The Pas fights to keep paper company in town

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This article was published 08/09/2016 (3311 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The town of The Pas is prepared to use whatever resources it can to prevent the Tolko paper mill from closing Dec. 2.

Mayor Jim Scott has made a pitch to the privately owned company to waive three years’ worth of property and education taxes — $2.53 million — in exchange for the company continuing to make paper in The Pas and to give the town time to find a buyer for the kraft paper mill.

The Vernon, B.C.,-based company announced two weeks ago it is closing the plant.

“Unfortunately, despite years of continued effort to improve the cost structure and business results of the operations, the business is not financially sustainable,” said Tolko president and CEO Brad Thorlakson.

The town and others, including Unifor, the union that represents some of the 330 people who will lose their jobs, as well as the northern chiefs organization Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, have all committed to finding a buyer to keep the mill open.

Scott said he doesn’t know how long such a process will take but said he didn’t want to buy a six-month window only to find it will take another six months.

He said it is an offer to persuade the company to extend the closure deadline past Dec. 2.

“The cost of shutting that place down and restarting is massive. If we could avoid that, we would like to,” said Scott. “And shame on us if we don’t go down every path we possibly can to try to make this work.”

The town is in the process of hiring an industry consultant to undertake a professional search for a buyer.

Scott said while the company has said it is not happy with the financial performance of the mill, it does not necessarily mean it is not profitable.

“If we find the right buyer, they can sign a non-disclosure agreement and they can look at the books to see if it is worthwhile.”

A letter was sent to Tolko with the proposal late last week before the long weekend. The company has not responded.

A company spokesperson could not be reached.

The provincial government has ruled out a bailout but said it’s open to new ideas.

‘… Shame on us if we don’t go down every path we possibly can to try to make this work’– The Pas Mayor Jim Scott

“Our government is working with the town of The Pas to identify long-term, sustainable options for northern development. I, and several of my cabinet colleagues, will be in The Pas next week for meetings with northern mayors and business leaders that will focus on facilitating a business-friendly environment that is attractive to investors and to entrepreneurs,” Cliff Cullen, Manitoba’s minister of growth, enterprise and trade, said in an email message.

Meanwhile, The Pas is fighting for its life.

If the mill closes, the town loses its largest employer and a $37-million annual payroll. It would be a major blow to its essential services, including the school division Scott believes receives about $9,000 per student in provincial funding.

“If that mill closes down and 100 kids move… ouch,” said Scott. “We don’t want to see our school division shrink, we want to see it grow. We don’t want to lose out on that.”

The town is also facing uncertainty over the future of a couple of other significant contributors to its economy. Omnitrax, the owner of the Hudson Bay Railway, which employs at least two dozen people in The Pas, is looking to exit the business and has been cutting back its operations.

More recently, the operators of the Aseneskak Casino at Opaskwayak Cree Nation, which is adjacent to The Pas, has let it be known it is looking to move the casino elsewhere.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca