There has been much discussion of late, some of it emotionally charged, about the future disposition and activity in the existing industrial forest as well as what has been termed the “Far North.”  As Environmental Commissioner I have weighed in on this debate many times.  Most recently, last month I chided the Ministry of Natural Resources for not fulfilling their responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act and the Public Lands Act with regard to the forest dwelling population of woodland caribou and the unauthorized construction of airstrips and mining infrastructure, respectively.

This land we call public land, or sometimes Crown Land, is “our land.”  The land is a tremendous ecological and economic heritage of aboriginal, provincial, national and international importance.  The First Nations who have lived on these lands for centuries have a different perspective on what the term “our land” means.  Their relationship to these lands is far more longstanding and intimate and precedes  the British legal system.  However, I think all of us can agree that these are communal lands, not the property of private corporate interests.

There are two obligations on the province with respect to these lands that are clear in the Canadian constitutional and Ontario legal system (setting aside the yet-to-be-resolved  rights of the aboriginals for this discussion).  In Ontario law, the province exercises jurisdiction over public land and the province has a consequent obligation to its citizens present and future to see to its proper management.  And secondly, our Supreme Court has ruled that Ontario must engage in meaningful consultation with the appropriate First Nations in advance about the use or appropriation of such lands.  This is our law and we live by the rule of law.

So what is the role of  corporate interests?  We need private investment to develop and extract the resources that lie on and under this land in order to create wealth and employment for all our peoples, especially First Nations who want to play a leading role in developing economic opportunities in the region.   And so private companies should be encouraged and supported in their efforts.  We let mining companies stake land and bring it to lease or ownership to facilitate their development of mineral wealth.  We enter into sustainable forest licences giving forest companies stewardship over large tracts of land.  These are mechanisms of wealth creation that we have used for decades.

But there is more wealth on this land than wood fibre and minerals.  There is the cultural wealth that is the legacy of  aboriginal cultures over many generations. There is the wealth implied by clean fresh water resources tumbling off the Canadian Shield on their way to the arctic.  There is the  potential for tourist and recreational revenues in a world increasingly hungry for wilderness experiences.  There is the immense value to society of megatonnes of carbon sequestered in the forests and peat that is not active in warming our planet. And there is the immeasurable wealth of the rich biodiversity of the region, including the last remnant healthy populations of species that were once more widespread, such as woodland caribou and wolverine. It is also the essential breeding grounds for tens of millions of songbirds that migrate the length of our continent each year.

There are many values of such land.  And we must never forget that this is our land, our responsibility. With that responsibility we have obligations to all the people of Ontario, and generations yet to be born, that must be met.

Gord Miller

commissioner@eco.on.ca