Thank you very much.
I too would like to acknowledge the traditional territory of the Algonquin Nation, particularly the Pikwàkanagàn, whose traditional territory we are now meeting on. My thanks to them. I would also like to thank the standing committee for the invitation to be here.
With me is Brad Young. He is our senior policy adviser, and I am the executive director of NAFA, the National Aboriginal Forestry Association.
First I'll tell you a bit about NAFA.
We are a non-governmental first nation-controlled organization focused on research and advocacy activities in the forest sector. We advocate for policy frameworks that address aboriginal rights, values, and interests leading to a more equitable sharing of benefits from the forest resources of this vast land we call Canada.
We wish to contribute to the goal of building an aboriginal forest-based economy. We recognize that an aboriginal forest-based economy cannot be achieved in isolation from the broader forest sector or from the economic realities facing all forest industries in Canada; we do, however, have circumstances, challenges, and opportunities unique to the aboriginal forest sector.
The term “aboriginal forest sector” is probably one you have not heard frequently, or possibly ever before, yet it is probably one the oldest economic sectors in North America, predating the arrival of Europeans and others. For multiple generations, aboriginal people have depended on forests for food, shelter, medicine, and a wide range of forest resources to produce goods and materials, thereby sustaining their livelihood and culture.
For aboriginal people, forests today are every bit as important as they were centuries ago. We have to recognize the significance of forests to future generations of aboriginal people and the potential they offer for the socio-economic advancement of aboriginal communities. It is important, therefore, that the aboriginal forest sector be considered a contemporary concept and an integral component of Canada's economy.
In our work at NAFA with first nations, we have found it necessary to differentiate the aboriginal forest sector from the broader forest sector in Canada. What is different about the aboriginal forest sector is that our forest values with respect to forest land and resource use does not mirror those of the dominant forest industries. Also, the form of business ownership and forest management governance is community-based rather than controlled by multinational corporations. Statutory and jurisdictional arrangements with respect to our forested lands, though largely inadequate from a management and development point of view, are specific to first nations. The focus of aboriginal forest-based development is on smaller-scale operations and value-added products and services rather than the mass production of commodities. Finally, there are niche markets for aboriginal-produced forest products that differ from those of large forest companies.
My purpose in emphasizing that the aboriginal forest sector is different is to point out the need for specially focused programming, policy, and institutional support to advance the aboriginal forest sector. The federal and provincial governments provide access to forest resources for the broader forest sector and have helped to support the forest industries in many ways. Programs like the pulp and paper green transformation program, the Canada wood export program, and others have been a means by which the federal government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years in forest products development and in the industries that produce them. The aboriginal forest sector, however, receives no such recognition and support.
Considering that the federal government has constitutional responsibility for Indians and lands reserved for Indians and that 80% of first nations communities are located in forest-producing areas of the country, creating the conditions for aboriginal forest development should be a priority. The new federal framework for aboriginal economic development does not reflect this as a priority.
Despite the lack of attention to the aboriginal forest sector as an important segment of the economy, aboriginal people are gaining prominence in forest sector activity. Through court decisions, land claim settlements, and increased access to provincial forest tenures, aboriginal people in some parts of the country now have access to resources in significant volume, warranting new approaches to support the diversification of the aboriginal forest sector.
To advance the aboriginal forest sector and its diversification, policy and program support is needed in the following areas: capacity development support to first nations governance to enable effective, sustainable forest management at the community level; human resource development in professional and technical skill areas related to forest-based development; investment capital, of course; forest research and research and development support with respect to forest land management and forest product development; marketing and market development support for existing businesses and new entrants to the sector, which would advance the aboriginal causes in the sector; and institutional arrangements with respect to management of the forested land base, which would enable forest resource access and effective land use consistent with community values.
Now, concerning the aboriginal land base that is potentially available to aboriginal people for forest sector activity, there are basically three categories of land: provincial crown lands, treaty settlement lands, and Indian reserves. These three categories of land each come with different jurisdictional arrangements.
Right now, the vast majority of first nations and aboriginal people and companies involved in forest sector activity operate on crown land. Stated another way, aboriginal forest resources development occurs in the traditional territories of first nations in accordance with provincial tenure systems or through contracting with forest companies.
Though reluctantly, some provinces are engaging first nations through consultation processes, resulting in an increased number of aboriginal-held forest tenures. Forest tenure is becoming an acceptable interim measure to aboriginal and treaty rights recognition for some first nations.
Currently first nations collectively hold across the country approximately 13 million cubic metres of timber. In some parts of the country, the issue is becoming market access for aboriginal producers, considering that the forest industries in Canada are experiencing a long-term downturn as a result of their decreased competitiveness at the global level.
With respect to forested land under the jurisdiction of first nations that have settled land claims or have entered into modern-day treaties, land management regimes addressing forest management are being implemented. There are, however, only a handful of such cases, and where this is occurring, it is normally the practice to adopt provincial standards. As you know, most land claim settlements have occurred in the northern regions of the country, where commercial forestry is not prevalent. Thus, we don't have a great deal of experience in terms of forest management through land claims and treaty land settlement agreements.
The reserve land base falls under federal jurisdiction, specifically under sections 93 and 57 of the Indian Act and the Indian timber regulations made pursuant to those sections. The inadequacy of this management regime has been described in numerous studies and reports, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996, and by the Auditor General on at least three occasions since 1986.
The forest management regime provides authority not to first nations but to the Minister of AANDC, and only for the cutting of timber. The forest management regime does not address environmental or sustainability issues, nor does it call for forest management planning on the part of first nations. The result has been overharvesting, lack of reforestation, inadequate site tending, and overall mismanagement on Indian reserve lands.
In 1996 NAFA proposed a first nation forest resources management act as optional and alternative legislation to the Indian Act. This is much like the First Nations Land Management Act. Our legislative proposal, however, encountered major stumbling blocks, particularly those centred around federal liability for the past mismanagement of reserve forests and also the cost of forest land rehabilitation.
The primary reason Indian reserve forests have not garnered much attention lately has been the reduced demand for timber by the large forest industries. It has been said by certain parties that on their own, Indian reserve forests are small, and the majority do not contain merchantable timber in volumes sufficient to support any notion of a viable forestry operation.
This is not our view at NAFA. Our view is that Indian reserve forests should be models of sustainable forest management practices in Canada, despite their small size. This should begin with forest management regimes that value uses other than timber and enable first nations to innovate and combine reserve land resources with those acquired otherwise, such as forest tenure from the provinces.
To conclude, we feel it is important for the federal government to acknowledge the aboriginal forest sector, its needs and potential. The federal government could play a key role in implementing measures to support the aboriginal forest sector. In the broader forest sector, the federal government is responsible for issues of importance to the national economy, including trade and international relations as well as federal lands and parks, and it has constitutional, treaty, political, and legal responsibilities for aboriginal peoples and their interests.
The federal government has jurisdictional responsibility for “Indians, and lands reserved for Indians”, a fiduciary obligation for the good management of first nations interests, and a constitutional duty to protect aboriginal treaty rights and in some circumstances to accommodate aboriginal treaty rights. Despite this responsibility, the federal government has been quite silent on the relationship between aboriginal rights and interests and forest management in Canada. Supporting the aboriginal forest sector would be thinking outside the box and would be considered a proactive approach to many of the aforementioned issues.
Thank you very much.