Insect Management in Canada's Forest Sector
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INSECT MANAGEMENT IN CANADA’S FOREST SECTOR: STRENGTHENING NATIONAL COOPERATION AGAINST CURRENT AND FUTURE OUTBREAKS Report of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources James Maloney, Chair FEBRUARY 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca INSECT MANAGEMENT IN CANADA’S FOREST SECTOR: STRENGTHENING NATIONAL COOPERATION AGAINST CURRENT AND FUTURE OUTBREAKS Report of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources James Maloney Chair FEBRUARY 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES CHAIR James Maloney VICE-CHAIRS Richard Cannings Shannon Stubbs MEMBERS David de Burgh Graham Ted Falk T.J. Harvey Hon. Kent Hehr Paul Lefebvre (Parliamentary Secretary – Non-Voting Member) Jamie Schmale Geng Tan Nick Whalen OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Ziad Aboultaif Blaine Calkins Pam Damoff Jim Eglinski Ali Ehsassi Hon. Ed Fast Garnett Genuis Joël Godin Ken Hardie Richard Hébert Iqra Khlaid Hon. Robert D. Nault Hon. Mary Ng Joe Peschisolido iii Churence Rogers Kim Rudd Romeo Saganash Marc Serré Brenda Shanahan Cathay Wagantall Mark Warawa Jean Yip CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Jubilee Jackson LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Jesse Good, Analyst Sophie Leduc, Analyst Mohamed Zakzouk, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES has the honour to present its ELEVENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied insect management in Canada’s forest sector and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 1 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 3 INSECT MANAGEMENT IN CANADA’S FOREST SECTOR ........................................................ 5 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Major Outbreaks .............................................................................................................................. 7 Impacts and Threat Factors ......................................................................................................... 9 Cross-Border Cooperation ........................................................................................................ 11 APPENDIX A LIST OF WITNESSES ................................................................................................ 19 APPENDIX B LIST OF BRIEFS .......................................................................................................... 23 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ................................................................................ 25 SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ................ 27 vii SUMMARY Forest insects are the biggest cause of tree mortality in Canada, and there is evidence to suggest that their impact may be getting worse. Canada’s two most persistent outbreaks of native species are the mountain pine beetle in Western Canada and the spruce budworm in the east. Major outbreaks of other forest insects include the Jack pine budworm of Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; the Douglas-fir, spruce and balsam bark beetles of British Columbia; as well as foreign species such as the Eurasian gypsy moth, the European brown spruce longhorn beetle, and the Asian long-horned beetle and emerald ash borer. Forest insect outbreaks can spread through various trade and transportation routes and are exacerbated by wildfire suppression and climate change. Ongoing outbreaks are having negative impacts on Canada’s environment, economy and forest-dependent communities. For example, they damage forest health and biodiversity, creating new pathways for more insect outbreaks; diminish the supply and quality of wood fibre, putting forest-dependent communities and businesses at risk; threaten Canada’s natural heritage (e.g., national parks and urban trees); possibly increase the risk of wildfire; and contribute to Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by turning trees from carbon sinks to carbon sources. While close to 90% of Canadian forests fall under the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories, the federal government provides critical research and financial support in collaboration with regional governments and stakeholders. The committee heard that governments and forest insect managers should address the following priorities in order to improve Canada’s response and adaptive capacity to forest insect outbreaks: • Build on preventative and early intervention strategies by enhancing active surveillance, risk pathway analysis, border inspections and reporting; • Ensure sustainable funding to support long-term action against persistent outbreaks, such as that of the mountain pine beetle; • Eliminate knowledge gaps across jurisdictions through training/skill transfer opportunities and public awareness; • Incorporate Indigenous knowledge in forest insect management practices, in line with the Crown’s duty to consult; 1 • Support Canadian municipalities in their efforts to address outbreaks in their jurisdiction; and • Adapt forest management practices and policies to ecological and climate change. To this end, witnesses called on the federal government to scale up Canada’s national dialogue on forest insect management, in collaboration with regional governments and stakeholders. 2 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below. Recommendation 1 The House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources (the committee) recommends that the Government of Canada work with industry, civil society, research institutions, Indigenous governments and communities, and provincial, territorial, municipal and/or international governments to strengthen Canadian capacity to prevent, mitigate and/or adapt to regional pests by: a) Continuing to enhance border protection against foreign invasive species and to promote preventative and/or proactive outbreak management practices, such as the Early Intervention Strategy to combat the spruce budworm in Atlantic Canada; b) Expanding federal research on invasive species, including the mountain pine beetle, especially with regards to their impacts in new host environments and other factors related to ecological and/or climate change; c) Providing long-term financial and/or policy support, where necessary, according to the stated needs of regional governments and forest managers, including municipalities and Indigenous governments and communities; d) Coordinating a central reporting and information-sharing system to allow forest managers access to the same outbreak management data nationwide; e) Offering educational and training opportunities to forest managers, as needed, in communities and jurisdictions with inadequate outbreak management