Hurrying through a window of opportunity: the rapid expansion of the pulp and paper industry in Alberta

Abstract

Within the recent upswing of the pulp and paper investment cycle, the province of Alberta dramatically expanded its industry by attracting several billion dollars of new and expanded plants. An important precondition for these events was the global shift to hardwoods which made the mixed forests on the plains of Alberta useful and desirable for forest products firms. Beyond this, the government of Alberta aggressively fostered expansion through an array of measures to attract investment. Alberta was made competitive, in cost terms, by cost concessions within its industrial and forestry policies. In part, this was necessary because of relatively high standards in its environmental regulations. With the surge of investment, unforseen problems arose when several mills were located on individual rivers, and there were concerns over downstream water quality for which there were no clearcut answers. The lightning rod of public concern was the giant Alpac mill, one of the last to be proposed, which gained official approval after an extended approval process led to a change in process technology. However, official approval for the various mills has not allayed public misgivings and legal challenges over environmental impacts of various steps in the process from tree extraction to pulp and paper production.