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House Hansard - 202

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 202 - May/30/23
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • May/30/23 10:11:46 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today with a petition of grave concern to residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands and throughout Vancouver Island. The petitioners draw attention to the alarmingly dwindling remaining original old-growth forests of British Columbia, of which only 2.7% remain. On Vancouver Island, only 2.6% of old-growth forests are protected. The last unprotected intact old-growth valley on southern Vancouver Island, Fairy Creek, has been subjected to logging and has been the site of many arrests for non-violent civil disobedience. The petitioners call on the federal government to work with the provinces and first nations governments to immediately halt the logging of endangered old growth, to fund long-term protection of old-growth forests and to support value-added forestry to create more jobs in partnership with first nations. On this important point, the federal government could ban the export of raw logs to maximize the use of forests in local communities and create local jobs, and ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production, which is promoted as a false climate solution.
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