As I was saying, NorSask Forest Products was purchased by MLTC in 1998. NorSask produces 150-million board feet of dimensional lumber per year and has annual gross revenues of approximately $60 million. The lion's share of the lumber produced is sold into the U.S. market, and the revenues earned are funnelled back to the benefit of the nine first-nation owner communities.
In 2018, MLTC purchased L&M Wood Products, a producer of pressure-treated wood posts and rails. It was felt there was a significant need to ensure the best use of timber being harvested from traditional land.
The addition of the L&M plant saw greater flexibility in the use of small diameter and oversized softwood that was not usable in the NorSask mill. The most recent entry into the pressure-treated wood products market sees an annual gross revenue of approximately $10 million and a sizeable reduction in wasted timber.
To ensure that we have adequate timber supply for our plants, MLTC has a 30-year history with ownership in Mistik Management Ltd., a woodlands administration company. Mistik has ensured stakeholder consultations, sustainability and controlled harvesting practices as well as encouraging the development of indigenous-owned forest harvesting and transport companies to ensure that the raw material reaches the mill.
The result of controlling our own forest management practices is that MLTC is the most senior indigenous forest management and woodlands operator of a major forest tenure in the Canadian forest sector. The success and continued operation of our forest industries has not come without immense effort and tenacity.
NorSask Forest Products is a survivor, having weathered the multi-year U.S. housing market collapse in the mid-2000s. We believe that NorSask is the only sawmill operation in Saskatchewan that did not shut down from 2007 to 2012. Although many others shuttered and in some cases failed to reopen, upon the reopening of markets, NorSask took steps to upgrade its finishing operation to make it more competitive and better able to meet market demands for planed lumber.
In 2020 we face another challenge related to maintaining operations and safety of our personnel in the COVID era. We have continued our operations through the implementation of stringent safety protocols and by allowing for flexible staffing in the face of unplanned absences that may arise due to worker shortages complicated by COVID.
As in every industry, we do our best to continue to manage our business while keeping the best interests of our staff in mind. Today, MLTC has the largest and best known 100% indigenous-owned forest products manufacturing companies and forest management company in Canada.
Through the direct ownership of these industrial plants, MLTC has been able to encourage and support indigenous business development related to the forestry industry. Today, both timber harvesting and trucking companies exist that are indigenous owned and that employ many first nations and Métis people in our region.
Here is a quote from Shane Vermette, our executive director of the Ministry of Energy and Resources in Saskatchewan. He said, “Saskatchewan leads Canada, and MLTC leads Saskatchewan, by far when it comes to lndigenous forestry business development, lndigenous employment in the forestry sector, and percent of annual allowable cut allocated to lndigenous businesses”.
Federal and provincial statistics show that in Saskatchewan, 31% of the population employed in the forestry sector is indigenous in comparison with three per cent overall in Canada. Our major lumber exporting provinces—Alberta and British Columbia—operate with seven and five per cent aboriginal employment participation in forestry respectively.
The results in Saskatchewan are accomplished through a planned effort and direct focus on goals for moving a disadvantaged segment forward. In addition to the presence of a success story and industry influencer like NorSask Forest Products, Canada must focus on the need for indigenous peoples to participate in the economy where they reside rather than having the natural resources leaving the region and no advantage being given to the indigenous residents of the area.
In many instances, non-local and even multinational corporations are moving their own interests forward without indigenous participation. Prime Minister Trudeau has stated that “No relationship is more important to me and to Canada than the one with indigenous people”. It is time for a renewed nation-to-nation relationship with indigenous peoples based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.
If this is to be true, Canada must continue to implement effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of the economic and social conditions of indigenous communities, including new indigenous ownership, growth and diversification in the Canadian forestry sector.