Lt Governor Brenda Murphy ushered in the 3
rd
session of the 59
th
legislative assembly of New Brunswick with her speech from the throne last Tuesday.
Energizing the private sector and vibrant & sustainable communities were identified as themes of most relevance to forest sector. The industry insider in conversation with a government member hinted that conservation, carbon pricing, fair wood markets and labor capacity issues were key government agenda items touching forestry.
Three recent pieces of proposed legislation and motions to take note of:
- Green party leader David Coon, MLA for the urban riding of Fredericton South, tabled first reading of Bill 7 on Nov 20th. The bill seeks to amend the Crown Lands and Forests Act, focusing on re-establishing and re-defining proportional wood supply from private sources based on proportion of land tenure held. Also contained is a section to ban the use of aerial spraying of herbicides on crown land. Private land including forested and agricultural were noticeably absent from the bill.
- Liberal MLA for Moncton South, Cathy Rogers, proposed Motion 3 last Friday to strike a multi party committee and hold public hearings to examine the use of glyphosate-based herbicide on crown land and return with recommendations within six months to the legislature.
- Bill 18 was ordered for second reading on Wednesday. Entitled “An Act to Amend the Climate Change Act” it was submitted by Environment Minister Jeff Carr. The act seeks to legislate an output based pricing system for heavy industrial emitters of carbon. The system seeks to reduce industrial emissions by 10% by 2030 but as yet has not received federal approval.