Charest sees eventual end to forestry crisis

Liberal Leader Jean Charest said he's optimistic the province's forestry sector will regain its footing with the province's help.

Charest talked forestry during a campaign stop in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, where he spent part of the weekend touring towns to shore up support for Liberal candidates.

In the town of Roberval, Charest talked up the Liberal Party's 2006 multimillion-dollar forestry aid package, which provides help to local mills and laid-off workers.

Nearly 1,000 workers in the area have lost their jobs because of mill closures and production slowdowns. More than 10,000 Quebec forest workers have been laid off in the last 18 months.

Charest reminded his supporters that problems plaguing the forest products industry are related to wider trends shaking up the global market, which will eventually correct itself.

The Liberal leader took a similar messageto Abitibi over the weekend, where he was met by angry forestry workers.

About 50 unionized workers blocked Charest's campaign bus in Val d'Or on Saturday, demanding a private meeting with the Liberal leader, and a promise he'll help them make their jobs secure.

Local Liberal candidate Daniel Bernard said problems in the region can't be blamed on the last government.

"We did the best that we could, at the right time,"Bernard told CBC, adding he's optimistic laid-off workers will find jobs in the region's mining industry, which is experiencing growth and is on a hiring binge.

Local union representatives have said mining is a limited option for forestry workers because of limited space in training programs, a situation Charest said a Liberal government would remedy.

"We know there are opportunities there for people who are in the forestry sector," the Liberal leader said Saturday.

PQ blames forestry crisis on Ottawa

Parti Qubcois Leader Andr Boisclair visited Abitibi on Monday, where he blamed Quebec's forestry woes on Canada's federal system.

"In the federal system, in which we're still stuck, if I want to help workers on welfare, I have to go on a pilgrimage to Ottawa," Boisclair told a crowd of PQ supporters gathered in Malartic.

"I can't wait to have one pilgrimage, if we're talking about Quebec's future. That pilgrimage is the road towards our nation's capital, and that's Quebec City, not Ottawa," the PQ leader said in his French speech.

A sovereign Quebec would do a better job of managing forest land, Boisclair said.

"Sovereignty won't help trees grow faster, but it could allow us to adopt more coherent policies without having to go through these negotiations in Ottawa as though Ottawa is giving us a gift."