January 30, 2009

Forestry association welcomes budget; union angered

CBC News

The Forest Products Association of Canada says the new federal budget embraces its vision.

The budget, introduced Tuesday in the House of Commons, will help the sector maintain its status as the world-leading exporter of sustainable forest products, the association said.

"Access to credit is the number one issue for our industry," Avrim Lazar, CEO of the association, said in a statement. "We are very encouraged by the budget measures aimed at ensuring access to credit for Canadian businesses.

"The government has clearly heard the message, and it understands that in order to get there, Canada needs to attract investment and secure the jobs of nearly 300,000 skilled Canadian forest workers and the communities they work in," he said.

The forestry association never asked for a bailout. But it did want three things in the budget and said it got them all.

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