Federal Court - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure Developments ...

Page: 60
[234] The purpose of these regulatory amendments was the encouragement of private industry to
build a sawmill capable of processing 60 percent of the timber cut. The evidence is clear that there
was no mill in Yukon in 1995 that was capable of processing this volume of timber. The evidence is
also clear that the small mills in existence operated sporadically and even if they were all in
operation could not handle the volume of timber that would be required to be processed in Yukon.
2010 FC 495 (CanLII)
[235] The RIAS, to SOR/95-580, also noted that the lottery system was unacceptable to both the
forest industry and the general public. It was “unacceptable because it did not recognize any past
experience or current investment in the forest industry.” The regulatory amendments and the
evidence demonstrate that the Department required capital investment and proven capacity as preconditions
to accessing the timber supply.
[236] In the RIAS, the Department foresaw that any “delay in issuing permits would cause the
forestry operators in the Yukon economic hardship; some may have to move out of the Territory or
lose investments and equipment if they are not allowed back into the forests”.
[237] I find that the same harm, that is, economic hardship, was apparent to the Department if no
private industry developer undertook to build a mill in Yukon after the passage of these regulations,
as would occur if the issuance of permits was delayed. It was the evidence of the Defendant’s
witnesses that this regulatory amendment meant that no harvesting could occur without a wood
processing facility. Economic hardship would also flow from the lack of a wood processing facility.