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14 people were killed and one of the survivors were killed in the three additional attacks on boats alleged to have been involved in illegal narcotic trafficking in the waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the United States.

In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday morning, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described the strikes as a “national security measure.”

“Over the past two decades, the Department has defended other countries. We are now defending our rights, Hegseth wrote.

However, the bombing campaign has been criticized as a form of extrajudicial killing and a global law violation.

Hegseth explained in his post that all three airstrikes occurred on Monday. One missile struck two boats as they were floating, causing both to become engulfed in flames in the accompanying video.

At the time of the initial strike, eight men were aboard the pair of ships. A second attack hit a boat with three people and a small boat with four men in it.

Which of the three attacks had a survivor in the first instance was unknown. Hegseth did point out that Mexican authorities were directing search-and-rescue missions.

No one of the victims was identified, and no evidence was presented to the public to refute the claims of drug trafficking.

increasing attacks

The first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day was with the string of attacks on Monday.

A survivor has also been confirmed for the second time since September 2 when the bombing campaign first commenced.

Two survivors, both of whom were repatriated to their home countries on October 16, were reportedly left by another strike.

One, named Andres Fernando Tufino, was unarmed and released in Ecuador. Jeison Obando Perez, the other, is still in a Colombian hospital.

The total number of deaths that have been reported from Monday’s strikes is 57. 14 maritime vessels were targeted, the majority of them small boats, in the course of the two-month-long campaign, which included at least 13 airstrikes.

However, it seems as though the attacks are moving faster. The US announced 10 additional attacks this month after bombing three vessels in September.

Six attacks occurred in the last week, including those on October 21, October 22, and overnight on October 24 due to the string of attacks that occurred on Monday.

The recent bombing campaign is necessary, according to US President Donald Trump’s administration, to stop illegal drugs from entering US soil.

However, international experts and human rights organizations have warned that missile attacks are against international law, including the UN Charter.

Non-combatants can typically not be used lethal military force against them outside of a conflict. Additionally, critics have criticized the decision to bomb the boats’ intended US destinations.

This month, Miroslav Jenca, the UN’s assistant secretary-general for the Americas, addressed the UN Security Council, “We continue to emphasize the necessity for all efforts to combat transnational organized crime to be conducted in accordance with international law.”

However, the Trump administration has started referring to drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” in Latin America.

In a “non-international armed conflict,” the US president wrote a memo to Congress in September, claiming that he thought drug dealers were “unlawful combatants.”

However, legal experts have doubted that justification because drug trafficking is viewed as a criminal offense rather than a violent act.

US Congress tenses

Trump’s campaign to bomb the United States and the US military’s expansion in the Caribbean Sea have also raised domestic legal concerns.

The US Constitution’s Article 1 gives Congress exclusive authority to declare war.

The president has been given executive authority to engage in in-depth military combat, but the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973 mandates that Congress receive a report on those actions within 48 hours. Additionally, it restricts the scope and duration of such actions without congressional approval.

Critics worry that the Trump administration will soon start launching more military operations in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific, as well as along Venezuela’s and Colombia’s coasts.

Trump has asserted on numerous occasions that launching such attacks requires no authorization from the Congress.

“I don’t believe we’ll have to request a declaration of war.” I believe that we will simply murder those who enter our nation with drugs. OK? On October 23, he declared to a reporter that we would kill them.

The Caribbean and Pacific airstrikes coincide with the region’s growing military presence.

The Pentagon made the announcement last week that it would send the USS Gerald R Ford carrier group, which will include naval destroyers and an air wing, to South American waters.

On Capitol Hill, Trump’s actions have sparked bipartisan concern. For instance, Kentucky’s Republican Senator Rand Paul has repeatedly referred to the military strikes as “extrajudicial killings.”

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly claimed in an interview with the ABC News program This Week on Sunday that the Trump administration had not adequately justified the strikes.

“This is legal, but the White House and the Department of Defense were unable to provide a logical explanation.” They were trying to explain this in vain, he claimed.

Kelly acknowledged that the White House had some evidence of drug trafficking, but he argued that it was insufficient and did not cover all deadly boat bombings.

He claimed that “we were given some evidence that does not support the narrative the White House is telling to the American people.”

The recent wave of boat strikes have been confined to the US Congress’s limited efforts so far.

For instance, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow introduced a resolution that needed congressional approval in September.

However, it has not yet been put to a vote on the resolution. A similar attempt earlier this month that would have required Congress’s consent to continue strikes was rejected by the Senate.

Without the consent of Congress, President Trump is not able to launch military strikes in the Caribbean or anywhere else.

Foreign policy expert Matthew C. Waxman wrote for the Council on Foreign Relations this month to remind them that the US has not yet taken a decisive course to stop the bombing campaign.

In an article published on October 15th, Waxman wrote that lawmakers are still facing a backlash against the Trump administration because “Congress continues to be the most crucial check on the president.”

As Zuwena Mohamed, a singer alias Shilole, took to the stage wearing the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party’s emblematic green on a hot September day in Dodoma, Tanzania’s capital, chants and drumbeats filled Jamhuri Stadium.

The 37-year-old posted photos and videos to her 11 million Instagram followers, telling them, “We are seeking votes for our candidate, Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan — our mother,” adding: “We are seeking votes for our candidate, our mother, with all our effort and commitment.”

Her account, which features a profile picture of the president as well as pro-government content, goes beyond simple celebrity support. As Tanzania prepares to vote on October 29th, it represents a significant chapter in the digital battle that is raging.

However, those who believe the election was rigged in favor of the ruling party are using social media platforms as platforms for dissent. In order to avoid being retaliated by the government, many people use anonymous accounts or pseudonyms.

Debates post their online content.

In the nation of 69 million people who registered to vote, there are more than 37 million. However, the primary is currently being challenged by President Hassan’s CCM, Africa’s second-longest-governing party, and its main opposition, Luhaga Mpina, who is the main candidate for president.

Tundu Lissu, the Chadema’s leader, was detained in April and is currently facing treason charges.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International have claimed that the exclusions are a result of a wider crackdown on dissent through harassment, kidnapping, and censorship. This has been refuted by the government (PDF). Government spokesman Gerson Msigwa refuted a September HRW report, saying that concerns about political parties’ ability to participate in political processes ahead of the general election are “unfounded and misleading.” According to Msigwa, the government is “major” concerned about abductions and that it is “committed to human rights, good governance, and fair elections.

Political debates have increasingly taken place online, according to Abel Kinyondo, a political researcher at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, as many Tanzanians fear speaking openly due to potential government reprisals.

He told Al Jazeera, “If you stop people from speaking openly, they will go online where they can hide their identities and be free to say things they wouldn’t dare to do in public.”

“Losing hope,”

TikTok has gained a lot of popularity as a platform for political opinions in a nation with more than 49 million internet users and a majority of the population who is under 18 for the first time.

This week, a TikTok user discovered a page with the hashtag #MO29, which refers to a planned election-day protest. Another joke included the president receiving an award for “best leadership in the water sector”: Tanzania has recently experienced water shortage issues that have caused frequent water shortages.

Human rights activist Ananilea Nkya, who previously worked on X, said on Monday, “I have never seen so many citizens losing hope about the fate of their lives as this year.”

Tanzanians from other countries have also voiced their opposition to the upcoming election by expressing their opposition.

Mange Kimambi, a US-based activist with 2.4 million Instagram followers, has urged Tanzanians to protest on election day, claiming that the electoral commission should have been overhauled.

Tanzanians who are urging one another to join the planned demonstration have shared their calls for protest in large numbers on social media platforms throughout the nation.

The electoral commission has warned that discouraging citizens from voting may constitute a criminal offence, according to local media, without specifically mentioning Kimambi.

In a radio interview, deputy police commissioner David Misime compared the calls for protests on social media platforms to the ability of the authorities to track online activity, noting that even those who create fake accounts can hide.

control over the digital landscape

CCM supporters, like former Miss Tanzania Faraja Nyalandu, are actively campaigning online for the party’s reelection. In a recent Instagram video, Nyalandu described President Hassan as “a compassionate leader who truly works for the people.”

According to Imani Masiga, the party’s digital head, “young people support CCM because of the president’s efforts to empower youth,” adding that influencers are not compensated for their support.

He acknowledged that some famous people may receive “transport or accommodation” at campaign events, but he argued that the majority of them voluntarily participate in rallies.

He added that CCM didn’t restrict online content.

Criticization is present. We can’t expect everyone to back the president, which Masiga said. You’ll find that critics are still active and free if you follow social media closely. We take criticism seriously when it is constructive.

However, Tech &amp, Media Convergence (TMC), a local digital rights organization, is making every effort to protect information online.

In a report (PDF) released this month, TMC stated that there was “a systematic and intensifying campaign by state authorities to control the pre-electoral information environment. “The digital landscape, which once held the promise of expanding civic participation, is now increasingly viewed as a site of increased state control.

Since May, there have been network disruptions for YouTube and government accounts that have been hacked. The government gave no details on how “online patrols” would operate, but in August the government ordered police to conduct “online patrols” to track down those who “achieve disruption to the peace,” according to local media.

The popular Tanzanian social networking site JamiiForums was suspended by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority for 90 days for posts that “disrespected” the president and the government, according to a statement (PDF) released in September.

According to TMC’s report, the government’s crackdown on social and digital platforms is a result of “increasing online censorship, surveillance, and regulatory pressure that threaten the integrity of the electoral process.”

This is not a series of singular incidents; rather, it is a deliberate effort to manage public discourse, silence dissention, and shrink civic space.

TMC has warned that state-driven narratives can fill the information gap left by silencing independent voices and platforms. According to its report, that eroded pluralism is a possibility that voter apathy will increase.

Today, very few people speak out loudly. According to local media, one who did was Humphrey Polepole, a former CCM insider, who accused the party of conducting a rigged election and claimed the electoral commission had been politically compromised.

He was reportedly abducted from his Dar-es-Salaam home on October 6 shortly after making his allegations public on YouTube and Instagram. According to the police, investigations are raging.

Police patrols have increased on the streets of several cities in recent weeks, a sign that there is increased security in advance of possible demonstrations and elections.

stakes are higher than the screen.

Analysts like Kinyondo urged CCM to concentrate on fulfilling its promises, including promoting better access to healthcare, education, water, electricity, and housing, rather than controlling online narratives.

The most populous country in the East African region, Tanzania, has significant potential for sustainable and inclusive growth, according to the World Bank, given its strategic location and abundance of natural resources.

However, the pace of economic development has slowed, and nearly half the world’s population still resides below the $3 per day poverty line.

It’s like fighting a pig in the mud, Kinyondo said, “You can’t win that battle if CCM starts competing with social media users to produce propaganda.”

“CCM should concentrate on implementing its manifesto and fulfilling its promises, while the opposition should concentrate on opposing.”

Ronny Jaramillo and Dana Morrissey, both of whom own and run a few small restaurants in south and central Brooklyn, are the owners and operators of the “Latin bistro and cocktail bar” Chela, a Mexican restaurant. But in recent years, they have faced mounting hurdles amid surging rents and floods.

Because they believe that New York City is becoming a harder place for small businesses like theirs, they are closely watching the mayoral election.

The American dream is being sold in New York City. However, it doesn’t feel that way right now. I don’t feel like New York City is welcoming business owners,]or] protecting businesses to grow, and to employ more people. Jaramillo told Al Jazeera, “I don’t believe that’s the environment right now.”

Small business owners in New York City are paying close attention to Zohran Mamdani, the city’s likely next mayor, and how his policies might address the growing difficulties they are facing.

Mamdani’s relationship with the city’s business community is complex. Although his suggestions for small businesses reduce fines and fees, many still face high rents, limited relief, and frequently operationally slowed down operations due to climate-related risks.

Mamdani’s candidacy has a lot of appeal because of how affordable he is. His campaign prioritises a rent freeze for rent-stabilised apartments and expanding housing development to ease the city’s shortage, for instance.

Businesses continue to face significant challenges on the commercial front, as there are few safeguards against being priced out, and neither his nor his rival Andrew Cuomo’s campaigns have provided any concrete solutions to this.

We literally got jacked at one of our locations, forcing us to close it. The rent went from like $8, 700 to $15, 500 … Unfortunately, there’s nothing that stops a landlord from doing so. No protection is provided, according to Jaramillo.

“It’s typical that a company has put a lot of money into that space and invested, especially a restaurant, only to discover that they’ve been completely priced out.” That’s definitely negative. The issue is that the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of small business support, Mark Caserta, said there aren’t really any controls on that in our city.

Mamdani told Al Jazeera that he is exploring ways he can tackle surging rent prices for commercial real estate.

“We will make sure that every measure we can think of in our administration is how stability should be provided to all kinds of tenants, not just those in our residential areas.” At a Saturday event, Mamdani told Al Jazeera that there are instances of different strategies being used to guarantee more stable rents for commercial tenants.

One such case is in Pennsylvania, which has a state-level programme called the Office of Transformation and Opportunity, the campaign said.

However, that program emphasizes fast-tracking permits rather than commercial real estate’s price.

Mamdani’s main goals have been to lower small business fines and fees and to design a mom-and-pop tsar who would assist the city’s small businesses in navigating potential problems.

Cuomo’s plan, by contrast, doubles down on public-private partnerships, a strategy that has contributed to surging rents over the last two decades. Cuomo’s campaign’s plan to reduce the cost of commercial real estate was not responded to by Al Jazeera.

The city heavily invested in public-private partnerships to develop important corridors under former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who served three terms between 2002 and 2013. Large developers bought up properties, including buildings that housed small businesses, giving corporate landlords more leverage to raise rents and displace businesses with tight margins.

Small business owners are frequently overlooked in NYC’s public/private partnerships. Large-scale developments are typically favored by incentives and zoning advantages, while independent retailers are faced with rising rents, limited capital funding, and increased regulatory burdens. The result is that mom and pop tenants who give our neighbourhoods their identity are getting priced out”, Bernadette Brennan, executive director of the real estate agency SERHANT, told Al Jazeera.

Developers frequently leave vacant spaces, holding out for high-paying tenants like big box stores or luxury retailers, rather than leasing to small businesses. According to Mariamillo, this undermines the city’s cultural diversity.

“I think one of the things that we love so much about New York City is its diversity of business and small business. Many of the small business owners in our community struggle to make ends meet, according to Jaramillo.

The pressure has also been felt by other owners of businesses.

Josue Pierre, who owns the newly opened Caribbean-inspired burger joint Rogers Burgers in Flatbush, a Brooklyn neighbourhood with a large West Indian and Caribbean population, told Al Jazeera that while Mamdani’s plan is not perfect, he is encouraged by the candidate’s responsiveness to small business concerns, which he feels is lacking in Cuomo.

Given those two choices, Pierre said, “I’m going to choose the candidate who is actually open-minded about doing something for small businesses.”

Increased wages

Raising wages has been central to Mamdani’s campaign, and is overwhelmingly popular among voters, with 72 percent of New Yorkers supporting a $30 per hour minimum wage, according to Lake Research Partners. By 2030, Maddani has proposed a minimum hourly wage increase.

Pierre praised the importance of a work-study-consumer balance, as well as a wage increase.

“How you manage your labour is critically important, because that can make or break you. Why would they come here and purchase anything if they don’t have any disposable income, like they do with the rents? It doesn’t help us if the rest of the economy is prospering but working-class people are experiencing a recession bubble,” he said.

Jaramillo and Morrissey argue that rising wages could force restaurants to lay off workers or raise prices. This could put a strain on the restaurant industry’s survival because of the already high cost of living.

Mamdani’s campaign argued that small businesses will be better able to give their employees a liveable wage by lowering fines and fees associated with them and the costs associated with doing so. He pointed to heightened utility costs like water bills as a key factor driving up costs, shifting the blame to current Mayor Eric Adams.

According to Mamdani, “What I’ve also heard from these tenants is that they are also having to deal with a water bill that has been raised to the highest it’s been in 13 years.”

According to Mayor Adams, “this city is becoming more expensive, whether it’s for tenants, homeowners, or small business owners,” the price is being given to that category.

In 2024, water bills rose by 8.5 percent, the biggest increase since 2011.

Mamdani’s plan for wages has not changed.

Climate-related issues

Climate resilience is becoming a growing concern among businesses, particularly retail, which has suffered significant losses from repeated flooding in recent years. According to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, floodwaters in Brooklyn destroyed 200 businesses in 2023. Some residents who lived in basement apartments tragically drowned as a result of the rapid inundation of many small, ground-level businesses.

Bar Crudo, a now-closed restaurant owned by Jaramillo and Morrissey, was among the hardest hit. Sewers backed up and flooded the restaurant, causing $ 15, 000 worth of damage, of which only $ 5, 000 was insured.

New York City has been reclassified as a humid subtropical climate by the National Climate Assessment, a category that is characterized by frequent and heavy rainfall.

Mamdani’s climate policy is ambitious, focusing on retrofitting 500 public schools to be more climate-resilient and usable as emergency shelters. He also supports reducing the city’s dependence on fossil fuels and increasing its use of renewable energy.

Owners like Jaramillo believe that Mamdani’s plans are forward-looking but do not address the immediate threat that flooding is posing to small businesses in troubled areas.

Mamdani’s campaign told Al Jazeera that one of its plans is to expand the city’s small business grant programme, which will help small businesses invest in infrastructure improvements, so they can afford flood-proof storage spaces and power generators.

Mamdani’s campaign also disclosed to Al Jazeera that it wants to create more parks as natural flood barriers to protect city streets and the businesses that line them.

Obstacles to the big business

Mamdani has faced significant opposition from powerful corporate interests. His proposed tax increases, which include an 11.5% corporate tax rate, instead of the current 7.25 percent, would be frowned upon by many businesses.

The governor would have to approve any tax proposals. New York state Governor Kathy Hochul recently endorsed Mamdani over Cuomo.

Some of New York’s wealthiest donors have supported efforts to overthrow Mamdani, including former mayor and Bloomberg LP founder Michael Bloomberg, who gave $5 million, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who gave $1.2 million, cofounder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia, who gave $ 2 million, and Alice Walton, who gave $200, 000 to political action committees supporting Cuomo.

The Alice L. Walton Foundation’s director has few ties to New York. Walmart has no stores in the city, and according to donor records, she is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, though she bought a Manhattan condo in 2014. Despite having little connection to the city, Al Jazeera inquired about her decision to donate to a candidate.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has claimed that a few prominent donors have contacted him about withdrawing from the race over concerns that his long-shot candidacy would harm Cuomo’s chances of winning over Mamdani. His campaign has not substantiated the statement, despite Al Jazeera’s request.

Through the Partnership for New York City, a group of 300 powerful figures, Mamdani met with many of the city’s top business leaders after winning the Democratic nomination in July.

According to Mamdani’s campaign spokesperson, Dora Pekec, “He]Mamdani] has made it very clear that his administration will never tolerate unnecessarily hostile people,” he said.

Private discussions included JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, former UBS chairman Robert Wolf, and Kenny Burgos, the head of the New York Apartment Association, a landlords ‘ group that backed Cuomo, according to The New York Times.

The discussions centered on “the severe distress in rent-stabilized buildings and the need for assistance on operating costs, especially property taxes,” Burgos’ representatives told Al Jazeera. Kinny believed that Zohran understood the distress present in older, rent-stabilized buildings and that his message was clearly understood.

A contentious forestry bill was finally overturned by the right-leaning populist government of Quebec, Canada’s French-speaking province. This proposed piece of legislation, known as Bill 97, aimed to significantly increase the amount of timber that the province’s forests extract.

At least one-third of the province’s forests would have been open to logging but also would have permitted other activities, including recreation, while another third would have been for private industrial logging interests. Conservation would have been the last third.

Civil society and indigenous people vehemently opposed the bill. Months of organized, broad-based resistance paid off.

The fact that the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) coalition’s priorities were even being considered when it was proposed to begin with indicates that the bill was abandoned. In order to protect the interests of the logging industry, it thinks it is appropriate to bulldoze over environmental laws, climate change, and indigenous rights. Even if it officially denounces the president of the United States, it is clear that it supports Trumpian politics.

The fight against Bill 97 can teach us a lot about how to prevent the passage of similar legislation and Indigenous voices from being ignored once more.

People win when they unite across differences.

The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) immediately rejected Bill 97 when it was introduced. It claimed that it had been consulting with the government on forest management for more than a year and that its recommendations had been utterly ignored. As it sought to reclaim unceded lands for the logging industry, the bill directly violated the rights of indigenous people.

The release of Bill 97, which means “our land,” was a blow to the Nehirowisiw people (also known as Atikamekw), for the Nehirowisiw people’s long-standing fight to preserve their relationships with Nitaskinan, which is located 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Montreal. The deliberate destruction of both the physical conditions of their existence and the foundations of their cultural worlds would have been equivalent to a form of cultural genocide if the legislation had been passed.

Innu, Abenaki, and Anishinaabe land defenders joined the Nehirowisiw to form the MAMO Alliance, which saw the bill’s destructive potential while it was still being drafted. In both the Nehirowisiw and Innu languages, MAMO means “together.”

The alliance sent eviction notices to 11 logging companies that were operating without their permission after the bill was introduced. It also raised tipis as symbols of resistance and solidarity. They organized protests and imposed roadblockades.

Quebec’s civil society also took to the streets. Environmental organizations, wildlife biologists, fish and game retailers, labor unions, and artists also made comments. The blocksades were supported by Montreal’s university students and social justice organizations.

AFNQL, unions representing 20, 000 forestry workers, and environmental organizations co-wrote a public statement just days before the bill was scrapped, denouncing the government’s decision to ignore their criticism.

Due to this inter-societal mobilization, the government was forced to rely on its customary rhetoric, which pits “unreasonable and hostile natives” against the well-being of settler society.

Bulldozer environmentalism is a real threat.

Bill 97 also made a case for bulldozer environmentalism, which claims that destroying nature can lead to positive environmental effects.

Bill 97’s introduction contained assertions that it had unsubstantiated environmental benefits. For instance, Maite Blanchette Vezina, the CAQ minister of natural resources and forests, claimed shortly before the bill was overturned that doing intensive logging in priority management zones would “benefit” the forests from the effects of climate change.

However, environmental research&nbsp disagrees with the idea that old-growth and mature forests can store more carbon for energy. For instance, a recent study found that older forests can help sequester significant amounts of carbon, while older forests can store significantly more carbon per hectare than younger forests.

We saw a well-known colonial mindset that views land as a purely economic resource and not as a living ecosystem under the pretext of Bill 97’s environmental concerns. A colonial, extractive, and Eurocentric view of the world is expressed by splitting forests into zones to re-engineer them for economic purposes. This contrasts with indigenous knowledge of the land as a whole. This implies that indigenous worldviews are incompatible with protecting one area of land only to destroy another.

In this regard, Bill 97 is comparable to other obscene legislation that has recently been introduced. The Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, or Bill 5, by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, which purports to stifle environmental protections and respect for constitutionally protected Indigenous rights, is just one example. Additionally, it gives the government the authority to establish special economic zones where existing social and environmental laws can be lifted.

Similar legislation applied at the national level is Bill C-5, which would allow the government to quickly advance significant projects while avoiding environmental protections.

In the name of national security and a Trumpian “build, baby, build” mentality, such bills aim to give private industries the authority to decide how to exploit public lands. Canada is rushing headfirst to hand over land and grant extractive industries the freedom to operate as they please, from “sovereign” artificial intelligence data centers to liquified natural gas pipelines and mining projects.

In the process, it even goes beyond the traditional performative theater of consultations with First Nations and other stakeholders, passing gag orders, stifling dissent, disregarding legal decisions, completely disregarding environmental impact assessments or parliamentary debates, and disregarding previous laws relating to indigenous peoples’ rights.

Bill 97’s zombie phase: preparation and preparation

It is premature to celebrate Bill 97’s end. Within a year, a revised forestry reform bill is anticipated. In the months to come, the CAQ government is likely to make proposals that are comparable or even more draconian.

For this reason, advocacy needs to continue and concentrate on removing industry-priority logging areas. Indigenous people, ecologists, labor unions, and rural outfitters who live and work on the land and are most familiar with the forest must form truly cooperative partnerships.

Quebec’s forests should not be able to be managed by the government and its supporters of the industry. Under no circumstances should logging be permitted in a habitat where threatened species, like woodland caribou, are endangered.

Finally, it is necessary to give priority to indigenous communities’ territorial territorial rights as part of forest care.

Not to say that trees shouldn’t be cut for wood should be a part of responsible forestry reform. It would be disastrous if plastic and concrete were to be used to replace wood products.  Responsible timber management is possible and achievable while promoting forest regeneration.

Forest management refers to caring for the land as a creator of life rather than just as a creator of wealth in the face of global ecological crises that result in wildfires, climate change, mass extinction, and threaten our collective well-being in the future. It’s not the planet that needs to adapt to the economy, according to renowned Canadian ecoologist David Suzuki. The opposite is true.