Quebec’s sweeping reform of how forests are managed is causing concerns among Indigenous leaders, conservation groups and unions, who warn the changes prioritize logging over long-term health of the ecosystem.
Bill 97, tabled this spring by Minister of Natural Resources and Forests Maïté Blanchette Vézina, proposes to divide the forest into three zones: one that prioritizes conservation, one focused on timber production and a third zone for multiple uses.
At least 30 per cent of Quebec’s forests will fall into that second category, Blanchette Vézina said.
Speaking at the legislative hearing on Bill 97, which wrapped up this week, Lac-Simon Anishnabe Nation Chief Lucien Wabanonik says he wants to see it scrapped and rewritten from scratch in collaboration with First Nations people.
“They call it triade in French, meaning 30 per cent of the territory will be specifically used by the industry in exclusion of other users. They exclude everyone else,” he said.
“It’s very negative the way it was presented. It’s very negative on our rights as First Nations.”
Consultations are underway on Bill 97 at the National Assembly, and there’s lots of anger. The legislation aims to modernize the way forests are managed in Quebec. But the Assembly of First Nations thinks the bond of trust with the natural resources minister is broken, and blockades of forest roads is probably the tip of the iceberg.
The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) argues the bill essentially gives the forestry industry the right to bypass consultations with First Nations regarding activities on those territories zoned for intensive logging.
“Once again, we are faced with a fait accompli,” the AFNQL’s chief, Francis Verreault-Paul, told the minister this week. “Today, we’re facing a result with the tabling of this bill and we’re asking that its foundation undergo major changes.”
Concerns over acceleration of forest degradation
In the bill, any activity interfering with or restricting forest development efforts is prohibited with the exception of Indigenous activities pursued for domestic, ritual or social purposes.
But that clause “in no way guarantees the preservation of the quality of these territories, which are essential to the preservation of their traditional ways of life, cultures and languages,” wrote the AFNQL in its notice submitted to the parliamentary commission studying the bill.
The group is also worried about the potential acceleration of forest degradation — a concern shared by unions representing workers in the forestry sector.
Bill 97 places the forestry industry as the principal actor responsible for forest management in the intensive forestry zones, argues the CSN and FIM-CSN unions.
“Logging companies tend to exploit the forest as quickly as possible to increase profits in the short term. For the workers, what’s important is maintaining good jobs in the long term,” the unions wrote in a statement.
Conservation groups like Nature Québec, for their part, are worried about what ecological precautions will be applied in the priority forestry development zones to keep Quebec’s forests resilient to climate change, and how the conservation areas will be delimited.
“Further rejuvenating forests at the very moment when forest fires are about to intensify is a high-risk strategy,” wrote the organization in its notice.
Despite the criticism, Blanchette Vézina insists her motivation is to help first and foremost the communities living off forestry, not the industry itself.
“We have to act because we have [U.S. President] Trump who’s a threat, there’s the softwood lumber dispute, there’s the business environment that’s been cited as being too restrictive … and there’s closures of factories,” she said speaking to reporters Tuesday.
“It’s for the economy of the regions of forestry communities … it’s the workers I’m thinking about.”
‘Democratic backsliding,’ environmental group says
Biodiversity and forest management professor Christian Messier presented the triad model to Blanchette Vézina a few years ago.
But, he says, the bill doesn’t quite reflect his application of the model, which he’s been experimenting with in central Quebec forests for the last 15 years.
“The objective is to decrease the amount of conflict among the different users [of the forest]. And maybe that’s the first problem I see,” he said.
“I think the government developed this triad idea without a very strong consultation where you sit everybody around the table and you decide what will be the best zoning you do between protected areas, multi-use areas and intensive forestry.”
Blanchette Vézina said she led “extensive” consultations over 2024, which included Indigenous groups. But Verreault-Paul noted that a board with Indigenous leaders was only formed after the bill was tabled in April 2025, despite their explicit request that they be consulted beforehand.
According to the bill, the different forestry zones will be delimited in collaboration with relevant ministers, Indigenous communities and regional county municipalities.
However, critics note Bill 97 abolishes regional consultation tables, scales back public consultation requirements and transfers more powers to regional managers appointed by the ministry — who report directly to the office of the chief forester.
Quebec’s regional councils on the environment (RNCREQ) called it “democratic backsliding,” while Alliance Forêt Boréale (AFB), which represents forestry communities, maintained it would hurt public trust in forestry projects.
“If we’re not at the decision-making table, it will be difficult for us to advance,” said AFB’s president Yanick Baillargeon.
He added he wants regional managers to be more independent from the ministry and elected locally.
Testifying Wednesday, the Conseil de l’industrie forestière du Québec industry group welcomed Blanchette Vézina’s bill, saying it offers them more predictability and makes industry more competitive.
The president of the council, Jean-François Samray, said the bill is a “good step forward” and lays a foundation that de-centralizes forest management. But still, it remains too prescriptive, he said.
“The only thing it does is help sell paper because it’s excessively thick, so we’ll thank you for that, but that paper suffocates the industry,” he said.
