Tory Rushton

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says government officials are “actively monitoring” the process for the sell-off of Northern Pulp’s assets, but no decisions have been made about whether the province will get in on the bidding. Regardless, Rushton said he thinks the timberlands on the auction block have been “active forestry lands for the sector for many years and they should continue to be” used as such. …The primary assets are timberlands owned by the company, as well as a nursery. There is precedent for the province buying such land. In 2012, the NDP government bought land in western Nova Scotia from Bowater before the Queens County-based mill eventually shut down. …One of the reasons Rushton is taking a way-and-see approach to how any future leases look is because he expects there will continue to be demand for the wood.