Mill workers deserve ‘more than patchwork’: premier

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This article was published 28/09/2016 (3294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is some glimmer of optimism a buyer can be found for Tolko’s kraft paper mill in The Pas, but it is very guarded at this point.

The Free Press reported Tuesday the Vernon, B.C., company has a letter of intent to buy the mill and Tolko is working with that company — likely a foreign firm — to find solutions the sale would be conditional on.

A little over a month ago, Tolko announced it would be closing the mill on Dec. 2, throwing about 320 people out of work.

On Tuesday, Premier Brian Pallister said he wouldn’t discuss details of the potential deal or what, if anything, the province would do to support that process until something is firmed up.

“I don’t want to be premature in my comments and I don’t want to raise hopes,” he said.

“There are affected people here, directly and indirectly, that deserve better than that, so we’ll wait until we have something to announce.”

Pallister has already said his government is not interested in bailouts or short-term measures to prop up the mill.

“We can’t patchwork our way to a solution, despite the great angst we feel for the workers who have lost their positions at this point,” Pallister said. “They deserve more than patchwork.”

When the announcement to close the mill was made in late August, Tolko officials said much effort was made to improve the mill’s competitive position but the business was not financially sustainable.

Last week, Tolko also announced the closure of a sawmill near Merritt, B.C. Mountain pine beetles have reduced the amount of timber the company has access to and it is now not enough to supply that mill. It is scheduled to close Dec. 16.

Paul McKie, a national representative with Unifor, which represents the plant’s workers, said there is some renewed optimism.

“There are conditions which the union can control, and which we are looking at… talking to our members about, and then there are other conditions… that are more in control of government bodies, regulators, etc.,” McKie said.

“They’re not asking for a handout or a bailout. They are asking for some other relief that can only be granted by a government… and they want a very quick answer from government.”

He said a deal to sell the mill would be in Tolko’s favour regardless of the price the buyer is willing to pay because it would mean Tolko would not have to pay severance to workers or shoulder shutdown costs that could run into the tens of millions of dollars in total.

— with files from The Canadian Press

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca