Quebec accused of catering to logging industry as it reviews how forests are managed

Quebec's boreal forest — twice the size of France — is a vast expanse of wilderness rich in biodiversity that can lock up huge amounts of climate-warming carbon dioxide.

It is also an economic driver for dozens of small communities.

With plant closures, job losses and the looming possibility of U.S. tariffs, Quebec's forestry sector is under strain — and the province is trying to make changes to support it.

But Indigenous leaders and environmental groups worry Quebec's planned reforms would give logging companies too much power over what areas are allowed to be cut.

Officials from the province's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests met with stakeholders, including First Nations groups, environmental groups and industry groups, behind closed doors this fall to discuss the proposed changes.

Participants were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement before being shown details of the plan. Several First Nations groups refused to sign the document, and 20 leaders went public with their concerns.

"Quebec has to be transparent about what their real intentions are," Ghislain Picard, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, told Quebec AM.

"To us, it seems very clear in light of all the information that we have, that the industry seems to be prevailing in what Quebec is trying to do."

Casey Ratt, chief of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, also known as the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation, told CBC News his community still lives with the damage caused by previous forestry activity.

"Elders go out into the territory and they don't recognize it anymore," Ratt said in an interview. His First Nation has a long history of fighting against clear-cutting logging in its territory, and reached a deal in 2018 with the Quebec government to consult before exploiting their traditional land.

"Enough is enough," Ratt said. "Anybody that comes into our territory — they will be asked to leave."

The Quebec government has faced accusations of working too closely with the logging industry in the past. Last week, the environmental group SNAP Quebec called for an independent investigation into the ties between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests and the industry.

SNAP Quebec was among those that met with the ministry and agreed to a non-disclosure agreement, said Pier-Olivier Boudreault, the group's conservation director.

"We were not comfortable with this," he said.