Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting the FTQ to speak on the emergency order to protect boreal caribou under the Species at Risk Act, as well as on the consequences for forestry workers.
For the FTQ, the forestry sector accounts for 15,000 members, mainly with Unifor and the Syndicat des métallos.
We are grateful to the committee for inviting us here today, of course, even though we don't have any praise for the current government's management of the file. Since 2017, the FTQ has been trying to convince the Canadian government that it is urgent to implement a just transition policy, an internationally accepted concept that is endorsed by Canada under the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
By limiting the debate on the just transition to only the fossil fuel sector and creating a toxic landscape around the term, the Canadian government has foregone all the tools at its disposal to deal with a crisis such as the one we are experiencing with the caribou and to ensure the survival of the forestry industry.
For years, the FTQ has been urging the various levels of government to look at the challenges of the green transition and to plan it with those who will be affected by it, in the various economic sectors. The current urgent need to protect boreal caribou with no plan other than to identify protected areas exemplifies this situation perfectly.
From the outset, the FTQ has supported the need to protect boreal caribou. The central labour organization attended COP15 on biodiversity, held in Montreal in 2022, and supported the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal agreement, which aims to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030. It is imperative that these supports be accompanied by just transition measures, and we have reminded the federal government of this on many occasions. The FTQ is consistent about the imperatives of the climate crisis and the collapse of biodiversity, but it is also pragmatic about the needs of its members and their community. One crisis must not lead to another.
The FTQ also welcomed the passing of the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, but it criticized the fact that the act did not really include just transition elements. The act looks forward, but it leaves workers behind. It does not help prepare the workforce for a transition and a transformation. The caribou issue is a prime example of that.
We fully understand Ottawa's decision to act, since Quebec is not taking this seriously. The situation is urgent, and the biodiversity crisis must be taken seriously. It is not simply a matter of saving a species, but an entire ecosystem, which is an essential ingredient for the survival of life. If the climate crisis were a disease, saving biodiversity would be one of the cures.
We could have supported this order, but the ministers should not have been left with no solutions for workers. For two years now, we have been asking for a joint meeting with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada. We appreciate that the Department of the Environment has met with us on this a few times, but we're still waiting for a joint meeting with the two ministers concerned. We have presented a number of potential solutions and received a number of encouraging signals, but no concrete steps have been taken.
We are aware that the federal government's basket of response measures in Quebec is limited. The FTQ has always called for provincial jurisdictions to be respected. We understand that it is up to the provincial government to take action, which it is not doing. The parameters of the just transition are clear and known to the federal government. The idea is to establish a social dialogue that includes all the parties, including the departments and governments concerned, unions, employers and indigenous peoples. It also means providing a social safety net that is tailored to the situation. In the case of the order, it means rethinking employment insurance—for example, creating a dedicated fund and adapting the measures to the current situation.
The caribou situation is not just about determining how many square kilometres are needed to protect it. It also involves rethinking the forest and the forestry industry.