A burning issue: as greenhouse gas emissions from forest fires grow, Ottawa has role to play in restoration

Wise public policy dictates that we tax forest carbon emissions where appropriate and then reinvest those funds in restoring our forests, which in Canada are almost entirely publicly owned.The current climate crisis provides all the justification Canada needs to do so.

Many emissions from Canadian forests are attributed to 'slash burning,' where forest companies deliberately burn the waste wood littering the ground after logging. These emissions are significant enough that in British Columbia, the environment minister is mandated to extend the province’s carbon tax to such operations, writes Ben Parfitt.Photograph courtesy Pixabay

Opinion

BY BEN PARFITT

March 25, 2019

As one of the largest and the most extensively forested countries in the world, Canada faces unique challenges in tackling climate change. Wildfires are burning more forests than ever as temperature and precipitation patterns change. In the process, millions of tonnes of carbon are released, pushin...

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