As the debate rages on about what should be done to quell the forest crisis, a movement is growing to enable communities to control wood allocation.
One such voice is that of John Kapel Jr., owner of Timmins-based Little John Enterprises. 
Along with his father, John Kapel Sr., he has run his value-added sawmill without a proper wood allocation, for which he has fought for the last 27 years.
“I’ve succeeded despite, not because of, the current tenure system,” Kapel Jr. says.
“Something seriously needs to be done about this, and we’re not just talking about this just for our own sake, but for everyone.”
Under the current system of Sustainable Forest Licenses (SFL), Crown land is allocated by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). The license on the land is reviewed by the MNR every five years, and if the review is favorable, the license is renewed for another five years.
If the review is negative, however, the license is not renewed.
However, as reviews are held every five years, companies can essentially obtain the licenses in perpetuity, he says.
Dave Hayhurst, the MNR’s manager of wood allocation, says only in the most extreme cases, are licenses revoked.
In fact, he has not seen it happen once since the Crown Forest Sustainability Act was instituted in 1994.
However, some agreements are set out in every SFL where a commitment of wood from a specific management unit is dedicated to a particular mill. In this case, the SFL holder must ensure that his commitment is honoured and the mill in question receives its allocated portion.
While the numerous companies not included in the supply agreement can strike a deal with SFL holders to make some use of the licensed forest, they are largely at the mercy of companies who may potentially view them as a competitor.
What’s more, this lack of a dedicated allocation can hamper a company’s ability to expand, Kapel Jr. says.
As an example, he points to the fact that banks are unwilling to provide loans to fund potential expansions without a stable, reliable access to wood.
This lack of allocation can hamper a company in other ways as well, says Kapel Sr.
“At one point, John (Kapel Jr.) kept a book to track the jobs we had to turn down because we didn’t have a proper allocation,” he says. “By the end of just one year, it totalled in the millions.”
These types of problems are endemic in the industry, Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren says.
By preventing communities from having a say in which local firms may be able to access the wood supply, many Northern Ontario municipalities are suffering alongside the many small businesses within their borders.
Laughren, who recently spoke out against the current SFL system alongside the Timmins Economic Development Corporation and the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, says small and medium-sized enterprises who branch out into value-added are one way the forest industry can heal itself.
However, under the current system, it’s increasingly difficult for small value-added enterprises to spring up, he says. As a result, the current tenure system needs to be adjusted to include communities as a stakeholder or primary voice in the allocation process.
“The problem is that the industry has all but sewn up the wood supply,” Peggy Smith, associate professor at Lakehead University’s Faculty of Forestry and the Forest Environment, says.
“The question becomes how to free things up, how to rejig the system. I think the answer includes bringing in Northern community involvement.”
Smith is also part of the Northern Ontario Sustainable Communities Partnership (NOSCP), a forest-focused group dedicated to transforming the Northern economy through overall sustainability.
In recent weeks, the NOSCP has issued a Forest Charter, which advocates a series of measures designed to localize control of forest management in order to maintain the economic, social and environmental health of the region.
The thrust of these ideas is largely centered around establishing boards or committees made up of community representatives, who would play an equal part in the process of deciding forest allocation.
The NOSCP is currently seeking funding for a conference in the spring of 2008 in order to further explore the ideas put forth in the Forest Charter.
The Charter has been endorsed by more than 20 groups and nearly 100 individuals, and the list is growing on a regular basis. The Municipality of Greenstone and the Township of Opasatika have endorsed it, as have the Saving the Region of Ontario North Group (STRONG) and the Wildlands League.
The idea is also wholly endorsed by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), which represents 9,000 forestry workers throughout Ontario.
“What a joke the tenure system has become,” Cec Makowski, vice-president of CEP’s Ontario division, says.
“Private interests are largely in control of a public forest, and we need to continue to evolve the tenure system.”
In the past, Makowski has advocated for cutting rights to be reverted to communities when a corporation closes a local mill, thus giving them control of their own destiny. The Forest Charter is a natural extension of that philosophy, he says.
Throughout the summer, the CEP sponsored a Task Force on Resource Dependent Communities, which toured the North in search of developing opinions on how to help resolve the current forest crisis. Among its final recommendations were a reform of the forest tenure industry, with greater involvement of community stakeholders and workers.
“This is not a new position, and we’re certainly pleased to see that the NOSCP has come out on the subject, creating a meeting of the minds on a number of points. We all recognize that the crisis isn’t over, and instead of engaging in rhetoric, we need to actually do something.” says Makowski.
