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Does the Graham government have a plan for New Brunswick's struggling forestry sector?

If it does, it is time Premier Shawn Graham and his Liberal government shared that vision with New Brunswickers, who watch in despair as their once powerful industry slides into an economic abyss.

In the two years since Premier Graham and the Liberals won power with the promise – among others – to revive the struggling forestry sector with new and innovative ideas, the industry continues its deep decline. In the meantime, mills continue to close and thousands of New Brunswick workers join unemployment lines or head west in search of high-paying jobs.

Not long ago, New Brunswick's forests provided an estimated 10 per cent of the province's gross domestic product (GDP). Today, communities such as Juniper, Plaster Rock, Miramichi, Bathurst and Dalhousie fight for survival as the mills, which provided their economic lifeblood, sit idle. In some cases these closures are permanent.

Countless studies offering a variety of suggestions to revive the industry and make use of New Brunswick's most abundant resources now gather dust on shelves in the New Brunswick capital. Pages of information gathered in a range of public consultations remain unused. Recently, the Graham government abruptly cancelled, without explanation, promised public consultations to discuss information gathered in a recent forestry survey.

Since taking office, the Graham government has delivered only mixed messages as to its forestry vision. The Self-Sufficiency Task Force report, authored by Francis McGuire and Gilles LaPage, suggested survival of the N.B. forestry industry required an end to small community mills in favour of two or three large corporate-owned operations. The government's handling of a growing list of small-mill closures indicates it is already leaning towards this model of forestry in the province. How else can they explain the decision to allow the allocation of Crown land from community mills to major forestry companies such as JD Irving, Limited?

If that is the view of the Graham government it is only fair it lay its plans on the table and allow public debate on the issue. No decision will be popular with all New Brunswickers, but regardless of the decision, the Graham government should at least demonstrate the courage of its conviction.

It is time to end the surprise announcements surrounding such a pivotal industry. Last week, as he unveiled his government's 2008-09 budget, Finance Minister Victor Boudreau blindsided New Brunswick's private woodlot owners with major cuts to the silviculture program. Not only will the government cut funding in half, it will drop its share of silviculture costs from 80 per cent to 50 per cent. Premier Graham and Minister Boudreau should know this will effectively kill the program and end almost all silviculture activities on private land. If this is their intended goal, they should make their motives clear.

The Graham government's haphazard approach to forestry leaves voters, especially those depending on forestry for their livelihood, confused and concerned. According Carleton-Victoria Forest Products Marketing Board general manager Tim Fox, harvesting from private woodlots has declined from approximately two-million cubic metres to less than a million. Meanwhile, he says, more than 4.5-million cubic metres will be taken from Crown land this year. He suggests the province's seven marketing boards may disappear if this trend does not quickly change.

Fox's voice is the latest addition to growing list of government critics suggesting the Graham government is getting its marching orders from big business, including JD Irving, Fraser Paper and the N.B. Forest Products Association.

There is no doubt large forestry companies have a vision for the future of forestry in New Brunswick which differs dramatically from many other industry stakeholders and much of the general public. Those divisions became clear during the many recent consultations and public surveys.

In fact, almost everyone has an opinion on what to do with New Brunswick's forests. Everyone, it seems, except Premier Shawn Graham and the Liberal government.

It is time they made their views public.