Prince George, B.C.-  The Stand Up for the North Committee  has organized a series of meetings to  bring  forestry issues to the fore.

Meetings have been set for  Prince George,  Mackenzie,  Quesnel and Williams Lake in mid March   Spokesperson Peter Ewart  says the  context  of the meetings  has more to do  with  the Softwood Lumber Agreement  and the  pending  decision on  what the Annual Allowable Cut  will be “That was the main context,  at the same time,  forestry should be a front and centre discussion during the Provincial Election  in our opinion, but the context of the annual allowable cut and the softwood lumber agreement are really  important reasons  for why we wanted to have this.”

Ewart says  it is time for  new  arrangements with the Province   that would see forest based communities  getting  a share of the  revenues from the forestry sector.  Such an  agreement could be similar to the  Peace River Agreement  which   will provide  communities in the  Peace Region  more than  $1.1 billion dollars  over  20 years  as a form of grants in lieu of  taxes  the region is not able to collect from the industrial tax base.  ” That ( the Peace agreement) is one model” says Ewart  “I think  what we’re  talking about would be more expensive than that,   that whole question has come up again and again.  I know  in the northeast,  communities are  calling for more diversification and more control  of where they’re going  instead of being at the back end of things in terms of   the decisions affecting them.”

Ewart says the meetings  should  appeal to more  than those who are  directly  involved in the forestry sector “We have whole communities that are dependent on forestry  and other businesses,  sectors  of population that are affected by what happens  with forestry.  So we want to have a broad based  discussion.  Part of the  mission for Stand up for the North is to empower the people and the communities of the region so that they have more say  and more control over what happens with   forestry and other natural resources.  That’s really the fundamental thing for us,   the way things are right now, the forest based communities and the people who live there, have  little say ,  little control over what happens.”

He says  it’s all about  facilitating change “What Stand Up for the North is talking about is a new way of doing things” says Ewart “so that major decisions are not made  in Victoria and Ottawa, but that people are more involved in the decision  making at the  local level and community level.”

All  of the meetings will start at 7 pm,  and have been scheduled  for the  following dates and locations:

Prince George –  March 13th at CNC ( room 1-306)

Mackenzie –  March 14th  – Mackenzie Recreation Centre

Quesnel – March 15th – Arts and recreation Centre – 500 N.Star Road

Williams Lake – March  16th – Central Cariboo Arts and Cultural Centre,  90-4th Avenue N.