Day 056 - 28 Nov 94 - Page 55


     
     1        Western United States, are the source of supply of the
     2        packaging material for McDonald's.  If, in fact, somebody
     3        tells me they are, it may be relevant, but certainly from
     4        the information I have been given, the mills in Canada,
     5        nine of the mills are in the east of Canada and two of them
     6        are in the middle of Canada and none of them are in the
     7        western area.  But if I have been given wrong information
     8        I am happy to answer the question.
     9
    10   Q.   There is old growth in the centre of Canada, is there not?
    11        A.  Well, yes, in point of fact it will be identifiable old
    12        growth anywhere in any forest region, but if you would like
    13        me to address the situation in the middle of Canada,
    14        certainly let us assume that a proportion of the forest
    15        supplying the two mills which are in the middle area out of
    16        48 mills in the United States and Canada, those two mills
    17        do draw from existing mature forest or old-growth forest.
    18        I think the points that I have been trying to make in this
    19        report and elsewhere, is that the management of those
    20        old-growth forests includes the taking out from the forest,
    21        forest that has suffered either pest disease, wind throw,
    22        or in the course of producing construction materials
    23        produces a waste and that some proportion of that waste
    24        might well go into packaging for McDonald's.
    25
    26        That is something which will have to be seen on a
    27        mill-by-mill basis and it would be by the very nature of
    28        the placing of those mills a very small proportion of their
    29        production, because no one, as far as I can see, is very
    30        likely to place a pulp mill in the middle of on old-growth
    31        forest.  They would not find a sustainable resource over
    32        the years ahead if they did.  It is almost certain that a
    33        pulp mill of this kind will be placed where regenerated
    34        forest and plantation forest are the major source of
    35        supply.
    36
    37        I make that statement so that you can ask me a further
    38        question, but it is certainly my belief in everything
    39        I have looked at so far, that pulp mills have been placed
    40        where the resource for the future is essentially on a
    41        sustained yield basis and from plantation forest and not
    42        from old-growth forest.
    43
    44   Q.   But if old-growth forests are being cut, the wood is going
    45        to mills somewhere?
    46        A.  Old-growth forest, if we are talking about the genuine
    47        trees of old-growth forest and not those that have been
    48        blown down or not those that have in one way or another
    49        ceased to be growing, the old-growth forest trees will all
    50        be going for construction materials and not for paper and 
    51        pulp.  It would be the residue and waste of that sawmill 
    52        product or plywood mill product that might go into paper 
    53        making.
    54
    55   Q.   There are paper mills, though, based right by old-growth
    56        forests, are there not, for example in North Alberta which
    57        uses old-growth forests?  Is it called Al Pack, a very
    58        large pulp mill?
    59        A.  Yes.
    60

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