Welcome to “President’s Blog”
In many ways the story of the forest products industry is the story of Canada; a proud past carved out of the wilderness and a promising future of innovation.
Economics and engineering, history and human interest; the forest sector has something for everyone. Through this blog I hope to share some of those stories.
From the tree seedlings in the nursery to the cut lumber used to build homes; from the chemicals in individual cells of trees to the medicines and cosmetics they become, there are amazing stories of science and innovation. The forest is a green renewable resource and the forest sector has an important contribution to make to the sustainable development of Canada and the global economy.
I hope you will become a regular reader of the President’s Blog and you will share your thoughts and engage in the dialogue about where forestry has come and where it is going.
I’ll tell you what I’m thinking and I hope you will tell me what you are thinking about one of the most storied and interesting industries in the Canadian economy.
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Green Dream Internship Program
21 May 2013
So how do you connect with the next generation? What do they want? How do they communicate? Where do they get their information about jobs and how do they make decisions about careers?
The Green Dream Internship Program was design by FPAC and our member companies to raise awareness among young college and university students ― to tell them about job opportunities in the forest sector. It was designed to connect the industry with the next generation of workers and help young people become aware and enthused about a career in the forest industry.
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Greenestworkforce.ca web site
13 May 2013
Given some of the bad news stories about the forest industry over the previous decade, I often get quizzical looks from people when I tell them that we need to hire at least 60,000 new employees from general labourers to highly specialized engineers by the year 2020.
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Pulp Mills and Parliament Hill
03 May 2013
The offices of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) are located in downtown Ottawa just a few blocks from Parliament Hill. Our business is to be the voice for the forest industry and represent the industry’s views to the federal government so it makes sense that we are located in Ottawa.
Today, most Canadians do not think of the national capital as a ‘lumber town’ but in fact, the history of the Ottawa valley was, in large part, built on lumber. While the lumber business isn’t the dominant employer in the Ottawa Valley today, there are still a number of operating saw mills and some pulp and paper production in the area.
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Forest Products and Trade Relations
15 April 2013
Canada is a trading nation. We export over $454 billion of products around the world every year and forest products make up a significant percentage of total Canadian exports. In fact, through much of the 20th century, forest products were the dominant export from Canada.
As part of our work in Ottawa, FPAC represents the forest industry’s position on various trade issues and helps our member companies with trade concerns. So I was both pleased and honoured to be asked to join Minister of International Trade Ed Fast at a private luncheon for the outgoing Ambassador of Japan, Kaoru Ishikawa.
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Parliamentary Committees are part of the process
27 March 2013
When I speak with people about what I do at the Forest Products Association of Canada, I tend to get two, almost contradictory, reactions.
First, almost everyone is genuinely interested in the forest sector. But I also notice another reaction. People drift away from me at family gatherings and other social functions if I talk about the details of what we actually do to lobby for the forest industry in Ottawa.
People are interested in the forest industry; they just don’t have much interest in the process of lobbying government.
In this week’s blog I want to tell you about one example of what we do on a regular basis in Ottawa on behalf of the forest sector. But I warn you―it is usually at this point at a party when people say to me that they have to re-fill their glass.
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History of Forest Advocacy in Canada
20 March 2013
Working on policy and advocacy for the forest sector in Canada is an interesting job. This industry stretches from coast to coast; the issues range from economic to environmental, from international trade to innovation and technology. There is a long history and, as a renewable resource, a promising future for the forest sector in Canada.
As the newest President of FPAC, I stand on the shoulders of the dedicated advocates who went before me. And, like the practice of forestry itself, some of what we do today is planting seeds that will be harvested by our successors in the future.
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David Lindsay, President and CEO
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