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432-01081 (Environment)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Whereas:

  • Indigenous peoples have rights and title to their traditional territories and have been stewards of these lands since time immemorial;
  • the climate crisis requires action by all levels of government and industry;
  • old-growth forests provide immeasurable benefits, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, culture, recreation, education, food and more;
  • valley-bottom high productivity old-growth ecosystems in British Columbia are endangered;
  • of the remaining 2.7% of original high productivity old-growth forests in British Columbia, 75% are still slated to be logged;
  • only 9% of the original 360,000 hectares of valley-bottom high productivity old-growth on Vancouver Island remain today; only 2.6% of those forests are protected in parks;
  • the last unprotected intact old-growth valley on Southern Vancouver Island, Fairy Creek, is slated for logging, along with the upper Walbran Valley and other remaining pockets of old growth;
  • most Canadians support sustainable harvesting of second and third growth forests, but do not support logging old-growth trees or destroying their surrounding ecosystems.

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to:

1. Work with the provinces and First Nations to immediately halt logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems;

2. Fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples;

3. Support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with First Nations to ensure Canada's forestry industry is sustainable, and based on the harvesting of second and third growth forests;

4. Ban the export of raw logs and maximize resource use for local jobs;

5. Ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.

Presented to the House of Commons
Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country)
June 11, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01081)
Photo - Patrick Weiler
West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
Liberal Caucus
British Columbia

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.