And now for the return of our always popular section, Clearcutting Trivia Corner. A test will be held so please take notes. Score one point for every question answered right. Zero out of eight means you gotta pay more attention to what’92s going down. Or maybe consider political office.
1. In recent years, Quebec has put In place stricter controls of forestry companies. (True of false.) False. Companies are now paying less in fines for violating forestry regulations than at any point in the last five years. Though banned in many other areas, clearcuts in Quebec can still be up to 200 football fields in size.
2. Forests are being replenished with new trees planted by forestry companies. (True or false.) False. The number of seedlings planted fell by 20 per cent between 1988 and 1992. More trees are cut down than are successfully replanted. Replanted forests lack in diversity and are being wiped out by disease epidemics.
3. Canada is the largest newsprint maker in the world. (True or false.) The answer: True. Quebec alone is the third largest, behind the U.S. but ahead of Japan and the ex-USSR. One out of every four pages in an American newspaper or magazine is produced in a Quebec mill.
4. You are eating a poutine. (Yes or no.) Trick question! Just seeing if you’92re paying attention.
5. Forestry companies make $100 million cutting down trees in Eeyou Astchee every year. (True or false.) False. The amount is actually $ I billion a year. In total, an area the size of what was flooded by the La Grande project has already been logged in Eeyou Astchee.
6. How does Quebec stack up apinst British Columbia in terms of forestry? (Ahead or behind.) Behind. B.C may be known as the “Brazil of the North.” But Quebec is way behind. Only 0.5 per cent of Quebec is officially protected from development projects like forestry and mining at this time. B.C. has set aside 9.2 per cent. Because the trees here are so much smaller, Quebec cuts down fives times more area of forest than B.C. for the same amount of timber.
7. True or false: Companies in Quebec pay the lowest fees for cutting a tree of any place in North America. True.
8. Forestry provides good jobs for people throughout the province. (True or false.) You decide. Employment in the industry has been falling for years. For workers, forestry is the least safe job of any sector of the economy, as dangerous to your health and safety as working in a mine. Forestry workers have a one-in-five chance of suffering a job-related injury or illness each year. Nine forestry workers died on the job in 1995, a rate five times higher than the average job in Quebec.
