In a letter to Premier Doug Ford, Myles Sullivan, director of United Steelworkers (USW) District 6, called on the Ontario government to exhaust all efforts to reopen the AV Terrace Bay pulp mill.
The pulp mill, owned by India-based Aditya Birla conglomerate, was considered one of northwestern Ontario’s largest employers before it closed six months ago.
The mill employed 400 workers, including 270 USW members, and was the economic staple for communities including Terrace Bay, Schreiber and Pays Plat First Nation. It produced 320,000 tonnes of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp annually.
Sullivan said in a release that renewed efforts are needed from all stakeholders and the Ford government to reopen the mill.
“The closure has had negative ripple effects in the Northern Ontario communities of Terrace Bay, Schreiber and Pays Plat First Nation. Forestry jobs in the region are threatened, and small and medium-sized businesses are hurting and in some cases, have also shuttered,” Sullivan’s letter stated.
“The AV Terrace Bay closure has meant that families have been living in uncertainty for most of the last six months, and it remains unclear whether, or how, their government will support them.”
In April, Natural Resources Minister Graydon Smith said the Ontario government "will not stop in our efforts to get this mill open.”
Since then, USW hasn’t heard a word of progress about reopening the mill.
Steven Downey, president of United Steel Workers Local 665, told Dougall Media the union wasn’t receiving any updates from Aditya Birla or Ford’s government. He hoped the letter would “put the heat on them and see if we can get a sit down with either the government or Birla to talk.”
“There are quite a few sawmills right now that are starting to curtail their production. It's affecting more than just the mall here. It's affecting the whole north shore,” said Downey.
He points out that northern sawmills have no place to offload the wood chips for production.
Before the closure, the mill produced premium-grade pulp used in the manufacture of products including tissues, toilet paper and paper towels.
With nowhere to process the wood chips, the product is starting to pile up, which adds an element of danger as those chips could ignite in the summer heat.
USW hopes the premier's office will take the closure of the Terrace Bay mill seriously as the impact of the closure worsens.
“Everybody's losing jobs in a time where we really can't. The town is suffering. There are local businesses starting to close. We've had one, the print shop; they're closed after 75 years of service and their major customer was the mill,” explained Downey.
— SNNnewswatch
