Great.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and committee members. I really appreciate this opportunity.
In the forest industry we're proud of the work we do and the products we make. Forestry is vitally important for our lives, whether it's building materials for a safe place to live; pulp for essential services and products like PPE, laboratory filters and food packaging; and sustainable energy to keep the lights on in the cold Canadian winter, even in cloudy Vancouver.
I'd like to add to that: a secure and sustainable livelihood for 230,000 Canadians who work in our industry, not to mention the additional 370,000 Canadians whose jobs are created by our economic activity. That's 600,000 jobs in total, dependent on forestry in Canada. People can feel good about those products and jobs. They're contributing to the management of the most sustainable forest resource in the world, a resource that's part of the solution for our climate change and a vehicle to get us to net zero.
In terms of the economic side, our forest industry is key to the recovery right across the country, but in Alberta it's even more acute. We've seen our economy decimated by the downturn in the energy industry. Rural communities have been hit especially hard with many resource jobs disappearing. Forestry communities, though, have faired much better. Our industry supports 40,000 jobs throughout the province, and they're stable, well-paying jobs. For many families, forestry has been a harbour in the storm.
Our industry is stable, but we do have real needs to maintain our vibrant future.
First, I'd like to look at the positive steps. I think that governments, both federally and provincially, have taken positive steps for forestry in Alberta, and indeed right across Canada. Minister O'Regan announced nearly $70 million to support pine beetle control work in Alberta. This work is absolutely essential to the forest health nationwide. I know that Ms. Yurkovich and our colleagues in British Columbia know all too well the destruction of the mountain pine beetle from both an environmental and economic perspective. By helping us to hold the line in Alberta you're helping to prevent the destruction that is occurring in forest communities across this country. We really want to acknowledge Minister O'Regan and his excellent departmental officials at Natural Resources Canada for this important funding.
Second, we are appreciative of the Government of Canada's recognition that forestry is part of the solution to climate change. We are encouraged that the throne speech identified foresters as the key personnel in this fight, and committed to planting two billion trees. We will partner with you on these initiatives every step of the way.
On the need side, the first and most pressing item for our industry is to maintain access to the land base. Without that land base and a stable supply of wood, nothing happens in the forest. Investments don't happen, jobs don't get created and products that the world needs won't get manufactured.
One of the real challenges to maintain that access and those jobs is the Species at Risk Act. This is a prescriptive piece of legislation that often calls for drastic steps. The real challenge is that there doesn't seem to be much of a 30,000-foot approach present. One day you're forced to take drastic measures that help one species but may not be beneficial to another. A year later a different species comes up for review and a whole different set of measures are on the table. It's a tunnel vision approach, and for our industry it's really damaging. It's difficult to know where we're going, and many of the measures restrict access to the land base. It's difficult to make investments and plan for growth.
We need an approach that looks at the land base and our species holistically and drives toward the broader goal of healthy landscapes and forests that support a diversity of species. It's time to end the prescriptive, one-off approach and move to something more sustainable for both the environment and our economy. It's time to consider overhauling the Species at Risk Act and transitioning to a multi-species approach.
It's also time for a firm commitment to a working forest. By that I mean forests that are managed collaboratively by government, communities and foresters.
We need to recognize that sterilizing our land base by excluding forestry and other resource industries is not a tenable solution. It will lead to unhealthy landscapes that are susceptible to forest fires and pest infestations. These events will not support species biodiversity and will harm recovery efforts. It will also hurt communities and undermine Canada's economic recovery. It will take the greatest tool on the fight against climate change out of our hands: That tool is sustainably managed forests.
We know that forests that are carefully planned and managed through harvesting and replanting are much more effective carbon sinks than those that are left untouched. Harvesting older forests and sequestering carbon in our homes, buildings and products that we use every day allows for planting of new forests. These new forests capture carbon as they grow, and that growth and sequestration is the best way to achieve our net-zero goals.
By committing to a working forest, we're doing the right thing for our communities. We're doing the right thing for our economy, and we're doing the right thing for our planet.
Thank you very much for your time and attention this afternoon.