
set at $31.09. That's a 37.6 per cent higher royalty than would be
charged under New Brunswick's new system at similar lumber prices.
Surging lumber prices generate better prices for New Brunswick
trees — in Maine
New Brunswick forest companies using publicly owned trees to face
higher charges
To reach a royalty rate equal to what was charged back in 2015,
($31.09 per cubic metre), lumber prices now have to reach $780 per
1,000 board feet, nearly two-thirds more than lumber prices in 2015.
To reach the even higher royalty rate of $40.60 set on softwood saw
logs last year, lumber prices now have to exceed $925 per 1,000 board
feet.
However, since the new system went into effect on April 1, lumber
prices have been nowhere near those levels, averaging closer to $640.
Kim Jensen is general manager of the Carleton-Victoria Forest Products
Marketing Board in Florenceville and worries lower-than-traditional
royalties means prices her members can charge mills for wood will
suffer accordingly.
"If they're getting Crown wood at a lower price, then they are not
going to pay a higher price for private wood, that's for sure," said
Jensen.
Dustin Jalbert is a senior economist with the online commodity-price
reporting service fastmarkets.com. He said a number of factors can
change the outlook, but he expects with no major surprises softwood
lumber prices will settle somewhere below $750 per 1,000 board feet
for the next few months.
"Yeah, that's probably what we would call it," Jalbertsaid in an
interview Tuesday.
Dustin Jalbert poses for a photo Wood product analyst and economist
Dustin Jalbert said he expects softwood lumber prices to stay close to
current levels for the next few months. (Submitted by Dustin Jalbert)
That's higher than historical lumber prices but not high enough to
keep royalty amounts in New Brunswick from falling below historical
levels.
Another wrinkle in the floating royalty rate is that it is capped at
100 per cent of the base royalty.
That means no matter how high softwood lumber prices go, total
royalties paid by companies cannot exceed $43.66 per cubic metre.
That limit happens when lumber prices reach $974 per 1,000 board feet
even though during the two-year record escalation of lumber prices
amounts regularly exceeded $1,000 and in May, 2021 exceeded $2,000.
Doucett said a cap on how high royalties can go during surging lumber
markets was not discussed at any meeting he attended, and he questions
why the province would limit revenue to itself if there is another
lumber price explosion.
"That's ridiculous," said Doucett.
"If you're selling lumber at $2,000 a thousand board feet, you're
making lots of money. Wouldn't the government be getting a little more
money out of that?"
A softwood forestNew Brunswick saw, pulp and other mills consume 9
million cubic metres of wood annually. Most of it is softwood and over
half of that comes from publicly owned forests that companies pay
royalties to the province to cut. (Radio-Canada)
In a briefing to discuss the new system officials with the Department
of Natural Resources said a maximum on royalties was set because a
minimum was also established.
The department also made the point independent woodlot owners will
benefit from the new system because revenue from the floating royalty
will be spent exclusively on services for that group.
In an email it also cautioned against comparisons of the old and new
royalty systems and said while royalty rates on softwood may be lower,
royalties on some hardwoods are up.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
72 Comments
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Surprise Surprise Surprise
Jos Allaire
Higgs, call an election NOW!
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
Dream on
Brent Thompson
The price the province is charging for the right to harvest timber on
crown land is the average price private woodlot owners are selling the
rights to harvest timber on their woodlots. The NB Forest Products
Commission produces an annual survey that reports these sales and it's
available online. This means private woodlot owner timber sales set
the fair market value for crown timber. The new royalty system charges
this average price as a minimum price and the province normally
collects over $60 million of revenue annually from it. Out of this
revenue the province uses about $20 million to fund silviculture
(growing new trees) on crown land, and also $5 million/year to fund
silviculture on private woodlots through programs administered through
the marketing boards. Additionally, under the new system, as market
prices rise for forest products produced from harvested trees, like
lumber for example, there is a surcharge added to crown royalty all of
which will be spent on private woodlot silviculture. This new royalty
system not only ensures the province receives fair market value for
crown trees it also provides significant additional money for private
woodlot owners to manage and grow wood on their properties. There is
no bad story in this, it's all a good news story, if one is looking
for the truth in it. In my view the only bad story is how poorly this
good news story is being communicated.
Don Corey
Content Deactivated
Reply to Brent Thompson
There will be no "good news" on this site for any story involving the
Higgs' government.
Thanks for providing some enlightenment on the approach used to
determine fair market value.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Brent Thompson
Surely you jest
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Don Corey
Welcome back to the circus
"I'm retired. No, I didn't work for Irving, or DNR, but I do know what
I'm talking about."
Me too
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/province- promise-forest-report-seven- years-april-1.6718167
Province promises N.B. forest report by April after seven years of
missed deadlines
Green leader says department first promised report in 2016 and raps
lack of ‘annual plan’
Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Jan 18, 2023 3:52 PM AST
Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister at the Department of Natural
Resources and Energy Development, acknowledged his department missed
several of its own deadlines for the report. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
A report on the state of the province's forests that was first
promised almost seven years ago should finally be public before April
1, a committee of the legislature was told Wednesday.
Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister of natural resources and energy
development, acknowledged that his department has missed several
deadlines it gave itself, starting in June 2016, to finish and publish
the report.
He made the new commitment after Green Leader David Coon hammered the
department for repeatedly promising the report and then not delivering
it.
"Delay after delay after delay after delay," Coon said during a
meeting of the legislature's public accounts committee.
"The question is, Mr. MacFarlane, what is it you don't want the
members of the public and this legislature to know about the state of
our forest?"
No annual plan
Earlier in the morning, Coon also forced MacFarlane to admit that the
department had not published an annual plan listing its objectives — a
plan required under provincial law to be posted on the department's
website.
"I'm not aware as to why we haven't published an annual plan," MacFarlane said.
He said the department has been using a mandate letter from Premier
Blaine Higgs as a guide — though he didn't realize that mandate
letters are kept confidential by the current government.
"I guess I thought they are made public centrally, and I'm told they
are not public," he said. "But we have not produced an annual plan."
Mandate letters are given by a new premier to each new minister and
their department, outlining the government's priorities.
Liberal premier Brian Gallant made them public for the first time in
2014 but current Premier Blaine Higgs has reverted to not releasing
them.
The province's Accountability and Continuous Improvement Act requires
departments to publish annual plans laying out their objectives for
each fiscal year.
That allows the department, MLAs and the public to compare the plan's
objectives to results laid out in a subsequent annual report.
Why plan is needed
With a report but no plan, Coon said, "it's extremely difficult for us
to do our work in holding the department accountable in how it uses
tax dollars if we don't know what those goals and objectives in the
plan are."
The act says departments "shall" prepare an annual plan to "set out
the goals and objectives" during a given year and establish "a
strategic direction," then "identify objective performance measures"
for those goals.
It also says the minister for the department "shall make the annual
plan public by publishing it on the department's website" within three
months of the start of the fiscal year.
'Delay after delay after delay after delay,' said Green Party Leader
David Coon of a forest report promised seven years ago. (Jacques
Poitras/CBC)
On the state of the province report, Coon said the last one was in
2008 and pointed out the auditor general recommended in 2015 that the
department issue new versions more frequently to report on how forests
are being managed for ecological sustainability.
Coon said the department committed to a new report by June 2016, told
him in 2017 it was "coming soon," assured him in 2019 that it would be
tabled in the legislature in 2020, and in 2021 told him it would be
ready that summer.
He said there was then another promise it would be done in 2022.
"Certainly there's been a number of things that have impacted our
ability to deliver that report," MacFarlane said.
"I can promise you that that report is in draft form right now and we
are anticipating to get that out this fiscal year."
Department has other priorities
He blamed "limited staff" for the delay and a focus on other more
important programs.
"I can apologize for missing our targets and notions of the past, but
certainly we've been prioritizing a lot of our initiatives," he said.
"It's limited resources that we have, and we try to make sure that
we're focused on the items that require the highest priority."
Assistant deputy minister Chris Ward added that the raw data that
would be used in a state of the forest report is available on the
department's online open data portal.
"There's no hiding data," Ward said. "For those that are interested in
data, it's online."
The discussion with Coon over missed deadlines is the latest in a
series of exchanges between the Green leader and the department.
N.B. receiving less than nothing on softwood pulpwood after Crown
timber royalty changes
'Conservation is a priority,' minister tells skeptics of land
protection plan
In 2020 he chided MacFarlane for the department for not having
produced an emissions-reduction strategy three years after the release
of the province's climate change plan.
During that session, department officials also said New Brunswick
would miss its goal of having 2,500 electric vehicles on the
province's roads by the end of 2020. There were only 429 at the end of
2019.
On Wednesday, MacFarlane was able to report that the province is on
track to meet its next EV target of 20,000 by 2030.
He said supply chains were a problem until last fall but are showing
signs of improvement now, with more electric vehicles available for
sale now and federal and provincial rebate programs helping to spur
sales.
"We're seeing our numbers increase significantly so we're very hopeful
that holds," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jacques Poitras
Provincial Affairs reporter
Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New
Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in
Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on
every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio
Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and
Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books
about New Brunswick politics and history.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
55 Comments
David Amos
Methinks we should not hold our breath waiting for another April Fools
Joke the NB Power rate hike due that day will be enough to cause a lot
of folks to faint anyway N'esy Pas?
Hugh Smith
Report will be filed April Fools Day ........Not
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Methinks its rather amusing watching all the comments come and go N'esy Pas?
Greg Meahan
DMs know what is made public and what is not. It is not credible that
this one did know his mandate was private. Not at all. That or he is
completely and utterly incompetent. It is one of those situations
where there is no in-between.
David Amos
Reply to Greg Meahan
Go Figure
Kyle Woodman
Where is Mike Holland? The buck stops with him. Does he even live in
New Brunswick anymore?
David Amos
Reply to Kyle Woodman
Who cares?
claude bourgeois
The Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development had bigger
priorities than an annual report detailing the state of our forests
for 7 years??? Are you kidding me??? Gross, deliberate incompetence or
just bowing to Irving's desires. Shameful.
Jimmy Belafonte
Report findings- Irving is grifting NB.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jimmy Belafonte
LOL
David Amos
Reply to Jimmy Belafonte
Thats my favourite comment today
Mack Leigh
Promised report overdue by six plus years is not a " delay " but
rather gross incompetence. Every head of the DNR should be fired
effective immediately.
Mack Leigh
What ever happened to government being held accountable to the people
of this province ? Every person in management at the DNR should be
fired for gross incompetence.
Frank Johnston
The state of New Brunswick's Forest from 2000 -2021 can be seen in
this analysis using the Hansen dataset and the Global Forest Watch web
application. Net Forest Cover loss was -6.8%, Forest Loss - Gain, and
is unsustainable being two to three times the net tree cover loss of
the adjacent jurisdictions of Quebec, Nova Scotia and Maine.
https://gfw.global/3Hg6HK8
https://gfw.global/3Xp6g5Q
https://gfw.global/3QQfiGx
Analysis by CCNB Forestry Committee
Jim Johnston
Content Deactivated
Forest management in NB is a joke. Essential information is held back
and it is very difficult to clearly analyze it. It comes down to the
fact that we pay more out to manage the forest than we receive in
revenue from selling the wood. The only viable solution I see is to
keep what we want for recreational and environmental issues and sell
off the rest to the federal government who could use it to settle up
with our First Nations.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jim Johnston
Surely you jest
Kyle Woodman
DNR used to be a well respected organization that attracted top
talent. Now it is just a lap dog for the forestry companies. No one
wants to work in that environment.
Kyle Woodman
He blamed "limited staff" for the delay and a focus on other more
important programs.
"I can apologize for missing our targets and notions of the past, but
certainly we've been prioritizing a lot of our initiatives," he said.
"It's limited resources that we have, and we try to make sure that
we're focused on the items that require the highest priority."
Didn't take too long to get the Turkey hunt up and running. Is that
where all the resources were being used.
Ron parker
They were in bad shape when David Alward told the companies to have at it.
Greg Meahan
Reply to Ron parker
And Gallant did nothing to fix it.
kelly sherrard
Seven years of failing to issue a report.... tells me they don't want
to issue the report because they want to hide information from the
public or they have a very slack worth ethic which for government that
is accountable to the public, is not acceptable. Failing to file
reports for 7 years is NOT ACCEPTABLE and there is absolutely no
excuse for this!
John Grail
Guessing this isn't a top priority for the Irvings...
Jos Allaire
Reply to John Grail
It is! a priority They don't want a report.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
Methinks that order can be found within MacFarlane's confidential
mandate letter from Higgy N'esy Pas?
Jack Bell
Reply to John Grail
If Irving is against it, then you know it's good for NB
Jos Allaire
Reply to David Amos
You got it Dasvid!
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
BTW I have no doubt lots of folks heard MacFarlane mention the
confidential mandate letter on CBC this morning
James Hickey
fire everyone who works for dnr since they really work for irving and
they should pay them same goes for unb forestry
James Hickey
Something wrong when the department of forestry is behind doors closed
to the public but open to industry. Something wrong when forests are
seen as just a fibre farm for industry. We subsidize power and roads
and crown wood for billionaires. Our crown land management is little
more than rape that we pay for . DNR stands for destroyer of natural
resources and if you work there you should be ashamed. We could use
our crown lands for so many economic generators but a dying forest
industry has our politicians , and university meaning unb forestry
hostage with the dream of jobs and bribes. No birds or other creatures
live in clea rcuts or mono culture plantations that are routinely
drenched in agent orange
Don Corey
David Coon is back at using his usual "sensational" allegations; this
time that the department of natural resources has "something to hide".
This is totally ridiculous, as our crown forests are managed as well
(if not better) than any in Canada.
That having been said, the lengthy delay by the department in
preparing and making public this long overdue report is absolutely
inexcusable/unacceptable. We obviously need, asap, a new deputy
minister who makes sure that commitments are met on a timely basis
(reports, annual plans - which should be made public) and competent in
everything else that the position requires. In private industry, he
would have been history years ago.
Greg Meahan
Reply to Don Corey
DMs are appointed by the premier, and report to the minister, a member
of cabinet, a body the premier chairs.
Our forests are primarily black spruce gardens. The industry and NB
Power spray to kill everything else off.
Joseph Godin
So why do these clowns collect a paycheque given to them by the
taxpayers of New Brunswick?
James Hickey
Reply to Joseph Godin
because they really work for irving we just pay them
Mathieu Laperriere
Content Deactivated
Don Corey
Reply to Mathieu Laperriere
I don't think you'll see that happen. In fact, we should be seeing
more land protected from industrial forest operations. This is one
area where Irving will NOT win.
Al Clark
One would think a gubmint so ....er......intimate..... with the main
producer could come up with their report in a weekend. 364 weeks
quicker.
Peter Churcher
Content Deactivated
David Coon is always trying to find a conspiracy. I doubt that if we
ever had him lead the province that he would do any better. One simply
has to drive around our Province and despite reports to the contrary
we do have a lot of trees. Tens of thousands of acres of trees.
Rosco holt
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Allot of trees that is shipped to the states.
Peter Churcher
Content Deactivated
Reply to Rosco holt
Yes but without the forestry business and there revenue it brings in
we would be a lot worse off.
Dan Lee
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
what revenue? we are paying them to cut our wood...... jesus
Robert Buck
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
I think you missed something on the revenue the forestry brings in.
Ask the private woodlot owners.
Peter Churcher
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dan Lee
Not to debate the obvious but the forestry industry also employs
thousands of New Brunswickers and yes they do pay us money to harvest
timber on Crown lands. Do you advocate that we get rid of one of our
only industries?
Dan Lee
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
they pay us? hen....sh..t.........we pay them to
cut......plant.......pour poison on them........i can show you
plantations of a certain company with big big timber........
Al Clark
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Well there ya go.
NB Forest report
"thars A lot of trees"
Hit print and it's miller time!
Pshew that was 7 yrs haaaard work
Dennis Atchison
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Yes. My interview with Ken Hardie, then the General Manager of the
Small Woodlot Owners Federation, detailed clearly how we citizens were
subsidizing big industry and as you say, "... paying them to cut our
wood". Here is the interview in case no one believes "facts" ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC5ZbC78a6U
Don Corey
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dan Lee
Yes, the forest industry does pay royalties. No, we don't "pay them to
cut". Yes, the department reimburses Licensees for necessary
silviculture conducted on crown lands; that has been the case since
the Crown Lands and Forests Act back around 1981, so nothing new here.
As to the "poison", that's your word for it.....not mine.
James Hickey
Reply to Don Corey
we lose money on our crown forests , how can anyone lose money selling wood
Don Corey
Reply to Dennis Atchison
Ken Hardie is a smart guy, but he also has his own agenda; and it's
generally in conflict with the forest industry. Then there is the
department, which sets annual crown royalty rates. The "facts" are far
more complicated than Hardie's take on the situation. However, he is
absolutely right on about royalty rates (especially for
sawlogs.....softwood and hardwood). They are way TOO LOW.
James Hickey
Reply to Don Corey
who do you work for
Don Corey
Reply to James Hickey
I'm retired. No, I didn't work for Irving, or DNR, but I do know what
I'm talking about.
Don Corey
Reply to James Hickey
Good question. Our crown lands should be managed as a net source of
revenue to the province. For example, what used to be Fraser Freehold
land (over 700,000 acres) in NW NB is now owned and managed by Acadian
Timber. They generate a significant profit every year, selling their
wood to mills in NB and Maine as well as providing recreational
opportunities (at a cost) to the public.
David Amos
Reply to Don Corey
Amen
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Don Corey
"I'm retired. No, I didn't work for Irving, or DNR, but I do know what
I'm talking about."
Me too
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Say Hey to Mikey Holland for me will ya? Tell him I know why he never
voted for me.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dan Lee
Amen
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dennis Atchison
Methinks its interesting that you are allowed to promote yourself N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
Bingo
Richard Ames
Irving doesn't like to share information. As leader of the Green
Party, he should know that.
Rosco holt
Reply to Richard Ames
Just like the Irving Premier. Data shmata.
Sam Smithers
Content Deactivated
Reply to Richard Ames
PCs getting data delivered that the Liberals did not, what else is new.
James Hickey
Content Deactivated
Reply to Rosco holt
Frank McKenna and bud bird started the giveaway so do not blame higgs
although he has not fixed it
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to James Hickey
What you say is true about Franky Boy and his many cohorts not just
his buddy Bird. However our little Lord promised if he were to be
elected to reverse the foul play practiced against private woodlot
owners and their fellow stakeholders in Crown land but never did and
no government has done so since. Methinks Higgy is just the latest
ringmaster in this circus N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Sam Smithers
I heard that your hero Higgy has no respect for data
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
Well put
David Amos
Reply to Richard Ames
Yup
Archara Goldehere
Reply to Sam Smithers
7 years late wow come on lol you are very funny if you think this is ok lol
Sarah Brown
Utterly pathetic
Gerry Ford
Well they only have so many fingers to use for counting the trees, it
takes time when they can't use their thumb because they're busy with
that.
claude bourgeois
No need for a plan. Irving runs the show.
G. Timothy Walton
Isn't our forestry plan that we pay the forestry companies millions to
run the whole shebang?
Rhys Philbin
Imagine telling your employer you’ll get back to them in 7 years with
that assignment.
Don Smith Let me guess, the report will claim the forests are
healther than they have ever been due to clearcutting and spraying
geophospate.
Murray Brown
We have lots of trees... And of course, the Irving's like trees that
grow as fast as possible so they can cut them down as fast as
possible. Trees that take a long time to grow they could care less
about, and they cut them down so they can plant those fast growing
trees. That's the report... 7 years from now... Same report. Trees
that take a long time to grow will eventually disappear.
Hugh Smith
Content Deactivated
Reply to Murray Brown
G. Timothy Walton
Reply to Hugh Smith
Top of the foodchain
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb- forest-companies-royalties-1. 6598133
New Brunswick goes quiet on whether forest companies really face $50M
royalty hike
Minister mum on whether major increase announced in July is as large
as first claimed
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Sep 28, 2022 9:00 AM ADT
New Brunswick applies 20 different royalty rates to trees cut on
Crown land, down from 38 last year. In July the province said it
expects to earn an additional $50 million from rate increases but
won't confirm that is still what is expected. (Submitted by Ben Sweet)
The New Brunswick government says forestry companies will pay "tens of
millions of dollars" more in timber royalties this year than last
year, but it appears to have backed away from a widely circulated
claim in July that extra revenue for the province could reach $50
million
What caused the shift is not entirely clear, and so far provincial
officials are not answering questions about it.
In a letter released last week criticizing a CBC News story that
showed royalty rates on softwood pulpwood are being lowered by the
province, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike
Holland said most types of wood taken from provincially owned forests
carry higher prices than last year, and forestry companies are paying
more.
"Let me be clear, this new fee structure will result in tens of
millions of dollars in additional revenue for the province of New
Brunswick," says the three-page open letter signed by Holland and
released publicly last Friday.
"Total timber royalties could top $100 million."
That's a subtle but potentially significant revision of earlier
estimates that the province would receive $50 million this year from
increasing royalty rates.
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland
released a letter last week suggesting higher timber royalties "could
top $100 million" this year. An estimate he gave in July was millions
more. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
According to government budget documents, "forest royalties" for the
current year were originally projected to reach $68.1 million prior to
the change in royalty rates.
Reaching $100 million instead would require $32 million in additional
royalty revenue, not $50 million, and in Holland's new letter hitting
that lower target is only phrased as something that "could" happen.
Questions to Holland's department about whether the original estimate
of companies paying $50 million more for Crown wood this year is still
valid or has been revised downward have gone unanswered since last
week.
Additional questions about whether the original estimate might have
been a miscalculation or misstatement or whether royalty rates were
ultimately set lower than first planned have also received no
response.
New Brunswick Finance Ernie Steeves updated his budget numbers in a
first-quarter report in August, but the document included no
projections on revenue increases expected from increased timber
royalties. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
In early July, Holland gave multiple interviews to New Brunswick media
outlets to announce royalty rates were increasing by $50 million this
year.
According to Holland at the time, average royalty rates for companies
taking wood from provincially owned forests would be climbing $10 per
cubic metre. Multiplied over the five million cubic metres or more
companies take for mills each year in New Brunswick, he put the
expected revenue increase at $50 million.
"We've instigated an increase for this year, a fairly significant
increase," Holland told CBC News. "It could project up to $50 million
worth of additional revenue to the province for this fiscal year."
Similar stories appeared in other media outlets in the province, all
mentioning the $50 million figure.
However, when new royalty rates took effect in August, the average
increase of $10 per cubic metre was not apparent in the regulations.
Single large trees like this spruce in the Pocologan watershed often
carry multiple royalty rates when found and cut on Crown land. In New
Brunswick this year large trunks used for making softwood lumber have
had royalties increase, but rates on pulpwood made from the smaller
tree tops have gone down. (Submitted by Ben Sweet)
It is a difficult issue to track exactly because in addition to
adjusting rates, the province condensed what had been 38 separate
timber royalty categories into 20. Despite that, it appears clear
enough that average royalties have not increased by the $10 amount
quoted in July.
According to figures compiled by the New Brunswick Forest Products
Commission, about 60 per cent of the wood taken from Crown land in New
Brunswick is spruce, pine and fir tree "roundwood" sent to sawmills
and cut into lumber. The average royalty on that material has
increased about $9 per cubic metre.
A further 25 per cent of the wood cut on Crown land is poplar and
other hardwood used for pulp, and royalties on most of that increased
just $2.32 per cubic metre.
Combined, those royalty increases should be worth about $30 million in
new revenue if companies cut at normal levels, but it is difficult to
see where an additional $20 million would come from.
Some smaller volume species taken from provincial forests like
hardwood sawlogs did see royalty charges jump more than $10 per cubic
metre, but others fell well below that amount, including softwood
pulpwood, which had its royalty rate cut.
In his letter, Holland said he is "serious" about getting "the maximum
value for our Crown lands for all New Brunswickers. Whether that
includes $50 million increased timber royalties this year, or some
lesser amount his department won't say.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
90 Comments
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Oh My My
"In a letter released last week criticizing a CBC News story that
showed royalty rates on softwood pulpwood are being lowered by the
province, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike
Holland said most types of wood taken from provincially owned forests
carry higher prices than last year, and forestry companies are paying
more.
"Let me be clear, this new fee structure will result in tens of
millions of dollars in additional revenue for the province of New
Brunswick," says the three-page open letter signed by Holland and
released publicly last Friday."
Methinks Minister Mikey doesn't like Mr Jones poking holes in his
stuffed shirt N'esy Pas?
Kyle Woodman
Mike Holland sold out our resources in exchange for a Turkey Hunt for
him and his buddies. What a disgrace.
Lou Bell
Reply to @Kyle Woodman
Former Premier McKenna sold out Anglophone NBers for votes . What a disgrace
Lou Bell
Reply to @Kyle Woodman
The former Liberals attempted to pilfer an uNDISCLOSED 130 MILLION
taxpayer dollars for their " Phonie Games "
Lou Bell
Reply to @Lou Bell:
That's a disgrace Kyle !
Kyle Woodman
Reply to @Lou Bell:
Do you have any new material?
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Lou Bell:
So in your books McKenna and Mike Holland are both a disgrace. Thanks
for the admission Lou.
Brian Buchannon
Reply to @Lou Bell:
Yes, both liberals and cons have been bad for us, on this I agree
Lou Bell
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Comprehension isn't that hard Fred . Never said
it and it's not there , but you go ahead and spin it !
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Lou Bell:
Let's see:
Kyle said Holland was a disgrace.
Rather than rebut that statement, your response was that McKenna was a disgrace.
Logical inference is that you were making a parallel comparison
between Holland and McKenna.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to @Kyle Woodman
Methinks she and her buddy Cardy must have ran out of butter tarts N'esy Pas?
Lou Bell
Dom and justin just gave millions OF OUR MONEY to the Irvings in the
port of Halifax !!! Dom had to confirm he is good friends with Jim
Irving in his personal disclosure after he was elected ! Liberals need
to TRY HARDER !!!
Michael Cain
Reply to @Lou Bell
Jim is forestry, isn't he?
Dan Stewart
Reply to @Lou Bell
LOL..So, what about this story Lou? You need to try harder..
Lou Bell
Reply to @Dan Stewart
Another Liberal enabled CBC story , just another " nothing burger "
from the CBC , as usual .
Lou Bell
Reply to @Michael Cain
And also in shipbuilding . Try to keep up .
Dan Stewart
Reply to @Lou Bell
LOL.. Yep.. thats the typical excuse a good Con likes to use when they
can't really defend their parties actions... No surprise there right
lou?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to @Dan Stewart
Methinks Lou understands why I feel honoured by the fact that Higgy
and all the other PCs who live in Fundy Royal and sent me butter tarts
have never voted for me N'esy Pas?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/timber- royalties-nb-1.6592509
N.B. receiving less than nothing on softwood pulpwood after Crown
timber royalty changes
Timber royalties in New Brunswick increased in August but with one
notable exception
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Sep 23, 2022 8:00 AM ADT
A stump from a recently cut spruce tree in Charlotte County. On Crown
land, New Brunswick has cut royalties on softwood pulp so low the wood
has become cheaper than free to companies that cut it. (Robert
Jones/CBC)
The New Brunswick government reset timber royalties as promised last
month but not all charges to forest companies went up as the province
has been suggesting, including to MLAs last week.
In one case, royalties levied for cutting softwood pulpwood on Crown
land have been slashed to levels so low the wood is now effectively
being made available for less than free to companies that cut it.
Liberal finance critic René Legacy said that is a surprise to him,
especially since MLAs on the legislature's public accounts committee
put questions about timber royalties to the Department of Natural
Resources and Energy Development just last week.
"We were in committee asking questions and there was no indication
this was happening," said Legacy.
René Legacy, the Liberal MLA for Bathurst West-Beresford and the
party's finance critic, says he is surprised government forestry
officials did not disclose during their appearance before MLAs last
week that softwood pulpwood timber royalty rates have been cut.
(Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"We never seem to get the complete picture."
According to new regulations filed Aug. 30, the province reset what it
charges forest companies to cut trees in publicly owned forests. Most
royalty rates on most types of wood have increased but with
exceptions.
Amounts the province charges forest companies for spruce, fir and jack
pine pulpwood cut on Crown land dropped more than half in August from
$7.59 to $3.40 per cubic metre.
New Brunswick hikes Crown timber fees 30 per cent
Higher prices for everyone selling wood to New Brunswick mills expected soon
Other softwood species used for pulp, like red pine, also fell to
$3.40 per cubic metre but from a previous level of $5.50.
Royalty is now less than fee paid to companies
A royalty of $3.40 is too low to generate net revenue for government
because of a $3.90 fee the province is required to return to forest
companies on every cubic metre of qualifying wood they cut on Crown
land. That includes all pulpwood.
The "licence management service fee" is listed in regulations as
"compensation for forest management expenses" that companies incur
looking after Crown forests on behalf of the province.
Because the management fee owed by the province to companies on every
cubic metre of softwood they cut for pulp is now 50 cents higher than
what the province gets back in royalties, it has become a net loser on
softwood pulp that companies take on Crown land.
That amount varies annually but over the last five years companies
have been cutting between 150,000 and 260,000 cubic metres of softwood
pulpwood from Crown holdings.
Most softwood pulpwood in New Brunswick ends up in J.D. Irving Ltd.
mills, such as the company's Saint John pulp mill, after passing
through JDI's chipping operation in Sussex. (Robert Jones/CBC)
The cut in royalty charges on softwood pulp was not mentioned by
government forestry officials last week when Legacy and Progressive
Conservative MLA Ross Wetmore both asked questions about the subject
at the public accounts committee.
Chris Ward, assistant deputy minister of Natural Resources, told
Wetmore simply that "higher timber royalty rates" in the province had
taken effect.
'Looks to me like a quid pro quo'
Green Party Leader David Coon, who was also at the committee hearing,
was also unaware that royalty rates on softwood pulp had been cut.
He worries that will force private sellers of softwood pulp to lower
their own prices or lead forest companies to bypass private sellers in
favour of accessing more softwood pulp from Crown land.
Surging lumber prices generate better prices for New Brunswick
trees — in Maine
N.B. fixes to wood pricing system not enough to satisfy U.S.
"It's dreadful. It's another big impact on woodlot owners," said Coon,
who wondered if it was done to quiet criticism among forestry
companies about rates increasing on other types of timber.
"It looks to me like a quid pro quo."
Most softwood pulpwood in New Brunswick, including most of the
softwood pulp cut on Crown land and by smaller woodlots, goes to J.D
Irving Ltd.'s Sussex wood chipping facility.
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland
announced in July timber royalties in New Brunswick would be
increasing. There was no mention of decreases also happening. (Jacques
Poitras/CBC)
The company's vice-president of communications, Anne McInerney,
referred questions about the royalty changes to the province.
In a written statement, the department said softwood pulp is a small
percentage of wood cut in New Brunswick and that prices paid to
private sellers of softwood pulp are already depressed with the lower
royalty rate following that trend, not leading it.
"The softwood pulpwood market has been relatively weak and the
Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development has seen
significant volume of material either left in the woods during harvest
operations or used instead as roundwood biomass," said the statement.
"The Department expects this new rate to better reflect fair market
value and result in better utilization of this resource."
The department also said other higher-value wood with higher royalty
rates are cut at the same time as softwood pulp, earning more than
enough so "the Crown is never losing money."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
123 Comments
David Amos
Methinks the silence of the Private Woodlot Owner Associations is
deafening N'esy Pas?
Gil Murray
Department of Natural Resources = Irving subsidiary. Bought years ago.
David Amos
Reply to Gil Murray
Yup
donnie hicks
A lot of that free pulp fibre is going straight to Macon
Georgia,Irving new tissue 470 million plant built in 2019.And 400
million expansion in 2022.Thats a lot New Brunswick natural resources
leaving our province making jobs for americans.Irvings invested one
billion there since 2017.All that wood should stay in N.B.What a shame
David Amos
Reply to donnie hicks
Well Put Sir
Kyle Woodman
Remember when Higgs said we were broke and everyone had to tighten
their belt. Well I guess he only meant people who don’t run in his
circles.
Ken Grant
Reply to @Kyle Woodman:
Don’t believe anything Higgs says.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Ken Grant
Methinks many folks would agree that its not wise to believe anything
any politician says. Thats why so many of us don't bother to vote
N'esy Pas?
Fred Brewer
Does Higgs not realize the permanent damage he is doing to his
reputation and to his party?
In the next election, the Liberals could run a soup can for Premier
and I would vote for the soup can rather than vote for the Cons.
Ken Grant
Reply to @Fred Brewer:
The Libs have done the same. The one family will always prosper at the
expense of the peasants
David Amos
Reply to Ken Grant
Oh So True
Brian mcknight
The Higgins Corporate Junta clearly rewards its benefactors.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Brian mcknight
Yup
Fred Brewer
This has to be the clearest indication to date, that NB is owned by
the Irving Empire. When are we changing our provincial name to
Irvingland?
David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer
Hmmm
Robert Buck
Only in New Brunswick!!!!
Bill Smith
Reply to @Robert Buck:
nah, in Ontario we pay the US to take our excess electricity while the
prices for Ontarians keep climbing
David Amos
Reply to Bill Smith
Wow
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new- brunswick-forest-companies- royalty-increase-1.6463422
New Brunswick forest companies using publicly owned trees to face higher charges
2 years into record lumber prices, province moves to increase 2015 royalty rates
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: May 24, 2022 7:00 AM ADT
Lumber prices began escalating in the summer of 2020 and have remained
high for most of the last two years, but in New Brunswick little of
the extra being charged has gone to those who supplied the trees.
(Robert Jones/CBC News)
For the first time in nearly seven years, the New Brunswick government
says it is preparing to increase what it charges forestry companies
for their use of publicly owned trees.
Details are scarce, including the size of the increase being considered.
But in an interview Monday, Mike Holland, the minister of natural
resources and energy development, said two years of elevated lumber
prices convinced him royalty rates on Crown timber are not adequately
compensating the province for what it supplies industry.
"We need to be able to move forward and put together systems that are
good for all concerned and reflect where that [lumber] pricing winds
up," Holland said.
"When lumber goes from 200 bucks per thousand board feet to 1600 bucks
… we need to create some sort of a mechanism that reflects that, as
far as it relates to the benefit to the province."
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said
New Brunswick's seven-year-old timber royalties are too low given
what's happened with the price of lumber. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
For the last two years, record lumber prices have been enriching New
Brunswick forestry companies but have done little to raise revenues
for those who supply the trees the lumber is made from.
Slightly more than half of the wood New Brunswick forestry companies
use in their operations is owned by the province. The rest comes from
a variety of sources, including industry's own forest holdings and
thousands of smaller independent suppliers.
Earlier this month, Statistics Canada reported lumber production in
March in New Brunswick was worth $180.7 million, a record for that
month. That raised total lumber production for the fiscal year ended
in March to $1.6 billion.
That amount is $700 million more than New Brunswick forest companies
made from lumber in the 2020 fiscal year, but without paying any more
in timber royalties to the province for the wood it used.
According to New Brunswick budget and public accounts documents, the
province earned an estimated $70.3 million in royalties and fees on
Crown trees in the 2020 fiscal year but $68.1 million in the year just
ended in March. despite the increased earnings they made possible.
New Brunswick lumber mills earned $3 billion in revenue over the last
two fiscal years as prices for wood soared. It's $1.2 billion more
than mills made in the two years before that although prices they paid
for Crown wood they used did not change. (CBC)
Holland said New Brunswick will not necessarily adopt royalty rates on
Crown timber that change monthly or quarterly to match rising and
falling lumber prices, the way some provinces do, but he acknowledged
New Brunswick royalties have fallen out of step with current lumber
prices.
"When a new normal is established, you know, our systems must reflect
that," Holland said.
"I have never been a fan of chasing commodity pricing … but when we
see prices move in a direction, when you get to a baseline you've got
to catch up with that."
Current royalty rates on New Brunswick timber were set in July, 2015.
In that year lumber prices in North America averaged $282 US per 1,000
board feet, well below the $883 US they averaged over the past year.
British Columbia Finance Minister Selina Robinson released figures in
February showing timber royalty revenues in that province are running
$558 million above budget as high lumber prices triggered higher
royalty rates. (Mike McArthur/CBC)
Last year in British Columbia, Canada's largest forestry province,
Crown royalty rates were more than triple what they were in 2015, as
the government made sure to share in the financial windfall. But in
New Brunswick, rates never moved.
That has confounded observers of the province's forest industry, who
don't understand why the province would not raise the price of its
trees as lumber companies made more and more revenue from them.
It also frustrated those who sell their own trees to mills and who
complained they could not get better prices while government charged
so little.
"Everyone seems to be quite dumbfounded by the situation," Rick Doucet
of the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners said last fall.
"You could collect that money, put it in the coffers of the province,
and the mills themselves will still be doing quite well," Doucet said.
"So there was an opportunity there to do something, and it's quite
perplexing as to why they didn't move on it."
A man in a suit in front of a grey brick background Adam Sheparski is
president of Acadian Timber. It's the third-largest landowner in New
Brunswick after the province and J.D. Irving Ltd., but earlier this
month Sheparski told investors he had heard nothing about provincial
plans to raise what it charges for trees. (Adam Sheparski/LinkedIn)
Holland said his department has been studying what to do about timber
royalties for more than a year, but industry insiders do not appear to
have been given much advance notice that a change is coming.
One of the largest sellers of trees in New Brunswick is Acadian Timber
Corp. of Edmundston.
It is the second largest non-Crown owner of forest property in New
Brunswick behind J.D. Irving and sells timber to mills for both pulp
and lumber processing.
Two weeks ago, its president, Adam Sheparski, told investors on a
conference call that the company has been pressing the province to
charge more for its trees for some time but had not heard there was a
plan to do that.
"There has been some quiet conversations ongoing," said Sheparski.
"The continued pressure is there but nothing official as yet."
Lumber prices fell up to 35 per cent on futures markets last week, and
although Holland acknowledged the province could have made more money
from lumber pricing spikes over the last two years had it acted
sooner, he said it took time to develop a comprehensive policy that
will work in New Brunswick.
"I feel strongly that we did adopt the right approach," said Holland.
"We did exactly what we said we were going to do. Examine the
tumultuous situation and come out the other end with something that's
systematic."
Holland said details of the new plan are to be released within a month, he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Lots of Comments
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/surging- lumber-prices-nb-trees-1. 6374929
Surging lumber prices generate better prices for New Brunswick trees — in Maine
Sellers claim stagnant timber royalties keep wood a bargain for local mills
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Mar 07, 2022 7:00 AM AST
New Brunswick forest owners say prices paid by mills for logs in Maine
are up to 70 per cent more than in New Brunswick. They blame low New
Brunswick timber royalties for undercutting prices (Sean
Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
International lumber prices are surging again and private sellers of
wood in New Brunswick say that's been helping them get better prices
for their softwood logs. In Maine.
Linda Bell, the general manager of the Carleton-Victoria Forest
Products Marketing Board in Florenceville, N.B., said prices being
paid for saw logs at mills across the border are up to 70 per cent
higher than in New Brunswick. That makes the longer hauling distances
and increased paperwork required to serve U.S. mills worthwhile, she
said.
"What we're seeing in Maine is is an increased demand and increased
pricing," said Bell, who estimated a quarter of softwood cut by
private sellers in her area is now leaving the province.
"The price of lumber is up and their markets are really good."
Pleasant River Lumber in Maine is one of the companies buying softwood
from New Brunswick to run its mills (Pleasant River Lumber/Facebook)
Prices for lumber in North America have almost tripled since August
and are nearing record levels set last spring.
A series of shocks to lumber supplies, including historic flooding in
British Columbia in November and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have
taken turns roiling markets.
Russia is a significant global exporter of softwood lumber.
Much of its trade is with China, but tightening sanctions on Russia
have "goosed" nervous lumber markets that were already elevated,
according to wood product analyst Dustin Jalbert, who is with the
online commodity price reporting service fastmarkets.com.
Dustin Jalbert poses for a photo Wood product analyst Dustin Jalbert
said a number of factors have been pushing lumber prices higher for
months with the Russian invasion of Ukraine the latest event making
traders nervous. (Submitted by Dustin Jalbert)
"Russia is probably the largest softwood timber resource on the planet
and there's a lot of lumber production," Jalbert said in an interview.
"This Russia Ukraine situation is only adding to the fear out in the
marketplace that there's not going to be enough building material
supply as we head into the prime home-building season."
In New Brunswick, forestry companies have been setting revenue records
during the pricing bumps, but those who cut and sell trees have
complained for more than a year that little of that bounty has been
making its way back to them or flowing to the province.
New Brunswick mills are supplied mostly from timber cut on publicly
owned Crown land.
Russia is a major lumber exporter and sanctions imposed on the country
following its invasion of Ukraine have caused worry in lumber markets.
(Maksim Levin/Reuters)
Private sellers contend that because the New Brunswick government does
not raise the price it charges for trees to match rising lumber prices
as most provinces do, prices they can charge mills as a result are
kept artificially low.
"When they're getting subsidized rates from Crown and a lot of their
supply comes from Crown they don't need our wood," said Bell.
"Therefore, the price is down and the demand is just not there."
Last month Statistics Canada reported New Brunswick forestry companies
rode elevated prices for a variety of wood products, mostly lumber and
plywood, to a record $2.6 billion in sales in 2021.
Softwood logs are loaded for processing at the J.D. Irving Ltd.
sawmill in Chipman. New Brunswick wood product mills made a record
$2.6 billion in 2021 but paid the same timber royalty rates they did
in 2016. (Gerard Sirois/GNB)
That was $1.3 billion higher than sales in 2016 even though prices
charged to forest companies by the province for the use of Crown wood
in both years were identical.
That's different from most provinces, which move what they charge for
trees up and down with the price of lumber to connect the value of
trees to the value of goods they are turned into.
In British Columbia, timber royalties have more than doubled in three
years as lumber prices have risen.
B.C. has made $558 million more from timber royalties than it was
budgeting this year alone, and those royalties are set to jump again
on April 1, when rates are next updated.
Next door in Alberta, timber royalties change even faster. They have
jumped five times since September and in March hit prices four times
higher than what New Brunswick is currently charging.
"Timber dues rates are based on the current market prices of forest
products," the province explains on its website.
"These charges ensure Albertans receive fair compensation for the use
of publicly owned forest resources."
Historic flooding in British Columbia in November that paralyzed
transportation routes such as Highway 7 at Ruby Creek is one of
several factors that have been pushing lumber prices up for the past
seven months. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
Last year, New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland
criticized timber royalty systems that rise and fall with lumber
prices even though every province west of New Brunswick uses some form
of floating charges.
Holland said New Brunswick's "stable steady" approach, where it set
rates back in 2015 and has not changed them since, has been better
over the long term.
"I've explained it several times that if we had to follow that model
of chasing the commodity from 2015 that Alberta did, because of the
significant swings not just high but low, there would been over $50
million over that five-year period that we as New Brunswick would have
left on the table," Holland told reporters last spring.
But that analysis no longer holds.
Alberta timber royalties have averaged more than double New
Brunswick's in the last year because of high lumber prices. They would
have raised $100 million more than New Brunswick rates could raise had
they been used instead.
That means over the last six years New Brunswick's royalty system
raised $50 million less from forestry companies than Alberta's system
would have.
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said
last year that New Brunswick made $50 million more over five years
from timber royalties than if it had tied rates to lumber prices like
Alberta. Over six years the amount has flipped to $50 million less.
(Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Holland's office did not immediately respond last week to a request
for comment about the current resurgence in lumber prices or whether
the province might reconsider its position not to tie the price of
trees in some way to the price of lumber, given revenues other
provinces have been raising.
Bell hopes the province does consider it.
She said higher prices New Brunswick sellers are getting for their
logs in Maine than they can get at home tells her prices locally are
artificially low.
She believes higher timber royalties imposed during strong lumber
markets would be affordable for companies, raise more money for the
province, and let local sellers charge amounts similar to what other
jurisdictions pay.
"They have no Crown wood. They're on an open market," Bell said about
the trade for logs in Maine.
"We're seeing pricing closer to fair market values there, than what we
see in New Brunswick."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
NO Comments???
In 2018 Mikey Holland said "I hear constantly, 'Yup you want my vote
and I'm not going to see you again for four years."
Premier of Ontario | Premier ministre de l’Ontario
<Premier@ontario.ca> Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 1:45 PM
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Thank you for your email. Your thoughts, comments and input are greatly valued.
You can be assured that all emails and letters are carefully read,
reviewed and taken into consideration.
There may be occasions when, given the issues you have raised and the
need to address them effectively, we will forward a copy of your
correspondence to the appropriate government official. Accordingly, a
response may take several business days.
Thanks again for your email.
______
Merci pour votre courriel. Nous vous sommes très reconnaissants de
nous avoir fait part de vos idées, commentaires et observations.
Nous tenons à vous assurer que nous lisons attentivement et prenons en
considération tous les courriels et lettres que nous recevons.
Dans certains cas, nous transmettrons votre message au ministère
responsable afin que les questions soulevées puissent être traitées de
la manière la plus efficace possible. En conséquence, plusieurs jours
ouvrables pourraient s’écouler avant que nous puissions vous répondre.
Merci encore pour votre courriel.
David Amos
<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 1:45 PM
To: Nathalie.G.Drouin@pco-bcp.gc.ca, Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca,
"blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, georges.r.savoie@neguac.com,
"David.Coon" <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, "kris.austin" <kris.austin@gnb.ca>,
"Rene.Legacy" <Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca>, "robert.mckee"
<robert.mckee@gnb.ca>, "Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>,
jbosse3058@gmail.com, "robert.gauvin" <robert.gauvin@gnb.ca>,
"Dorothy.Shephard" <Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca>, "charles.murray"
<charles.murray@gnb.ca>, Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca, "Bill.Oliver"
<Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>, "Bill.Hogan" <Bill.Hogan@gnb.ca>,
rob.moore@parl.gc.ca, John.williamson@parl.gc.ca, kerri.froc@unb.ca,
hugh.flemming@gnb.ca, "Mike.Comeau" <Mike.Comeau@gnb.ca>,
"Mark.Blakely" <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "martin.gaudet"
<martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>, "Holland, Mike (LEG)"
<mike.holland@gnb.ca>, "Michelle.Boutin"
<Michelle.Boutin@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>,
"Bill.Blair" <Bill.Blair@parl.gc.ca>, "Bev.Busson"
<Bev.Busson@sen.parl.gc.ca>, "Mitton, Megan (LEG)"
<megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, "michelle.conroy" <michelle.conroy@gnb.ca>,
"andrea.anderson-mason" <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>, andre
<andre@jafaust.com>, Dominic.Cardy@gnb.ca, news@dailygleaner.com,
oldmaison@yahoo.com, jbosnitch@gmail.com, "Arseneau, Kevin (LEG)"
<kevin.a.arseneau@gnb.ca>, kevin.leahy@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
ministryofjustice <ministryofjustice@gov.ab.ca>, premier
<premier@gov.ab.ca>, "Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, "pierre.poilievre"
<pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, "Katie.Telford"
<Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "jagmeet.singh"
<jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, Office of
the Premier <scott.moe@gov.sk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.bc.ca>,
premier <premier@gov.nt.ca>, premier <premier@gov.yk.ca>, premier
<premier@gov.pe.ca>, premier <premier@leg.gov.mb.ca>, PREMIER
<PREMIER@gov.ns.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nl.ca>
The words of the Minister overseeing NB Power causes me to wonder if
he has bothered to visit the warming centre in his riding that the new
Village of Fundy Albert has set up
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2023/01/power- remains-out-for-hundreds- after.html
Friday, 20 January 2023
Power remains out for hundreds after linesman's death in southeast NB
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/power- out-albert-county-linesman- death-1.6719567
Power remains out for hundreds after linesman's death in southeast NB
WorkSafeNB still investigating the accident that also injured a second worker
Mia Urquhart · CBC News · Posted: Jan 19, 2023 6:18 PM AST
Thick ice coats power lines and a power pole.Power infrastructure is
still covered in ice on Thursday in a part of southeast New Brunswick
where a linesman died Tuesday night. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
About 800 customers are still without power in the area where an N.B.
Power linesman died on Tuesday night while trying to restore power
after an ice storm.
N.B. Power's website shows an ongoing outage in an area near Hopewell
Rocks. The estimated restoration time is between 8 and 9 p.m. Friday.
As a result, the new Village of Fundy Albert has set up a warming
centre at 9 Bicentennial Rd.
Mayor Bob Rochon said the warming centre will remain open from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. until power is restored. He said it's being powered by a
generator.
In addition to being able to charge devices, residents can grab a
coffee and sweets, he said.
N.B. Power was asked if the delay in restoring power to the area was
due to the ongoing investigation into the death, but spokesperson Marc
Belliveau referred inquiries to WorkSafeNB.
Tree limbs bent to the ground with the weight of a layer of thick ice.
Many trees bent, cracked or snapped completely under the weight of the
ice. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Laragh Dooley, a spokesperson for WorkSafe, did not answer a list of
questions sent on Thursday afternoon.
"At this time all we can tell you is that WorkSafeNB continues to
investigate this tragic incident," she said in a brief emailed
response.
"We cannot comment on the injured workers condition, only to say it
was serious. Our thoughts are with the families of both workers."
A map shows a red x in the southeast corner of the province of New
Brunswick.The X indicates the area where an N.B. Power linesman was
killed on Tuesday night after falling from a pole. A second man was
taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries,
according to an RCMP spokesperson. (Google maps)
Few details are being released about what happened Tuesday night in
the woods in Curryville.
Cpl. Kevin Glode of the Caledonia detachment of the RCMP said officers
responded to the call just before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
He said two workers had fallen from a power pole in the woods. One of
them died at the scene and the other was taken to hospital with
serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Power lines covered in ice. Power lines in the southeast corner of the
province remain coated in a thick layer of ice. This was the scene on
Thursday. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Glode said police determined there was "no criminality" involved in
the incident and turned the scene over to investigators with
WorkSafeNB.
Resident Caitlin Rutledge, who lives on the Caledonia Mountain Road,
was out of power for almost four days — from early Monday morning
until Thursday. She said the scene left in the ice storm's wake was
"apocalyptic."
"There was a bunch of power lines down. They're all up now. But our
phone line actually got ripped out of our house. All our bushes are
destroyed. There's a bunch of fallen trees in our backyard. Lots of
damage done within the whole area."
An ice-covered tree over a power line. Cleanup from this week's ice
storm continues in the Fundy Albert area in southeast New Brunswick.
(Shane Fowler/CBC)
She said pretty much everything is encased in an inch of ice.
While the majority of residents lost power, Rochon, the mayor, said
some residents are on a different grid.
"But for the most part, everyone from Riverside Albert down to Alma
are without power."
Heavy equipment are still in the area. This was the scene in the area
on Thursday. A thick layer of ice remains on almost everything. (Shane
Fowler/CBC)
Rochon said transmission lines to the community are "still coated in ice."
He said the higher elevations were particularly hard hit "and the
infrastructure basically crumbled."
"The only storm of this magnitude that I recall was back in the 1980s,
when I was here as a police officer, and it was probably as bad if not
worse than this.
"But I haven't seen anything of this magnitude for quite some time."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mia Urquhart
Mia Urquhart is a journalist with CBC New Brunswick, based in Saint
John. She can be reached at mia.urquhart@cbc.ca.
With files from Shane Fowler
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
11 Comments
David Amos
Methinks this is going down Minister Mikey Holland's neck of the woods
yet we have not heard a peep from him yet N'esy Pas?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/boil- water-fundy-albert-1.6720759
Some residents in Fundy Albert under boil-water advisory
Problem caused by a power outage affecting distribution system
CBC News · Posted: Jan 20, 2023 1:10 PM AST
Residents of the Riverside-Albert have been told to boil water before
consuming. (Olivia Stefanovich/CBC)
A prolonged power outage impacting a water distribution system has
prompted the Village of Fundy Albert, in southeastern New Brunswick,
to issue a boil water advisory for some residents.
Residents in Riverside-Albert should boil water for at least one
minute before consuming.
This includes when using water for "mixing juice, dental hygiene,
washing vegetables, making ice or any other activity requiring human
consumption."
The municipality is also advising that infant formula be prepared
using bottled water, and young children should be sponge-bathed to
avoid any inadvertent consumption.
Residents on well water are not impacted by the advisory.
The village said the advisory would be in place until further notice.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
2 Comments
Hugh Smith
Power outage, Picture of electric stove, Boil water advisory.
Hmm.....something doesn't add up
David Amos
Reply to Hugh Smith
Methinks Minister Mikey Holland's electric stove must be working just
fine N'esy Pas?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/power- restoration-fundy-albert- sunday-1.6721978
Fundy Albert customers expected to have power back Sunday: N.B. Power
Outage still affecting about 630 customers
CBC News · Posted: Jan 21, 2023 11:29 AM AST
Heavy equipment are still in the area. N.B. Power trucks in the area
on Thursday. The utility predicts power will be restored on Sunday.
(Shane Fowler/CBC)
A prolonged power outage still has more than 630 customers without
power in the Fundy Albert area of southeastern New Brunswick.
Dominique Couture, an N.B. Power spokesperson, said in a statement
that restoration work is underway in Albert County, but "due to the
complexity of the repairs required, this may take time."
She said the utility expects power to be restored to customers
sometime on Sunday. N.B. Power is working with New Brunswick's
Emergency Measures Organization, said Couture, to provide support to
those affected.
A warming centre at 9 Bicentennial Road in Riverside-Albert has been
set up since Jan. 18.
Power lines covered in ice. On Thursday, power lines in the
southeast corner of the province remained coated in a thick layer of
ice. Fundy Albert's mayor said there was a lot of damage from ice.
(Shane Fowler/CBC)
Fundy Albert Mayor Robert Rochon was at the warming centre Saturday
morning when speaking with CBC News.
"The people in rural Albert County, where we are, are quite resilient," he said.
Rochon said it is now Day 6 of no power for some residents. As of
Saturday, the plan is to keep the warming centre open until 9 p.m.
He said there will soon be warming centres in the Village of Alma.
Rochon said the concern is for the community's elderly and vulnerable
populations.
Power remains out for hundreds after linesman's death in southeast NB
Some residents in Fundy Albert under boil-water advisory
"Some of them have been without power for up to six days now," he
said. "In some cases, their homes are getting quite cold."
Rochon said N.B. Power crews appear to be working "feverishly" to
restore power, but he said there was a lot of damage because of ice at
higher elevations.
Man in ball cap and camoflauge-coloured jacket. Fundy Albert Mayor
Robert Rochon said the community's warming centre will now be open
until 9 p.m. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
On Wednesday, an N.B. Power lineman died while working to restore
power to the area. Another was seriously injured.
On Friday, residents of Riverside-Albert were advised to boil water
for at least one minute before consuming because of a
water-distribution system issue caused by the power outage.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Deja Vu Anyone???
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/albert- riding-moranda-vangeest-mike- holland-catherine-black-1. 4818662
'We've been virtually ignored': Albert County demands government attention
Candidates say tourism potential won't be realized without basic
services like clean water and cell service
Vanessa Blanch · CBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2018 9:41 AM ADT
Green Party candidate Moranda van Geest said with government
investment, the Pollett River could become a major tourist attraction
in New Brunswick. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)
In a riding that includes some of New Brunswick's most iconic places,
candidates in Albert, say voters are demanding an MLA who will improve
basic services in their area.
"Albert County doesn't have much infrastructure," said Green Party
candidate Moranda van Geest. "We can make it more special and
different than any other place but we've been virtually ignored by the
government."
Vote Compass: A political guide to the 2018 provincial election
The area has been a reliable one for the Progressive Conservative
Party, whose candidates have won every election since 1999.
PC candidate Mike Holland said voters in Albert want an MLA who
will listen to people in rural communities. These unique "camo signs"
have been requested by supporters by a ratio of 3:1 over his "suit
signs." (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)
Going door-to-door in the riding, which stretches from Salisbury to
Alma to Elgin, PC candidate Mike Holland has spoken with many voters
who don't feel their voices are being heard in Fredericton.
"I hear constantly, 'Yup — you want my vote and I'm not going to see
you again for four years.'"
"We're sitting on a gold mine in the Albert riding. I believe that
non-resident dollars coming to our riding in the form of tourism —
that's so much better than … a New Brunswick taxpayer funded dollar,"
he said.
'Drinking water is non-negotiable'
While Hopewell Rocks and Fundy National Park alone bring in thousands
of visitors, the neighbouring village of Alma struggles with
near-constant boil-water orders.
"It's the 21st Century. Drinking water is non-negotiable," Holland said.
Under boil order again, Alma finds need for water fix becoming urgent
Liberal candidate Catherine Black pointed out that the population of
the Alma area grows to nearly 3,000 people during the summer months,
and for local businesses trying to serve them, a good water supply is
key.
"They're a small community of less than 300 people — obviously they
don't have the tax base to be able to fix the problems themselves."
Liberal candidate Catherine Black isn't deterred by the fact that the
riding of Albert has been held by the Progressive Conservative Party
for nearly 20 years. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)
Black said she's already speaking with Liberal MP Alaina Lockhart
about how the problem could be solved, although she cautions voters to
temper their expectations for their next MLA.
"Whoever gets this role, we can't fix everybody's problems immediately
and four years, while it seems like a long time, there's only so much
you can move forward."
Lack of cell phone service 'ridiculous'
Van Geest, who lives in Elgin, is also pushing for what she considers
basic services.
What is now a trickle of tourists who come to enjoy the Pollett River,
could be a wave for this "Class A" river, she said.
Gordon Falls is a popular spot along the Pollett River in Elgin for
hikers and swimmers during the summer months. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)
"We would like to see a public park here in Elgin — which would be a
great boost to the economy and also if we have a public park it will
save lives because numerous accidents always happen here in this
river."
With sites like the Gibson Gorge and Gordon Falls attracting hundreds
of visitors, who jump from the steep banks into the cold water during
the hot summer months, van Geest wants a safe way down to the river
for everyone.
Gibson Falls dangerous, warns fire chief
"You can see they put their own lives in danger to try to get these
people out and they want to build a safe way down but it's always
fallen on deaf ears. So this is an opportunity to bring it to the
forefront."
Elgin Fire Department Chief Kent Steeves has been pushing for a new
cell phone tower for the area, and asking for government support to
get it.
Elgin chief steps up call for cell service in Albert County
Van Geest says it's just another example of the basic infrastructure
the area needs if it's going to reach its potential.
Moranda van Geest
points to the rock ledge people jump from. The Green Party candidate
wants the Pollett River protected. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)
"I find it a bit ridiculous," she said. "We had somebody from Rhode
Island … and they said, 'There is an app here to go on the bike
trails.' Well good luck using your app — we don't have cell phone
service."
The other candidates in the Albert riding are Betty Weir for the NDP,
Sharon Buchanan for the People's Alliance of New Brunswick and James
Wilson, who is running as an independent.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2023/01/province- promises-nb-forest-report-by. html
Thursday, 19 January 2023
Province promises N.B. forest report by April after seven years of
missed deadlines
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/province- promise-forest-report-seven- years-april-1.6718167
Province promises N.B. forest report by April after seven years of
missed deadlines
Green leader says department first promised report in 2016 and raps
lack of ‘annual plan’
Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: Jan 18, 2023 3:52 PM AST
Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister at the Department of Natural
Resources and Energy Development, acknowledged his department missed
several of its own deadlines for the report. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
A report on the state of the province's forests that was first
promised almost seven years ago should finally be public before April
1, a committee of the legislature was told Wednesday.
Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister of natural resources and energy
development, acknowledged that his department has missed several
deadlines it gave itself, starting in June 2016, to finish and publish
the report.
He made the new commitment after Green Leader David Coon hammered the
department for repeatedly promising the report and then not delivering
it.
"Delay after delay after delay after delay," Coon said during a
meeting of the legislature's public accounts committee.
"The question is, Mr. MacFarlane, what is it you don't want the
members of the public and this legislature to know about the state of
our forest?"
No annual plan
Earlier in the morning, Coon also forced MacFarlane to admit that the
department had not published an annual plan listing its objectives — a
plan required under provincial law to be posted on the department's
website.
"I'm not aware as to why we haven't published an annual plan," MacFarlane said.
He said the department has been using a mandate letter from Premier
Blaine Higgs as a guide — though he didn't realize that mandate
letters are kept confidential by the current government.
"I guess I thought they are made public centrally, and I'm told they
are not public," he said. "But we have not produced an annual plan."
Mandate letters are given by a new premier to each new minister and
their department, outlining the government's priorities.
Liberal premier Brian Gallant made them public for the first time in
2014 but current Premier Blaine Higgs has reverted to not releasing
them.
The province's Accountability and Continuous Improvement Act requires
departments to publish annual plans laying out their objectives for
each fiscal year.
That allows the department, MLAs and the public to compare the plan's
objectives to results laid out in a subsequent annual report.
Why plan is needed
With a report but no plan, Coon said, "it's extremely difficult for us
to do our work in holding the department accountable in how it uses
tax dollars if we don't know what those goals and objectives in the
plan are."
The act says departments "shall" prepare an annual plan to "set out
the goals and objectives" during a given year and establish "a
strategic direction," then "identify objective performance measures"
for those goals.
It also says the minister for the department "shall make the annual
plan public by publishing it on the department's website" within three
months of the start of the fiscal year.
'Delay after delay after delay after delay,' said Green Party Leader
David Coon of a forest report promised seven years ago. (Jacques
Poitras/CBC)
On the state of the province report, Coon said the last one was in
2008 and pointed out the auditor general recommended in 2015 that the
department issue new versions more frequently to report on how forests
are being managed for ecological sustainability.
Coon said the department committed to a new report by June 2016, told
him in 2017 it was "coming soon," assured him in 2019 that it would be
tabled in the legislature in 2020, and in 2021 told him it would be
ready that summer.
He said there was then another promise it would be done in 2022.
"Certainly there's been a number of things that have impacted our
ability to deliver that report," MacFarlane said.
"I can promise you that that report is in draft form right now and we
are anticipating to get that out this fiscal year."
Department has other priorities
He blamed "limited staff" for the delay and a focus on other more
important programs.
"I can apologize for missing our targets and notions of the past, but
certainly we've been prioritizing a lot of our initiatives," he said.
"It's limited resources that we have, and we try to make sure that
we're focused on the items that require the highest priority."
Assistant deputy minister Chris Ward added that the raw data that
would be used in a state of the forest report is available on the
department's online open data portal.
"There's no hiding data," Ward said. "For those that are interested in
data, it's online."
The discussion with Coon over missed deadlines is the latest in a
series of exchanges between the Green leader and the department.
N.B. receiving less than nothing on softwood pulpwood after Crown
timber royalty changes
'Conservation is a priority,' minister tells skeptics of land
protection plan
In 2020 he chided MacFarlane for the department for not having
produced an emissions-reduction strategy three years after the release
of the province's climate change plan.
During that session, department officials also said New Brunswick
would miss its goal of having 2,500 electric vehicles on the
province's roads by the end of 2020. There were only 429 at the end of
2019.
On Wednesday, MacFarlane was able to report that the province is on
track to meet its next EV target of 20,000 by 2030.
He said supply chains were a problem until last fall but are showing
signs of improvement now, with more electric vehicles available for
sale now and federal and provincial rebate programs helping to spur
sales.
"We're seeing our numbers increase significantly so we're very hopeful
that holds," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jacques Poitras
Provincial Affairs reporter
Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New
Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in
Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on
every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio
Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and
Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books
about New Brunswick politics and history.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
60 Comments
David Amos
Methinks we should not hold our breath waiting for another April Fools
Joke the NB Power rate hike due that day will be enough to cause a lot
of folks to faint anyway N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Methinks its rather amusing watching all the comments come and go N'esy Pas?
Greg Meahan
DMs know what is made public and what is not. It is not credible that
this one did know his mandate was private. Not at all. That or he is
completely and utterly incompetent. It is one of those situations
where there is no in-between.
David Amos
Reply to Greg Meahan
Go Figure
Kyle Woodman
Where is Mike Holland? The buck stops with him. Does he even live in
New Brunswick anymore?
David Amos
Reply to Kyle Woodman
Who cares?
Jimmy Belafonte
Report findings- Irving is grifting NB.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jimmy Belafonte
LOL
David Amos
Reply to Jimmy Belafonte
Thats my favourite comment today
Jim Johnston
Content Deactivated
Forest management in NB is a joke. Essential information is held back
and it is very difficult to clearly analyze it. It comes down to the
fact that we pay more out to manage the forest than we receive in
revenue from selling the wood. The only viable solution I see is to
keep what we want for recreational and environmental issues and sell
off the rest to the federal government who could use it to settle up
with our First Nations.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jim Johnston
Surely you jest
John Grail
Guessing this isn't a top priority for the Irvings...
Jos Allaire
Reply to John Grail
It is! a priority They don't want a report.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
Methinks that order can be found within MacFarlane's confidential
mandate letter from Higgy N'esy Pas?
Jack Bell
Reply to John Grail
If Irving is against it, then you know it's good for NB
Jos Allaire
Reply to David Amos
You got it Dasvid!
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
BTW I have no doubt lots of folks heard MacFarlane mention the
confidential mandate letter on CBC this morning
Peter Churcher
Content Deactivated
David Coon is always trying to find a conspiracy. I doubt that if we
ever had him lead the province that he would do any better. One simply
has to drive around our Province and despite reports to the contrary
we do have a lot of trees. Tens of thousands of acres of trees.
Rosco holt
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Allot of trees that is shipped to the states.
Peter Churcher
Content Deactivated
Reply to Rosco holt
Yes but without the forestry business and there revenue it brings in
we would be a lot worse off.
Dan Lee
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
what revenue? we are paying them to cut our wood...... jesus
Robert Buck
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
I think you missed something on the revenue the forestry brings in.
Ask the private woodlot owners.
Peter Churcher
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dan Lee
Not to debate the obvious but the forestry industry also employs
thousands of New Brunswickers and yes they do pay us money to harvest
timber on Crown lands. Do you advocate that we get rid of one of our
only industries?
Dan Lee
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
they pay us? hen....sh..t.........we pay them to
cut......plant.......pour poison on them........i can show you
plantations of a certain company with big big timber........
Al Clark
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Well there ya go.
NB Forest report
"thars A lot of trees"
Hit print and it's miller time!
Pshew that was 7 yrs haaaard work
Dennis Atchison
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Yes. My interview with Ken Hardie, then the General Manager of the
Small Woodlot Owners Federation, detailed clearly how we citizens were
subsidizing big industry and as you say, "... paying them to cut our
wood". Here is the interview in case no one believes "facts" ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC5ZbC78a6U
Don Corey
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dan Lee
Yes, the forest industry does pay royalties. No, we don't "pay them to
cut". Yes, the department reimburses Licensees for necessary
silviculture conducted on crown lands; that has been the case since
the Crown Lands and Forests Act back around 1981, so nothing new here.
As to the "poison", that's your word for it.....not mine.
James Hickey
Reply to Don Corey
we lose money on our crown forests , how can anyone lose money selling wood
Don Corey
Reply to Dennis Atchison
Ken Hardie is a smart guy, but he also has his own agenda; and it's
generally in conflict with the forest industry. Then there is the
department, which sets annual crown royalty rates. The "facts" are far
more complicated than Hardie's take on the situation. However, he is
absolutely right on about royalty rates (especially for
sawlogs.....softwood and hardwood). They are way TOO LOW.
James Hickey
Reply to Don Corey
who do you work for
Don Corey
Reply to James Hickey
I'm retired. No, I didn't work for Irving, or DNR, but I do know what
I'm talking about.
Don Corey
Reply to James Hickey
Good question. Our crown lands should be managed as a net source of
revenue to the province. For example, what used to be Fraser Freehold
land (over 700,000 acres) in NW NB is now owned and managed by Acadian
Timber. They generate a significant profit every year, selling their
wood to mills in NB and Maine as well as providing recreational
opportunities (at a cost) to the public.
David Amos
Reply to Don Corey
Amen
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Don Corey
"I'm retired. No, I didn't work for Irving, or DNR, but I do know what
I'm talking about."
Me too
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Peter Churcher
Say Hey to Mikey Holland for me will ya? Tell him I know why he never
voted for me.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dan Lee
Amen
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Dennis Atchison
Methinks its interesting that you are allowed to promote yourself N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
Bingo
Richard Ames
Irving doesn't like to share information. As leader of the Green
Party, he should know that.
Rosco holt
Reply to Richard Ames
Just like the Irving Premier. Data shmata.
Sam Smithers
Content Deactivated
Reply to Richard Ames
PCs getting data delivered that the Liberals did not, what else is new.
James Hickey
Content Deactivated
Reply to Rosco holt
Frank McKenna and bud bird started the giveaway so do not blame higgs
although he has not fixed it
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to James Hickey
What you say is true about Franky Boy and his many cohorts not just
his buddy Bird. However our little Lord promised if he were to be
elected to reverse the foul play practiced against private woodlot
owners and their fellow stakeholders in Crown land but never did and
no government has done so since. Methinks Higgy is just the latest
ringmaster in this circus N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Sam Smithers
I heard that your hero Higgy has no respect for data
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
Well put
David Amos
Reply to Richard Ames
Yup
Archara Goldehere
Reply to Sam Smithers
7 years late wow come on lol you are very funny if you think this is ok lol
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb- forest-companies-royalties-1. 6598133
New Brunswick goes quiet on whether forest companies really face $50M
royalty hike
Minister mum on whether major increase announced in July is as large
as first claimed
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Sep 28, 2022 9:00 AM ADT
New Brunswick applies 20 different royalty rates to trees cut on
Crown land, down from 38 last year. In July the province said it
expects to earn an additional $50 million from rate increases but
won't confirm that is still what is expected. (Submitted by Ben Sweet)
The New Brunswick government says forestry companies will pay "tens of
millions of dollars" more in timber royalties this year than last
year, but it appears to have backed away from a widely circulated
claim in July that extra revenue for the province could reach $50
million
What caused the shift is not entirely clear, and so far provincial
officials are not answering questions about it.
In a letter released last week criticizing a CBC News story that
showed royalty rates on softwood pulpwood are being lowered by the
province, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike
Holland said most types of wood taken from provincially owned forests
carry higher prices than last year, and forestry companies are paying
more.
"Let me be clear, this new fee structure will result in tens of
millions of dollars in additional revenue for the province of New
Brunswick," says the three-page open letter signed by Holland and
released publicly last Friday.
"Total timber royalties could top $100 million."
That's a subtle but potentially significant revision of earlier
estimates that the province would receive $50 million this year from
increasing royalty rates.
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland
released a letter last week suggesting higher timber royalties "could
top $100 million" this year. An estimate he gave in July was millions
more. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
According to government budget documents, "forest royalties" for the
current year were originally projected to reach $68.1 million prior to
the change in royalty rates.
Reaching $100 million instead would require $32 million in additional
royalty revenue, not $50 million, and in Holland's new letter hitting
that lower target is only phrased as something that "could" happen.
Questions to Holland's department about whether the original estimate
of companies paying $50 million more for Crown wood this year is still
valid or has been revised downward have gone unanswered since last
week.
Additional questions about whether the original estimate might have
been a miscalculation or misstatement or whether royalty rates were
ultimately set lower than first planned have also received no
response.
New Brunswick Finance Ernie Steeves updated his budget numbers in a
first-quarter report in August, but the document included no
projections on revenue increases expected from increased timber
royalties. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
In early July, Holland gave multiple interviews to New Brunswick media
outlets to announce royalty rates were increasing by $50 million this
year.
According to Holland at the time, average royalty rates for companies
taking wood from provincially owned forests would be climbing $10 per
cubic metre. Multiplied over the five million cubic metres or more
companies take for mills each year in New Brunswick, he put the
expected revenue increase at $50 million.
"We've instigated an increase for this year, a fairly significant
increase," Holland told CBC News. "It could project up to $50 million
worth of additional revenue to the province for this fiscal year."
Similar stories appeared in other media outlets in the province, all
mentioning the $50 million figure.
However, when new royalty rates took effect in August, the average
increase of $10 per cubic metre was not apparent in the regulations.
Single large trees like this spruce in the Pocologan watershed often
carry multiple royalty rates when found and cut on Crown land. In New
Brunswick this year large trunks used for making softwood lumber have
had royalties increase, but rates on pulpwood made from the smaller
tree tops have gone down. (Submitted by Ben Sweet)
It is a difficult issue to track exactly because in addition to
adjusting rates, the province condensed what had been 38 separate
timber royalty categories into 20. Despite that, it appears clear
enough that average royalties have not increased by the $10 amount
quoted in July.
According to figures compiled by the New Brunswick Forest Products
Commission, about 60 per cent of the wood taken from Crown land in New
Brunswick is spruce, pine and fir tree "roundwood" sent to sawmills
and cut into lumber. The average royalty on that material has
increased about $9 per cubic metre.
A further 25 per cent of the wood cut on Crown land is poplar and
other hardwood used for pulp, and royalties on most of that increased
just $2.32 per cubic metre.
Combined, those royalty increases should be worth about $30 million in
new revenue if companies cut at normal levels, but it is difficult to
see where an additional $20 million would come from.
Some smaller volume species taken from provincial forests like
hardwood sawlogs did see royalty charges jump more than $10 per cubic
metre, but others fell well below that amount, including softwood
pulpwood, which had its royalty rate cut.
In his letter, Holland said he is "serious" about getting "the maximum
value for our Crown lands for all New Brunswickers. Whether that
includes $50 million increased timber royalties this year, or some
lesser amount his department won't say.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
90 Comments
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Oh My My
"In a letter released last week criticizing a CBC News story that
showed royalty rates on softwood pulpwood are being lowered by the
province, Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike
Holland said most types of wood taken from provincially owned forests
carry higher prices than last year, and forestry companies are paying
more.
"Let me be clear, this new fee structure will result in tens of
millions of dollars in additional revenue for the province of New
Brunswick," says the three-page open letter signed by Holland and
released publicly last Friday."
Methinks Minister Mikey doesn't like Mr Jones poking holes in his
stuffed shirt N'esy Pas?
Kyle Woodman
Mike Holland sold out our resources in exchange for a Turkey Hunt for
him and his buddies. What a disgrace.
Lou Bell
Reply to @Kyle Woodman
Former Premier McKenna sold out Anglophone NBers for votes . What a disgrace
Lou Bell
Reply to @Kyle Woodman
The former Liberals attempted to pilfer an uNDISCLOSED 130 MILLION
taxpayer dollars for their " Phonie Games "
Lou Bell
Reply to @Lou Bell:
That's a disgrace Kyle !
Kyle Woodman
Reply to @Lou Bell:
Do you have any new material?
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Lou Bell:
So in your books McKenna and Mike Holland are both a disgrace. Thanks
for the admission Lou.
Brian Buchannon
Reply to @Lou Bell:
Yes, both liberals and cons have been bad for us, on this I agree
Lou Bell
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Comprehension isn't that hard Fred . Never said
it and it's not there , but you go ahead and spin it !
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Lou Bell:
Let's see:
Kyle said Holland was a disgrace.
Rather than rebut that statement, your response was that McKenna was a disgrace.
Logical inference is that you were making a parallel comparison
between Holland and McKenna.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to @Kyle Woodman
Methinks she and her buddy Cardy must have ran out of butter tarts N'esy Pas?
Lou Bell
Dom and justin just gave millions OF OUR MONEY to the Irvings in the
port of Halifax !!! Dom had to confirm he is good friends with Jim
Irving in his personal disclosure after he was elected ! Liberals need
to TRY HARDER !!!
Michael Cain
Reply to @Lou Bell
Jim is forestry, isn't he?
Dan Stewart
Reply to @Lou Bell
LOL..So, what about this story Lou? You need to try harder..
Lou Bell
Reply to @Dan Stewart
Another Liberal enabled CBC story , just another " nothing burger "
from the CBC , as usual .
Lou Bell
Reply to @Michael Cain
And also in shipbuilding . Try to keep up .
Dan Stewart
Reply to @Lou Bell
LOL.. Yep.. thats the typical excuse a good Con likes to use when they
can't really defend their parties actions... No surprise there right
lou?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to @Dan Stewart
Methinks Lou understands why I feel honoured by the fact that Higgy
and all the other PCs who live in Fundy Royal and sent me butter tarts
have never voted for me N'esy Pas?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/timber- royalties-nb-1.6592509
N.B. receiving less than nothing on softwood pulpwood after Crown
timber royalty changes
Timber royalties in New Brunswick increased in August but with one
notable exception
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Sep 23, 2022 8:00 AM ADT
A stump from a recently cut spruce tree in Charlotte County. On Crown
land, New Brunswick has cut royalties on softwood pulp so low the wood
has become cheaper than free to companies that cut it. (Robert
Jones/CBC)
The New Brunswick government reset timber royalties as promised last
month but not all charges to forest companies went up as the province
has been suggesting, including to MLAs last week.
In one case, royalties levied for cutting softwood pulpwood on Crown
land have been slashed to levels so low the wood is now effectively
being made available for less than free to companies that cut it.
Liberal finance critic René Legacy said that is a surprise to him,
especially since MLAs on the legislature's public accounts committee
put questions about timber royalties to the Department of Natural
Resources and Energy Development just last week.
"We were in committee asking questions and there was no indication
this was happening," said Legacy.
René Legacy, the Liberal MLA for Bathurst West-Beresford and the
party's finance critic, says he is surprised government forestry
officials did not disclose during their appearance before MLAs last
week that softwood pulpwood timber royalty rates have been cut.
(Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"We never seem to get the complete picture."
According to new regulations filed Aug. 30, the province reset what it
charges forest companies to cut trees in publicly owned forests. Most
royalty rates on most types of wood have increased but with
exceptions.
Amounts the province charges forest companies for spruce, fir and jack
pine pulpwood cut on Crown land dropped more than half in August from
$7.59 to $3.40 per cubic metre.
New Brunswick hikes Crown timber fees 30 per cent
Higher prices for everyone selling wood to New Brunswick mills expected soon
Other softwood species used for pulp, like red pine, also fell to
$3.40 per cubic metre but from a previous level of $5.50.
Royalty is now less than fee paid to companies
A royalty of $3.40 is too low to generate net revenue for government
because of a $3.90 fee the province is required to return to forest
companies on every cubic metre of qualifying wood they cut on Crown
land. That includes all pulpwood.
The "licence management service fee" is listed in regulations as
"compensation for forest management expenses" that companies incur
looking after Crown forests on behalf of the province.
Because the management fee owed by the province to companies on every
cubic metre of softwood they cut for pulp is now 50 cents higher than
what the province gets back in royalties, it has become a net loser on
softwood pulp that companies take on Crown land.
That amount varies annually but over the last five years companies
have been cutting between 150,000 and 260,000 cubic metres of softwood
pulpwood from Crown holdings.
Most softwood pulpwood in New Brunswick ends up in J.D. Irving Ltd.
mills, such as the company's Saint John pulp mill, after passing
through JDI's chipping operation in Sussex. (Robert Jones/CBC)
The cut in royalty charges on softwood pulp was not mentioned by
government forestry officials last week when Legacy and Progressive
Conservative MLA Ross Wetmore both asked questions about the subject
at the public accounts committee.
Chris Ward, assistant deputy minister of Natural Resources, told
Wetmore simply that "higher timber royalty rates" in the province had
taken effect.
'Looks to me like a quid pro quo'
Green Party Leader David Coon, who was also at the committee hearing,
was also unaware that royalty rates on softwood pulp had been cut.
He worries that will force private sellers of softwood pulp to lower
their own prices or lead forest companies to bypass private sellers in
favour of accessing more softwood pulp from Crown land.
Surging lumber prices generate better prices for New Brunswick
trees — in Maine
N.B. fixes to wood pricing system not enough to satisfy U.S.
"It's dreadful. It's another big impact on woodlot owners," said Coon,
who wondered if it was done to quiet criticism among forestry
companies about rates increasing on other types of timber.
"It looks to me like a quid pro quo."
Most softwood pulpwood in New Brunswick, including most of the
softwood pulp cut on Crown land and by smaller woodlots, goes to J.D
Irving Ltd.'s Sussex wood chipping facility.
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland
announced in July timber royalties in New Brunswick would be
increasing. There was no mention of decreases also happening. (Jacques
Poitras/CBC)
The company's vice-president of communications, Anne McInerney,
referred questions about the royalty changes to the province.
In a written statement, the department said softwood pulp is a small
percentage of wood cut in New Brunswick and that prices paid to
private sellers of softwood pulp are already depressed with the lower
royalty rate following that trend, not leading it.
"The softwood pulpwood market has been relatively weak and the
Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development has seen
significant volume of material either left in the woods during harvest
operations or used instead as roundwood biomass," said the statement.
"The Department expects this new rate to better reflect fair market
value and result in better utilization of this resource."
The department also said other higher-value wood with higher royalty
rates are cut at the same time as softwood pulp, earning more than
enough so "the Crown is never losing money."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
123 Comments
David Amos
Methinks the silence of the Private Woodlot Owner Associations is
deafening N'esy Pas?
Gil Murray
Department of Natural Resources = Irving subsidiary. Bought years ago.
David Amos
Reply to Gil Murray
Yup
donnie hicks
A lot of that free pulp fibre is going straight to Macon
Georgia,Irving new tissue 470 million plant built in 2019.And 400
million expansion in 2022.Thats a lot New Brunswick natural resources
leaving our province making jobs for americans.Irvings invested one
billion there since 2017.All that wood should stay in N.B.What a shame
David Amos
Reply to donnie hicks
Well Put Sir
Kyle Woodman
Remember when Higgs said we were broke and everyone had to tighten
their belt. Well I guess he only meant people who don’t run in his
circles.
Ken Grant
Reply to @Kyle Woodman:
Don’t believe anything Higgs says.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Ken Grant
Methinks many folks would agree that its not wise to believe anything
any politician says. Thats why so many of us don't bother to vote
N'esy Pas?
Fred Brewer
Does Higgs not realize the permanent damage he is doing to his
reputation and to his party?
In the next election, the Liberals could run a soup can for Premier
and I would vote for the soup can rather than vote for the Cons.
Ken Grant
Reply to @Fred Brewer:
The Libs have done the same. The one family will always prosper at the
expense of the peasants
David Amos
Reply to Ken Grant
Oh So True
Brian mcknight
The Higgins Corporate Junta clearly rewards its benefactors.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Brian mcknight
Yup
Fred Brewer
This has to be the clearest indication to date, that NB is owned by
the Irving Empire. When are we changing our provincial name to
Irvingland?
David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer
Hmmm
Robert Buck
Only in New Brunswick!!!!
Bill Smith
Reply to @Robert Buck:
nah, in Ontario we pay the US to take our excess electricity while the
prices for Ontarians keep climbing
David Amos
Reply to Bill Smith
Wow
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/surging- lumber-prices-nb-trees-1. 6374929
Surging lumber prices generate better prices for New Brunswick trees — in Maine
Sellers claim stagnant timber royalties keep wood a bargain for local mills
Robert Jones · CBC News · Posted: Mar 07, 2022 7:00 AM AST
New Brunswick forest owners say prices paid by mills for logs in Maine
are up to 70 per cent more than in New Brunswick. They blame low New
Brunswick timber royalties for undercutting prices (Sean
Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
International lumber prices are surging again and private sellers of
wood in New Brunswick say that's been helping them get better prices
for their softwood logs. In Maine.
Linda Bell, the general manager of the Carleton-Victoria Forest
Products Marketing Board in Florenceville, N.B., said prices being
paid for saw logs at mills across the border are up to 70 per cent
higher than in New Brunswick. That makes the longer hauling distances
and increased paperwork required to serve U.S. mills worthwhile, she
said.
"What we're seeing in Maine is is an increased demand and increased
pricing," said Bell, who estimated a quarter of softwood cut by
private sellers in her area is now leaving the province.
"The price of lumber is up and their markets are really good."
Pleasant River Lumber in Maine is one of the companies buying softwood
from New Brunswick to run its mills (Pleasant River Lumber/Facebook)
Prices for lumber in North America have almost tripled since August
and are nearing record levels set last spring.
A series of shocks to lumber supplies, including historic flooding in
British Columbia in November and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have
taken turns roiling markets.
Russia is a significant global exporter of softwood lumber.
Much of its trade is with China, but tightening sanctions on Russia
have "goosed" nervous lumber markets that were already elevated,
according to wood product analyst Dustin Jalbert, who is with the
online commodity price reporting service fastmarkets.com.
Wood product analyst Dustin Jalbert said a number of factors have been
pushing lumber prices higher for months with the Russian invasion of
Ukraine the latest event making traders nervous. (Submitted by Dustin
Jalbert)
"Russia is probably the largest softwood timber resource on the planet
and there's a lot of lumber production," Jalbert said in an interview.
"This Russia Ukraine situation is only adding to the fear out in the
marketplace that there's not going to be enough building material
supply as we head into the prime home-building season."
In New Brunswick, forestry companies have been setting revenue records
during the pricing bumps, but those who cut and sell trees have
complained for more than a year that little of that bounty has been
making its way back to them or flowing to the province.
New Brunswick mills are supplied mostly from timber cut on publicly
owned Crown land.
Russia is a major lumber exporter and sanctions imposed on the country
following its invasion of Ukraine have caused worry in lumber markets.
(Maksim Levin/Reuters)
Private sellers contend that because the New Brunswick government does
not raise the price it charges for trees to match rising lumber prices
as most provinces do, prices they can charge mills as a result are
kept artificially low.
"When they're getting subsidized rates from Crown and a lot of their
supply comes from Crown they don't need our wood," said Bell.
"Therefore, the price is down and the demand is just not there."
Last month Statistics Canada reported New Brunswick forestry companies
rode elevated prices for a variety of wood products, mostly lumber and
plywood, to a record $2.6 billion in sales in 2021.
Softwood logs are loaded for processing at the J.D. Irving Ltd.
sawmill in Chipman. New Brunswick wood product mills made a record
$2.6 billion in 2021 but paid the same timber royalty rates they did
in 2016. (Gerard Sirois/GNB)
That was $1.3 billion higher than sales in 2016 even though prices
charged to forest companies by the province for the use of Crown wood
in both years were identical.
That's different from most provinces, which move what they charge for
trees up and down with the price of lumber to connect the value of
trees to the value of goods they are turned into.
In British Columbia, timber royalties have more than doubled in three
years as lumber prices have risen.
B.C. has made $558 million more from timber royalties than it was
budgeting this year alone, and those royalties are set to jump again
on April 1, when rates are next updated.
Next door in Alberta, timber royalties change even faster. They have
jumped five times since September and in March hit prices four times
higher than what New Brunswick is currently charging.
"Timber dues rates are based on the current market prices of forest
products," the province explains on its website.
"These charges ensure Albertans receive fair compensation for the use
of publicly owned forest resources."
Historic flooding in British Columbia in November that paralyzed
transportation routes such as Highway 7 at Ruby Creek is one of
several factors that have been pushing lumber prices up for the past
seven months. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
Last year, New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland
criticized timber royalty systems that rise and fall with lumber
prices even though every province west of New Brunswick uses some form
of floating charges.
Holland said New Brunswick's "stable steady" approach, where it set
rates back in 2015 and has not changed them since, has been better
over the long term.
"I've explained it several times that if we had to follow that model
of chasing the commodity from 2015 that Alberta did, because of the
significant swings not just high but low, there would been over $50
million over that five-year period that we as New Brunswick would have
left on the table," Holland told reporters last spring.
But that analysis no longer holds.
Alberta timber royalties have averaged more than double New
Brunswick's in the last year because of high lumber prices. They would
have raised $100 million more than New Brunswick rates could raise had
they been used instead.
That means over the last six years New Brunswick's royalty system
raised $50 million less from forestry companies than Alberta's system
would have.
Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland said
last year that New Brunswick made $50 million more over five years
from timber royalties than if it had tied rates to lumber prices like
Alberta. Over six years the amount has flipped to $50 million less.
(Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Holland's office did not immediately respond last week to a request
for comment about the current resurgence in lumber prices or whether
the province might reconsider its position not to tie the price of
trees in some way to the price of lumber, given revenues other
provinces have been raising.
Bell hopes the province does consider it.
She said higher prices New Brunswick sellers are getting for their
logs in Maine than they can get at home tells her prices locally are
artificially low.
She believes higher timber royalties imposed during strong lumber
markets would be affordable for companies, raise more money for the
province, and let local sellers charge amounts similar to what other
jurisdictions pay.
"They have no Crown wood. They're on an open market," Bell said about
the trade for logs in Maine.
"We're seeing pricing closer to fair market values there, than what we
see in New Brunswick."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jones
Reporter
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick
since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New
Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the
adoption of price regulation in 2006.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Rick Doucett, Chaimn, Certijication Board NBFTA, 35 Spence Dr., Nmonworth,
N.B., E3C lM2. TeL 450-0308 (H), 458-6842 (W), e-mail- rdoucett@nbpower.com
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2672259624
Information Morning - Fredericton
NB Power Spraying
2:0515:05
NB Power Spraying
8 years ago
Radio
Duration 15:05
People are concerned about herbicide spraying south of Fredericton, NB
Power's Rick Doucett speaks with Terry about those concerns.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/ residents-near-nb-power- spraying-want-better-notice-1. 3162832
Residents near NB Power spraying want better notice
Rural residents say NB Power didn’t do enough to notify them of
herbicide spraying in their area
Shane Fowler · CBC News · Posted: Jul 22, 2015 7:10 AM ADT
Spraying notice questions
8 years ago
Duration 2:33
People in Fredericton Junction area want better notice of herbicide
spraying on NB Power lines
Homeowners in Wirral, Hoyt, and Fredericton Junction say the only
official notice about herbicide spraying they've ever seen from NB
Power were small signs posted on the transmission line land after the
herbicide Vision Max was applied.
Wayne Webb of Wirral says he and his wife awoke to the sound of heavy
spray trucks early on July 11.
NB Power lines that were sprayed with herbicide run through Wayne
Webb's property. (CBC)
"Machines woke me up around 5 a.m. or shortly after and I come down
the road and they were spraying my power line here," said Webb.
"I never dreamed they'd do this so close to our homes," said Cheryl Webb.
"We only live about 400 feet from this line."
The couple say they own the land the NB Power transmission line is on,
and though NB Power has right of way, they never saw a warning about
the herbicide spraying.
Wayne Webb was only given an explanation of what the crews were doing
after he spoke to a woman in an NB Power truck guarding access to the
area being sprayed.
"I asked her about my berries and she told me that I could eat them in
24 hours," said Wayne Webb.
Anyone with half a brain knows you don't spray chemicals on
berries and then eat them 24 hours later.
- Wayne Webb
"But anyone with half a brain knows you don't spray chemicals on
berries and then eat them 24 hours later."
Deborah Nobes, a NB Power spokesperson, wrote in a statement that
"notices were published in English and French newspapers in advance of
the treatment."
The newspaper ads are in accordance with the spraying permit
requirements NB Power has from the province.
CBC News searched dozens of back issues of papers before finding the
English notice in the Telegraph Journal. It was published on May 16,
almost two months before the July 11 spraying in Wirral, and located
after NB Power provided information on where to look.
The NB Power notice states in part, "The program this year will take
place from June 22nd to August 7th, 2015."
It does not name all of the communities that would host spray teams or
list specific dates when spraying would take place.
Rick Doucett, NB Power's manager of transmission, vegetation and
environmental support, said the utility is looking at making
improvements to its public notification protocol in light of the
concerns being expressed.
"What we have done since we've been discussing this is we're looking
at out public notification criteria and how we're going to get this
information out to people in a more user-friendly format," said
Doucett.
"We're going to be looking at a strategy to get the public
notification out in a more widespread fashion."
Cheryl Webb says she would have done whatever she could to stop
herbicide spraying on NB Power lines near her home had she known about
it. (CBC)
At a meeting earlier this week in Fredericton Junction between two
dozen concerned rural residents and MLA Jeff Carr, CBC News asked all
those present if they had ever received a warning about spraying or
read a newspaper ad about the planned treatments.
None of those in attendance said they had.
Cheryl Webb said had she known the herbicide program was approaching,
she would have tried to stop it.
"I would have parked myself down here or laid on the road," she said.
"I would have done whatever I could to keep them from spraying. I
would have not allowed it. I would have sat down here and called my
neighbours and we would have stood in front of them. Anything to get
them to stop."
Community fears have been directed at the usage of herbicide Vision Max.
NB Power has approval from the Department of Environment and Local
Government to use the herbicide despite its main ingredient being
recently classified as a probable carcinogen by the research branch of
the World Health Organization.
Nobes's statement says the product is approved by the Pesticide
Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) a branch of Health Canada and
properly administered on the transmission lines.
"The product is applied by licensed applicators at labelled
concentrations considered essentially non-toxic to humans and
wildlife. It is water soluble, mixed at 96 parts water to four parts
product, with approximately two litres applied per acre."
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Good talking to you Rick Please notice the other Rick Doucet got this email
David Amos
<motomaniac333@gmail.com> Thu, Jul 6, 2017 at 2:18 PM
To: rdoucett@nbpower.com
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
http://nbwoodlotowners.ca/board-members/
Mr. Rick Doucett – President
506 470-8748
rdoucett@nbpower.com
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick- woodlot-federation-1.4192436
N.B. trade minister got things wrong on softwood lumber, says woodlot group
New Brunswick Woodlot Federation accuses Roger Melanson of pushing
incorrect history of Crown land management
CBC News Posted: Jul 06, 2017 11:50 AM AT
Here is where I posted it on the Internet
http://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.ca/2017/05/re-money- advisory-and-mean-old-me.html
Rick Good Talking to you again FYI I could Have lestened into you
meeting because you pocket dailed me after we ended our cal (I didn't)
David Amos
<motomaniac333@gmail.com> AttachmentThu, Oct 12, 2017 at 6:49 AM
To: rdoucett@nbpower.com, nbfwo@nbnet.nb.ca
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
Bcc: Gerald Bourque <kisspartyofnb@gmail.com>
http://nbwoodlotowners.ca/board-members/
Mr. Rick Doucett – President
506 470-8748
rdoucett@nbpower.com
Obviously David Coon and his crooked buddies yappin pissed me off
again yesterday
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/private-woodlot- forestry-mills-recommendation- 1.4347355
Province 'continuing to work on' 2015 recommendation designed to help
private woodlot owners
Auditor general criticized government for failing to ensure private
woodlots get fair share of market
By Jacques Poitras, CBC News Posted: Oct 10, 2017 7:15 PM AT
FYI this is the email that I was talking about on the phone It can be
found on page 8 within Tab E of the appeal book in Federal Court check
out the attachment. (I will forward the entire email to you next)
Please notice I mention Tab E at the 26 minute mark of this hearing
https://archive.org/details/May24thHoedown
Trust that your friend David Coon and his crooked pals know everything
Veritas Vincit
David Raymond Amos
902 800 0369
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 21:43:07 -0400
Subject: Attn Peter Milliken and Andrew Clark we just talked about
softwood and my being barred from parliamentry properties Now please
checkout my files and this evil bastard's blog What would you do if
this was published about your children
To: pmilliken@cswan.com, "jon.gerrard" <jon.gerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca>,
"David.Coon" <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, nbfwo@nbnet.nb.ca,
pecman.john@ic.gc.ca, Garneau.Alain@ic.gc.ca,
inister.industry@ic.gc.ca
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
Trust that there are lots more
https://baconfatreport.wordpress.com/2015/06/18/ gracie-amos-bites-the-dust/
https://baconfatreport.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/ david-amos-hooker-daughter- gracie-on-the-slab/
https://baconfatreport.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/ summertime-in-edmonton-the- execution-of-the-amos-klan- and-glenford-canning/
https://baconfatreport.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/ gracie-amos-getting-ready-to- turn-tricks-tonight/
https://baconfatreport.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/ david-amos-daughters/
https://baconfatreport.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/ rachel-notleys-government- looking-for-an-albertans- undeclared-income/
http://greenpartynb.ca/en/featured-candidates/473- andrew-clark
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/ h_00148.html
What is the Competition Bureau?
The Competition Bureau, as an independent law enforcement agency,
ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a
competitive and innovative marketplace. Headed by the Commissioner of
Competition John Pecman Phone 819-997-3304 and Alain Garneau Assistant
Deputy Commissioner Phone 514-283-7996
New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners Inc.
819 Royal Road
Fredericton, New Brunswick
E3G 6M1
Phone: 506-459-2990
Fax: 506-459-3515
Email: nbfwo@nbnet.nb.ca
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Peter Milliken <pmilliken@cswan.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 22:40:42 +0000
Subject: Re: WOW Is Linda McQuaig ever gonna be pissed off at Premier
Notley and her crew of corrupt cops EH Mr Harper and Jesse Brown?
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
David,
I found a note with your phone number on it recently and tried to call
but it did not work. 902-800-0369. Is that still good? Should I try
another number? I think you called me and left a message but it was
some time ago.....
Cheers!
Peter Milliken
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2017 16:25:57 -0400
Subject: Re: The EUB Matter 357 and Section 100 of the Electricty Act
Yo Minister Ricky Doucet here is some of YOUR documents and that of
your friends to enjoy
To: "rick.doucet" <rick.doucet@gnb.ca>, "Paul.Harpelle"
< Paul.Harpelle@gnb.ca>, "darrow.macintyre" <darrow.macintyre@cbc.ca>,
"Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "Robert. Jones"
< Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, nmoore <nmoore@bellmedia.ca>, premier
< premier@gnb.ca>, "David.Coon" <David.Coon@gnb.ca>, "greg.byrne"
< greg.byrne@gnb.ca>, "Jack.Keir" <Jack.Keir@gnb.ca>, "blaine.higgs"
< blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, "Dominic.Cardy" <Dominic.Cardy@gnb.ca>,
"hugh.flemming" <hugh.flemming@gnb.ca>, "serge.rousselle"
< serge.rousselle@gnb.ca>, "denis.landry2" <denis.landry2@gnb.ca>
Cc: David.Raymond.Amos@gmail.com, briangallant10
< briangallant10@gmail.com>, "brian.gallant" <brian.gallant@gnb.ca>,
"Bill.Morneau" <Bill.Morneau@canada.ca>, markandcaroline
< markandcaroline@gmail.com>, upriverwatch <upriverwatch@gmail.com>,
oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, gphlaw@nb.aibn.com,
gphlaw2@nb.aibn.com, bob@managesim.com, david.sollows@gnb.ca,
Gilles.volpe@enbridge.com, Paul.Volpe@enbridge.com,
dave.lavigne@enbridge.com, len.hoyt@mcinnescooper.com,
KissPartyofNB@gmail.com, cstewart@stewartmckelvey.com,
hanrahan.dion@jdirving.com, lcozzarini@nbpower.com,
jfurey@nbpower.com, srussell@nbpower.com, wharrison@nbpower.com,
NBPRegulatory@nbpower.com, NConnellyBosse@nbpower.com,
general@nbeub.ca, ecdesmond@nbeub.ca, Michael.Dickie@nbeub.ca,
John.Lawton@nbeub.ca, Dave.Young@nbeub.ca, Kathleen.Mitchell@nbeub.ca,
heather.black@gnb.ca, rdk@indecon.com, sussexsharingclub@nb.aibn.com,
jeff.garrett@sjenergy.com, dan.dionne@perth-andover.com,
pierreroy@edmundston.ca, ray.robinson@sjenergy.com,
marta.kelly@sjenergy.com, sstoll@airdberlis.com,
pzarnett@bdrenergy.com, leducjr@nb.sympatico.ca
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Doucet, Rick (LEG)" <Rick.Doucet@gnb.ca>
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 01:07:58 +0000
Subject: RE: Final Docs
To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Will get right on this.
Always look forward to your brilliant thoughts.
R
Hon.Rick Doucet
Legislative member for Charlotte-the isles
28 Mt.Pleasant Rd.
St.George, N.B. E5C 3K4
Phone / Téléphone : 506-755-4200
Fax / Télécopieur : 506-755-4207
E-mail / Courriel : rick.doucet@gnb.ca
This message is intended for the person to whom it is addressed and is
to be treated as confidential or private communications. It must not
be forwarded unless permission has been received from the originator.
If you have received this message inadvertently, please notify the
sender and delete the message. Then delete your response. Thank you
for your cooperation.
------------------------------------------------------------ --
Ce message est destiné à la personne désignée dans la présente et il
doit demeurer confidentiel. Il ne doit pas être réacheminé sans la
permission de l’expéditeur. Si ce message vous a été envoyé par
erreur, veuillez aviser l’expéditeur et effacer le message. Effacez
ensuite votre réponse. Merci de votre collaboration.
New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board
Commission de L'Energie et des Services Publics N.-B.
Matter 357
IN THE MATTER OF an application by New Brunswick Power Corporation
with respect to proposed changes to its rate structure, rate classes
and rate design.
held at Board Premises, Saint John, N.B., on October 5th 2017.
Henneberry Reporting Service
New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board
Commission de L'Energie et des Services Publics N.-B.
Matter 357
IN THE MATTER OF an application by New Brunswick Power Corporation
with respect to proposed changes to its rate structure, rate classes
and rate design.
held at Board Premises, Saint John, N.B., on October 5th 2017.
BEFORE: Raymond Gorman, Q.C. - Chairman
Patrick Ervin - Member
Michael Costello - Member
New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board
Counsel - Ms. Ellen Desmond, Q.C.
Board Staff - David Young
- Michael Dickie
............................................................
CHAIRMAN: Good morning. This is a hearing of the New Brunswick
Energy and Utilities Board in relation to Matter 357, which is an
application by New Brunswick Power Corporation with respect to
proposed changes to its rate structure, rate classes and rate design.
At this point -- I think somebody has just joined us.
Today's hearing is a Motions Day. We had two motions filed, one by
the Public Intervenor and one by Mr. David Amos. The motion by the
Public Intervenor, the Board has been advised that that motion, which
was requesting additional information from IRs, that the additional
information has in fact been filed and that motion has been withdrawn.
That leaves us with one motion, that's Mr. Amos' motion.
So I will take the appearances at this time starting with NB
Power Corporation.
MR. FUREY: Good morning, Mr. Chair. John Furey. I am with Stephen
Russell and Natasha Connelly Bosse. Mr. Chair, I am having a little
difficulty hearing you.
CHAIRMAN: All right. If I move this microphone closer, is that a
little bit better?
MR. FUREY: Yes, thank you.
CHAIRMAN: All right. And perhaps I could remind the parties to
mute their phones, if you can, when you are not talking, because we
get a lot of feedback on our conference phone. So David Amos?
MR. AMOS: Yes, sir. I am here. And Gerald Bourque is here as well.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Bourque is here as well. Thank you. Enbridge Gas
New Brunswick? Not on the line. J.D. Irving Limited?
MR. STEWART: Christopher Stewart, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Sussex Sharing Club? Not here.
Utilities Municipal?
MR. STOLL: Good morning, Mr. Chair. Scott Stoll. And Ms. Kelly is
on the other line.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Stoll. York North Veneer Products? Not
here. Public Intervenor?
MS. BLACK: Good morning, Mr. Chair. Heather Black.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Ms. Black. New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board?
MS. DESMOND: Good morning, Mr. Chair. It's Ellen Desmond. And
from Board Staff, David Young and Michael Dickie.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Ms. Desmond. The motion this morning filed by
Mr. Amos was filed on October 3rd and it's seeking an order from the
Board that it maintain the schedule that it ordered after the
pre-hearing conference on June 15th 2017. Of course, that schedule
was altered as a result of a motion that was heard on September 21st.
So, Mr. Amos, that's your motion, so I am going to ask you to proceed.
The Board notes that you filed a motion, but that -- with that motion
there was no additional evidence.
MR. AMOS: It's my understanding the evidence is not required. I
asked you about it on the 21st and you wouldn't answer me, but October
3rd was the deadline for Motion Day. The Public Intervenor and I both
filed a motion. That said, she withdrew, I did not.
According to the Act, this hearing that, as CBC, the Board has punted
down the road, is supposed to have been heard in three years when I
wanted to cross-examine Mr. Russell on the 21st. It was my
understanding he had years to prepare for this hearing and then why he
is suddenly too busy to go on with it, I had many questions with that
regard, particularly after a confidential meeting with NB Power this
summer. That said, you didn't allow me to cross-examine him, but you
did extend this matter till November 1st so people could get their
information responses, at the very least, and file motions with
questions.
As you know from the pre-conference hearing -- or the pre-hearing
conference on June 15th, I have many questions and I introduced myself
to you folks before I even became an intervenor. Nobody has asked me
any questions all summer, but the public is certainly entitled to know
why NB Power wants to go forward and blow more money to install smart
meters where there are many law suits, et cetera in many other
jurisdictions about site meters. They are supposed to reduce debt,
not increase debt. And the public are going to have to fund the
purchase of these site meters so then the public can turn around and
be billed more.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos, I don't want to interrupt you, but just on that
point, you should be aware that it's our understanding that the
general rate application for 2018/2019 will be filed probably --
MR. AMOS: I am talking about this hearing.
CHAIRMAN: -- probably this week.
MR. AMOS: I don't care about that one. I am talking about this hearing.
CHAIRMAN: No, I appreciate that, but you raise the issue of the
advanced metering and it's my understanding that that will be part of
the filing that the Board will receive over the next couple of days.
MR. AMOS: Yes, but this Board -- this hearing is relationship to
Mr. Todd's report that stakeholders -- you and me as people of this
province, by way of NB Power, paid Mr. Todd for his report. Mr. Furey
and his associates at NB Power want to keep most of that report
confidential from the stakeholders of this province. We paid Mr.
Furey for his report. We should have the right to read it. Now I
wouldn't sign any non-disclosure agreement with Mr. Furey. I only
want to know what the public is entitled to know. If NB Power wants
to keep its secrets, I can get it through the Private of Information
Act, or whatever that other people are in trouble for these days.
This hearing is ordered by the Act. They had three years to prepare
for this hearing, which is supposed to begin next spring. I don't
know why Mr. Russell, suddenly one week before the proper Motion Day,
which was October 3rd, or weeks before that -- and 30 minutes after
Mr. Hyslop pulls himself from the matter, they have a sudden motion to
have it dismissed sine die, which means forever, and the Board
accommodates NB Power with a proper Board hearing, not on a scheduled
Motion Day, and tried hard to make this matter go away. Well all that
happened was it's delayed until after the next election.
Meanwhile, I have got emails from your current Minister Rick Doucet
before the last election waiting to receive my documents. When he
received my documents, he said nothing since. You folks have never
responded to any of my emails. Nobody will talk to me on the phone.
And the only way I can speak to anyone is on the record, which is what
I am doing. This hearing was properly scheduled. All the
intervenors lined up, information requests, and information responses
and the hearing should go forward as per your mandate and the law that
was set down in 2013. That's my position. I don't know how you think
and NB Power think you can delay the matter down the road until you
are no longer Chair of the Board. You were appointed in 2007, your
term is up this year. I don't know who the next Chair of the Board
will be, he is yet to be appointed, but I will take it up with him.
That said, I told you I have the right to judicial review. That's
also in the Act. And I am quite -- I am being very honest with you, I
think this is political, period. Where is the Conservatives in this?
What's going on here? There is a properly scheduled hearing. The
Public Intervenor doesn't appear to be speaking on my behalf, but I
am.
And my number one concern, as a lot of Maritimers are who have voiced
it to me, is this smart meter nonsense and more debt. The Act was
there to bring the debt down and bring the equity up, it's my
understanding. I don't know how you increase equity by borrowing more
money. First off, to pay for these meters, you have to bill your
clients more money to recoup the money you borrowed to buy the smart
meters and then they might come forward with a profit. But I have
been in business a long time and I am older than most of you folks. I
have litigated and sued more lawyers, law firms, and argued with more
Attorney Generals and politicians than most folk can name.
Mr. Gorman, you cannot deny that I didn't send you a couple of very
interesting emails this weekend to remind you when I first introduced
myself to you in 2007. Correct? Are you there?
CHAIRMAN: Yes, I am here. And I am just waiting for the rest of
your submission.
MR. AMOS: Well that said, you used to be on the Board back in the
'90s, and then you had Mr. Stoll's job for a few years, and then when
Bernard Lord canned the old PUB -- and as you know, I was involved
with all of that. I sent you the documents and the National Energy
Board. And I ran in Saint John, just like Mr. Hyslop did. I sent you
his voicemail between him and I. I sent you all my documents. I sent
you the document that I gave NB Power in 2006, right after I ran for
Parliament in Fredericton. NB Power had hired Simpson Bartlett &
Thacher to sue Venezuela over orimulsion. Ms. Black's law firm,
McInnes Cooper were hired by Venezuela, Richard Costello, to search
with PUB as to when there was a pipeline from the Irving refinery to
Coleson Cove. All of this is easily verified in the information I
already sent you.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos --
MR. AMOS: I have issues with conflict of interest with Stewart
McKelvey. NB Power hired them to sue the insurance companies to
recoup losses on Lepreau. And Irving hired the same law firm to
approach this Board to protect Irving's interest. That's a huge
conflict of interest.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos --
MR. AMOS: Mr. Hoyt --
CHAIRMAN: -- Mr. Amos --
MR. AMOS: -- he picked the cabinet that you guys --
CHAIRMAN: -- excuse me, Mr. Amos --
MR. AMOS: -- report to. And he speaks for Enbridge while his law
firm -- his law firm partner is a Public Intervenor. I smell conflict
of interest everywhere I look in this matter. And everybody knows I
enjoy suing lawyers.
CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Amos --
MR. AMOS: As I said, I have --
CHAIRMAN: -- Mr. Amos, I --
MR. AMOS: -- a right to judicial review and I don't care --
CHAIRMAN: -- excuse me, Mr. Amos --
MR. AMOS: -- for the Court of Queen's Bench in Fredericton, I will
be suing you guys in Federal Court.
CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Amos, the motion that you brought today is for
an order from this Board to return --
MR. AMOS: To get you guys to obey the rules.
CHAIRMAN: -- excuse me, could you just wait a moment.
MR. AMOS: The law clearly states there is supposed to be a hearing
within three years.
CHAIRMAN: So which law are you referring to?
MR. AMOS: Section 100.
CHAIRMAN: Just one moment.
MR. AMOS: You guys are supposed to report to the Executive Council
and, et cetera, et cetera. The law is the law. Rules are rules.
Then there is Bill 60 about accountability. I know when the
Conservatives come out with this Act in 2013, part of the NB Power's
mandate was to save money. They want to bill more, but I don't see
much evidence where they have cut costs. That was a big part of this
new bill.
CHAIRMAN: Can I bring you back to your section 100. You are
talking about section 100 of the Electricity Act?
MR. AMOS: Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN: And you are saying that this Board was supposed to do
something within three years?
MR. AMOS: There is all kinds -- have you read the Act?
CHAIRMAN: I have.
MR. AMOS: That's just one part of it.
CHAIRMAN: Is that -- but I am not sure how your argument pertains to what --
MR. AMOS: My argument is --
CHAIRMAN: -- excuse me, just --
MR. AMOS: -- the Act says --
CHAIRMAN: -- Mr. Amos, I would like to know how --
MR. AMOS: Are you a lawyer?
CHAIRMAN: -- I would like to know how that --
MR. AMOS: You are a lawyer, sir.
CHAIRMAN: -- I would like --
MR. AMOS: You don't understand the Act?
CHAIRMAN: -- I would like to know --
MR. AMOS: We will argue the Act in another court, if you don't
understand the Act you are supposed to follow. If you want to argue a
layman about some small portion of the Act -- but you will see in the
Act where the Executive Council is involved, section 100. How can
that be if you don't even have your hearing until after the next
election?
CHAIRMAN: Sir, your concerns seem to be about the --
MR. AMOS: I will take it up with the Executive Council right after
I hang up the phone, Rick Doucet.
CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Amos, your concerns that you talked about this
morning seem to --
MR. AMOS: I am asking you to obey the law and uphold your own
rules, as per your mandate. This hearing was properly scheduled, all
the intervenors lined up. They had their information requests,
information responses. And now all of a sudden, just because Mr.
Russell is too busy in September, you allow NB Power to end it. I
smell politics through and through, sir.
CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Amos, do --
MR. AMOS: It was politicians who appointed you to this position.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. --
MR. AMOS: Len Hoyt picked the Executive Council, for God's sake,
and he is an intervenor for Enbridge.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos, do you have anything else in respect to why
this matter should -- the original schedule should be --
MR. AMOS: Yes. Can you think of one good reason why I don't sue
you, Mr. Gorman? You have my documents. Do you understand what are
on file in your Board? Do you not see where I am already in Federal
Court suing the Queen? Did I not properly introduce myself before you
allowed me to be an intervenor? Did not I explain my issues to this
Board in no uncertain terms on June 15th?
I am here protecting my own interests as a citizen and a stakeholder
in this province who pays your wages.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos, anything further?
MR. AMOS: You are an officer of the court. You are obliged to
uphold the law, sir.
CHAIRMAN: Okay.
MR. AMOS: If you want to mince words with me with sections 100,
fine. We will do that in front of a judge.
CHAIRMAN: Anything further?
MR. AMOS: Yes. I look forward to meeting you in court, sir.
CHAIRMAN: Right. Thank you. Mr. Furey, anything?
MR. FUREY: Just very briefly, Mr. Chair. While it has not been
characterized by Mr. Amos, I think the appropriate way to treat the
motion is request for a re-hearing or variation of the Board's Order
of September 21st, which is permitted under section 43 of the EUB Act.
And rule 8.1.1. sets out how the Board would go about that or how the
application should demonstrate whether the Board should exercise its
discretion to do that. And in that rule, it talks about the types of
things that you would expect to see in this type of application,
whether there is some alleged error of law or jurisdiction, I don't
hear that. And whether there is any new facts or new evidence that
was not before the Board at the time it made its decision on September
21st, I don't hear any of that.
MR. AMOS: You had lots of my information before September 21st.
It's properly documented.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos, you had an opportunity --
MR. FUREY: Well, Mr. Amos, you had your turn. Let me speak please.
CHAIRMAN: Yes. Mr. Amos, you have had an opportunity to speak.
It's Mr. Furey's --
MR. AMOS: Yes, I am considered hostile by Mr. Furey.
MR. FUREY: I can't imagine why.
MR. AMOS: We will find out in another court, won't we, Mr. Furey?
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Amos --
MR. FUREY: So, Mr. Chair, I don't see any of the types of things
that would justify the Board exercising its jurisdiction to vary its
previous decision and so I would simply ask that the motion be
dismissed.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Furey. Mr. Bourque?
MR. AMOS: Mr. Bourque?
MR. BOURQUE: Yes. No, I think the motion should -- you know, we
should go ahead with this. That's what the Act says, that's what we
should be doing.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Bourque. We have a new participant.
MR. VOLPE: Paul Volpe, Enbridge Gas.
CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Mr. Volpe.
MR. VOLPE: My apologies.
CHAIRMAN: Yes. So we are partway through the hearing of the
motion, Mr. Volpe. Do you have anything to say about this motion? Do
you have --
MR. VOLPE: I do not. Please proceed. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Stewart?
MR. STEWART: I have no submissions.
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Stoll?
MR. STOLL: Mr. Chair, I think Mr. Furey captured our position.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Ms. Black?
MS. BLACK: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree with Mr. Furey's analysis
based on the EUB Act and the Rules of Procedure and I have no further
submission.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Ms. Desmond, any comments?
MS. DESMOND: No, comments, Mr. Chair.
CHAIRMAN: All right. Just give us a moment. We are just going to
recess briefly, but I am going to ask the parties to stay on the
phone.
(Short recess)
CHAIRMAN: All right. The Board will now provide a decision with
respect to this matter.
Mr. Amos filed this motion on October 3rd seeking an order from the
Board that it maintain the schedule that it ordered after the
pre-hearing conference on June 15th 2017.
By way of background, NB Power filed a rate design application on May
1st 2017. A pre-hearing conference was held on June 15th 2017. The
Board provided a complete and final filing schedule to all parties on
July 13th. A hearing was set for April 9th 2018.
On September 12th, NB Power filed a motion seeking an adjournment of
this matter. This motion was heard on September 21st 2017 at which
time all parties had the opportunity to comment on NB Power's request
for an adjournment.
Having considered all of the submissions at that time, including that
of Mr. Amos, the Board determined that -- and I am quoting from that
decision -- "it should exercise its discretion and grant an
adjournment in this matter. The Board finds that the AMI application
should precede the rate design hearing and therefore it is in the
public interest to grant an adjournment." I believe that can be found
in the transcript.
In a motion of October 3rd, Mr. Amos is asking the Board to
reconsider its decision of September 21st and to require NB Power to
proceed with the matter as was first ordered on July 13th.
Section 8 of the EUB Rules of Procedure specifically addressed the
process to be used when requesting the Board to review, rescind or
vary an order, which it is and able to do under section 43 of the Act.
The Rule provides that when an applicant makes a request of this
nature, the application should provide a number of things, including
the grounds on which they intend to rely and the changed circumstances
or new facts that have arisen since the close of the original
proceeding.
The Board has read the information provided in Mr. Amos' motion and
considered his comments at today's hearing. The Board finds that Mr.
Amos has provided no new information since the Board made its decision
on September 21st.
As a result, as per Section 8.2 of the Rules of Procedure, Mr. Amos
has not raised sufficient grounds to reconsider the Board's decision
of September 21st and the motion is dismissed. Thank you. And we
will now adjourn.
(Adjourned)
Certified to be a true transcript of
the proceedings of this hearing
as recorded by me, to the best of my
ability. Reporter
http://www.gnb.ca/legis/bill/FILE/57/3/Bill-39-e.htm
BILL 39
Electricity Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative
Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
PART 6
REGULATION OF ELECTRICITY
Division A
Planning
Integrated resource plan
100( 1) The Corporation shall, in accordance with subsection (4),
submit to the Executive Council for approval an integrated resource
plan that covers a planning period of not less than 20 years and that
includes the following:
(a) the Corporation’s load forecast for the planning period;
(b) demand-side management and energy efficiency plans considered by
the Corporation and those it has chosen for implementation;
(c) supply-side options considered by the Corporation and those it
has chosen for implementation;
(d) the anticipated impact on load of the demand-side management and
energy efficiency plans chosen for implementation by the Corporation;
(e) the cost implications of the demand-side management and energy
efficiency plans and supply-side options chosen for implementation by
the Corporation as projected for the initial 10-year period covered by
the integrated resource plan;
(f) any key assumptions relied on by the Corporation in developing
the integrated resource plan;
(g) a description of the stakeholder consultations carried out by the
Corporation in developing the integrated resource plan; and
(h) any other information the Corporation considers relevant or that
is ordered by the Board under subsection (3) to be included.
100( 2) Subject to any changes requested under subsection (7), an
integrated resource plan shall be developed by the Corporation in
accordance with the principles of least-cost service, economic and
environmental sustainability and risk management.
100( 3) The Board may, on its own motion, order the Corporation to
include additional information in any subsequent integrated resource
plans submitted under subsection (1) for the approval of the Executive
Council.
100( 4) An integrated resource plan shall, at the following times, be
submitted to the Executive Council under subsection (1) for approval:
(a) within one year after the commencement of this section;
(b) at any time on the request of the Board; and
(c) at least once every three years after the date of the submission
of the latest integrated resource plan under either paragraph (a) or
(b).
100( 5) The Executive Council shall approve or reject an integrated
resource plan within 90 days after receipt of the plan.
100( 6) If the Executive Council does not render a decision under
subsection (5) within the time specified in that subsection, the
integrated resource plan shall be deemed to be approved on the expiry
of that time.
100( 7) The Executive Council may request changes to an integrated
resource plan or request additional information from the Corporation
before approval.
100( 8) An integrated resource plan approved by the Executive Council
under subsection (5) or deemed to be approved under subsection (6)
shall be filed by the Corporation with the Board within 30 days after
the approval or deemed approval.
Strategic, financial and capital investment plan
101( 1) The Corporation shall file with the Board for information
purposes within one year after the commencement of this section and
annually after that a strategic, financial and capital investment plan
covering the next ten fiscal years that includes the following:
(a) a schedule showing, for each fiscal year covered by the plan,
each capital project contemplated by the Corporation that has a total
projected capital cost of $50 million or more and the related
projected annual capital expenditures for each such project;
(b) a schedule showing, for each fiscal year covered by the plan, the
projected aggregate capital expenditures that relate to the capital
projects contemplated by the Corporation that have a projected total
capital cost of less than $50 million;
(c) the revenue requirements of the Corporation for each fiscal year
covered by the plan;
(d) a projected balance sheet for the Corporation for each fiscal
year covered by the plan;
(e) the Corporation’s load and revenue forecast for each fiscal year
covered by the plan;
(f) a schedule showing, for each fiscal year covered by the plan, the
projected annual overall change in rates for sales of electricity
within the Province, expressed as a percentage, that is necessary to
meet the revenue requirements referred to in paragraph (c); and
(g) any other information that the Corporation considers relevant or
that is ordered by the Board under subsection (2) to be included.
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