Region Archives: Canada East

U.S. federal regulators have approved the sale of short-line railroader Genesee & Wyoming to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. The Connecticut-based carrier is the parent company of Genesee & Wyoming Canada (G & WC), operators of the Huron Central Railway, which runs between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. The approval may finally loosen the purse strings on a government subsidy to keep rail freight moving in northeastern Ontario, at least for another five years. …The Huron Central employs about 40 employees but thousands of jobs in companies in the northeast rely on the service. The railway hauls steel, forest products and chemicals for industries such as Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, the Domtar paper plant in Espanola, and the EACOM sawmill in Nairn Centre.

The Ontario government released its draft Forest Sector Strategy for further feedback through the Environmental Registry:

• Leveraging Sustainable Forest Management Practices… more environmentally conscious and sustainably sourced products.
• Investing in Technology… like Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), which produces high-resolution aerial imagery of forests. 
• Reducing Regulatory Burden… streamlining the process for permits and approvals, removing duplication, and modernizing the forest management planning process and the approach to independent forest audits. 
• Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program… will provide up to $10 million per year in funding.
• Promoting Innovation… to support the commercialization of innovative forest products and processes.
• Increasing Wood Use… to harmonize the Ontario Building Code with national codes to expand opportunities to use mass timber.
• Reaching New Markets and Addressing Trade Barriers… by supporting participation in trade missions in emerging markets.
• Growing Talent in the Forest Sector… attract young Ontarians and particularly Indigenous youth to forestry careers. 

John Yakabuski with Vic Fedeli

The Ontario government is making it easier for forestry companies to sustain and create new jobs in the future. John Yakabuski, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, was at Quality Hardwoods in Powassan Friday morning announcing a $50-million, five-year program. The minister has reformatted the former Forestry Growth Fund and renamed it the Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program (FSIIP). Funding will be made available over five years at $10-million dollars a year. Yakabuski says the program is now easier to apply for and it puts more emphasis on the impact the project will have on the local region. In making the announcement, Yakabuski said the Ford government heard that the cost of equipment is a barrier to investing in the sector and also that forestry companies wanted support for research and innovation.

The Nova Scotia government has been adamant all along that “the science” will determine whether it approves Northern Pulp’s plan to treat the mill’s chemical brew on-site and then pour the wastewater into the Northumberland Strait. Well, unless the science is alchemy, astrology or perhaps political, the Pictou County pulp mill’s plan won’t pass muster. And on or before Dec. 17, Nova Scotia’s Environment Minister Gordon Wilson will say so or sacrifice his, and the provincial government’s credibility. …Wilson could approve Northern Pulp’s plan with conditions, but independent analysis… found so many gaps, gaffes and omissions that such an approval would have to come with more conditions. …Watching all of this warily from Ottawa is Canada’s new Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who’s given himself until Dec. 20 to decide whether Northern Pulp’s treatment proposal should be subjected to a federal environmental impact study. [a subscription is required to access the full story]

Pete Fournier

OTTAWA, Ontario – Pete Fournier, president and CEO of Triangle Group of Dieppe, New Brunswick, was recently elected the new chairman of the Wood Manufacturing Council. The WMC is a national not-for-profit organization that collaborates with industry, educators, trade associations and governments to implement human resource solutions to support the advanced wood processing sector in Canada. …Fournier succeeds Jim Deslaurier, director of business development for Deslaurier Custom Cabinets of Renfrew, Ontario. Dennis Harlock, professor, Wood Programs, Conestoga College of Kitchener, Ontario, was elected as the new vice chair.

POWASSAN – Peter Van Amelsfoort wants Quality Hardwoods to be more efficient and competitive “on the machinery side.” Already, the company that employs between 20 and 25 people has a couple of projects in the works, and Van Amelsfoort intends to make use of the new provincial Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program to increase his workforce and make the company more competitive. “This will certainly help on the innovation side,” Van Amelsfoort said Friday after Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli and Natural Resources and Forestry Minister John Yakabuski used Quality Hardwoods as the site to announce the new, user-friendly program. A project in the works now, he said, is converting the boilers for the kilns to burn wood pellets instead of oil, something that will save the company thousands of dollars annually.

Resolute has been ranked one of Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders in 2018, marking the eighth year in a row we’ve made this prestigious list. The Top 100 ranking was announced on November 12 by Research Infosource Inc., which annually profiles organizations committed to enhancing Canada’s global competitiveness in the knowledge economy. What Resolute innovations are contributing to this new economy? We are hosting and investing in a bio-refinery pilot plant at our Thunder Bay (Ontario) pulp and paper mill to provide new pathways to the large-scale production of green bio-chemicals derived from wood. In collaboration with our partner, FPInnovations, the project will help to develop eco-friendly and cost-effective alternatives to petroleum-based products for use in the construction, automotive, mining, oil and other sectors.

POWASSAN — The Ontario government is helping the forest sector grow and supporting communities across the province by redesigning a key forestry support program to make it more streamlined, transparent and user-friendly. John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry… announced the new Forest Sector Investment and Innovation Program (formerly the Forestry Growth Fund), which will provide up to $10 million per year in funding over five years. “We have a plan to create the right conditions to help the forestry industry innovate and create jobs and prosperity for communities across the province,” said Minister Yakabuski. “…we’re making it easier for more forestry businesses to apply and get access to funding.” …The province will soon launch a draft forest sector strategy that will aim to help industry innovate, attract new investment, and protect and create jobs, securing a future for the communities and families who depend on the industry.

PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. —  Safety champions, new ventures and the best in business and customer service were celebrated during the fall awards dinner hosted by the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce. …A new award presented this year was the Marc Dube Innovation Award, which recognizes a business, organization or person who has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to innovation and business success. The award is named for Dube, who was the development manager at Port Hawkesbury Paper when it was reopened by parent company Stern Partners following a period of closure. His innovative, professional and compassionate approach to his work and community is said to have had a deep impact on the region. The Dube award’s inaugural recipient is Blaire Martell of Lobsters-R-Us Seafood in Little Harbour. 

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s premier declined comment Tuesday after federal input on a plan to pump millions of litres of treated wastewater from a pulp mill into the Northumberland Strait was made public. …Provincial Environment Minister Gordon Wilson is to make a final decision on the new treatment plant by Dec. 17 following a review of the mill’s so-called focus report. …In documents obtained… the departments were largely critical of the focus report, saying it lacked necessary information and noting the province’s 36-day comment period was not long enough for a detailed analysis of its more than 2,000-pages. …Officials also pointed out that there appeared to be an “underlying assumption” that potential leaks in the buried marine portions of the pipeline are not an issue. …Meanwhile, Health Canada said it didn’t have adequate information to assess whether the project “may pose unacceptable or un-mitigatable risks/adverse effects to human health.”

Residents are advised that controlled burning of wood debris will be taking place this week at Kenora Forest Products. …Production at the sawmill is still idle, as it has been since September. Over 100 KFP staff are temporarily laid off due to market conditions, and there is no estimate for how long the layoffs may last. The company cited the 20.23 per cent duty deposit imposed by the American government as an important factor for the shutdown, since the U.S. is where 95 per cent of the sawmill’s shipments are headed. …The sawmill restarted in 2016 after an eight-year shutdown. Prendiville Industries invested $30 million in the operation to restart production.

Greenfield in Queens County is about as rural as you get in Nova Scotia… the biggest employer in the community is the lumber mill Harry Freeman and Son Ltd. On Monday night, the owners of the mill made a significant contribution to the local fire department, donating $30,000 worth of new bunker gear. …The Freeman lumber mill is one of the oldest family-run sawmill businesses in North America. The Freeman family established their first sawmill in Greenfield in 1832, when the village was first settled. …But through the years there have been fires and other disasters that have had devastating impacts on the operations. Each time it was rebuilt and today it has 150 employees. …Many of the Greenfield firefighters work at the mill.

Rainy River Packaging, formerly known as Repap Resources, is no longer interested in purchasing the Fort Frances mill. The company has been interested in the mill property since December of last year but its investors have backed away due to the restrictive covenants that Resolute Forest Products attached to its sale to Riversedge Developments in July. Although, Rainy River Packaging would still like to be kept up to date on news surrounding the mill incase anything changes, Mayor Caul said. “They would still be interested, they really believe this mill can be up and running again,” she noted. Mayor Caul sent a letter to Resolute yesterday morning asking for clarification on what the mill property can be used for in lieu of the restrictive covenants. 

Re: “Provincial loans top $85 million.” The Nov. 18 front-page story by Aaron Beswick about Northern Pulp brought back memories. This article reported some interesting facts about loan amounts and when they were made. When I was appointed minister of the environment in 1978, it was quite a shock to learn that over half my budget was going to the Pictou County pulp mill to operate the facilities that supplied water and accepted untreated effluent. When I read the contract that established the pulp mill, which dated back to the Stanfield-Smith era, it was spelled out that the province was responsible to deliver fresh water to and accept the waste from the mill. What seemed to be a good job-creating deal then has become a taxpayers’ burden over the years, as factors keep changing.

Ross Romano

SUDBURY – Avery Timber Limited, a Sault Ste. Marie lumber company, is getting close to $400,000 which should help create seven new jobs. Ross Romano, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie made the announcement on behalf of Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines. With this funding, Avery Timber, a subsidiary of Avery Construction Limited, will expand its production capacity by purchasing a feller-buncher and a log trailer. The two pieces of timber harvesting equipment help harvest more trees and bring more products to market. …”This investment will help create good, well-paying jobs in the Sault and strengthen Avery Timber’s reputation as a responsible and productive harvester in Ontario timber.”

PICTOU, N.S. — The Northern Pulp mill’s plan to pump treated wastewater into the Northumberland Strait lacks information and minimizes the risk to fishing grounds in the vicinity, a coalition of groups said Tuesday as they urged the Nova Scotia government to reject the proposal. The Town of Pictou, Pictou Landing First Nation, fishermen from across the Maritimes and the environmental group Friends of the Northumberland Strait voiced their concerns during a news conference in Pictou, N.S. They were responding to a required focus report the mill submitted to the provincial Environment Department in early October that proposed pumping up to 85 million litres of treated effluent into the strait daily. Jill Graham-Scanlan of Friends of the Northumberland Strait said …the report… lacked critical information and didn’t meet the department’s terms of reference. …Northern Pulp said Tuesday it looks forward to a “positive outcome” to the Environment Department’s review of the company’s focus report.

Within a few short weeks, the question won’t be “speculative” anymore, and Nova Scotia’s Liberal government will have to fish or cut wood. Northern Pulp’s new effluent treatment plan – replacing Boat Harbour which, by law, is scheduled to shut down at the end of January – is winding its way through the provincial environmental assessment process.  We’ll know on or before Dec. 13 whether it meets the province’s environmental standards, but the smart money says the mill will get the necessary approval to proceed. …Northern Pulp’s plan to treat the mill’s effluent on site and then pipe the wastewater into the Northumberland Strait doesn’t sit well with fisherfolk…The province’s forestry sector says the mill’s closure would wreak havoc across their entire industry… The provincial government is on the horns of a dilemma. …The government’s reluctance to answer the critical questions about the mill’s future is understandable, but the time is rapidly approaching when those questions will no longer be avoidable. [Full story only available for Cape Breton Post subscribers] 

TOKYO – Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and 35 senior executives from B.C. forest companies and associations have concluded their 2019 forestry trade mission to Asia. The delegation promoted British Columbia’s innovative wood products to the province’s two largest markets outside of North America from Nov. 10-15, 2019. “Over the past five days, we’ve met with construction, business and association representatives in China and Japan, and Japanese policymakers, to enhance and expand existing and future business opportunities for wood in both markets,” Donaldson said. “What we found were clients and customers that were eager to talk about B.C. and Canada’s high-quality wood products.”

A western Quebec hardwood flooring company is no longer logging and laying off 165 people, blaming the closure of a nearby paper mill. Lauzon Planchers de bois exclusifs in Papineauville, Que., announced Friday it was shutting down its logging operations because it sold wood chips to Fortress in Thurso, Que., which closed temporarily in October. Fortress had blamed the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, as well as the weakening of China’s domestic demand for textiles and clothing, for its closure. The next day, the Quebec government announced it would give the paper mill a maximum $8 million loan to help it find a strategic partner to reopen by the end of this month.

Northern Pulp and an associated company owe the province more than $85 million. While the company and the Nova Scotia government have acknowledged the existence of outstanding debts to the taxpayer, neither have been willing to disclose the amounts. The Chronicle Herald received the details on the interest-bearing loans via a Freedom of Information request. News of the magnitude of the debt comes as staff at the Nova Scotia Department of the Environment prepare a recommendation to Minister Gordon Wilson on whether to approve the construction of Northern Pulp’s proposed new effluent treatment facility. That decision must come, according to legislated timelines of the Environmental Assessment process, no later than Dec. 13. “We knew there were loans outstanding but we didn’t know the amount was that high,”  James Gunvaldsen Klaassen, a lawyer with the firm Ecojustice, said of the three outstanding loans totalling $85,478,537.48 to Northern Pulp and an associated company. [This story is only available to Chronicle Herald subscribers]

Quebec is providing about 40 per cent of the $342 million investment required to restart a pulp mill and cogeneration facility in northern Quebec that’s been idle for more than a decade.  Nordic Kraft, a new unit of Quebec forest-products maker Chantiers Chibougamau, plans to begin making kraft pulp in the town of Lebel-sur-Quévillon by next summer, according to a company statement issued Friday. The reopening will create about 300 jobs that will likely pay an average of $90,000 a year, the government said in a separate statement. Quebec’s financial contribution amounts to about $138 million. The amount includes a 10-year loan for about $120 million, as well as the purchase of minority stake in the mill, Frédéric Verreault, a Chantiers Chibougamau executive, told the Montreal Gazette in a telephone interview.

GATINEAU, QC,  – Kruger today announced that its Kruger Products’ Gatineau Plant was recently certified ISO 50001 for Energy Management. This makes Kruger Products L.P. the first company to receive this certification from the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ). … Its Gatineau Plant has significantly improved its environmental performance since 2009, by reducing its energy intensity by 25%. “With the ISO 50001-based energy management system, we can continuously monitor our energy intensity, maintain the energy savings achieved and continually improve our energy performance. We now have a structured system in place that involves all of the Plant’s Operating teams that are working towards a common goal: to continuously improve our environmental performance,” said Daniel Morneau, General Manager, Kruger Products’ Gatineau Plant. 

KINGSEY FALLS, QC — Cascades… announced that it intends, subject to market and other conditions, to offer US$300 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2026, US$300 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2028 and Cdn$175 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2025 in a private offering. …The Notes of each series will be guaranteed by each of the Company’s existing and future U.S. and Canadian restricted subsidiaries. …The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes to (i) redeem all of its outstanding US$400 million… senior notes due 2022 and Cdn$250 million …senior notes due 2021 and repay certain amounts outstanding under its revolving credit facility.

KINGSEY FALLS, QC — Cascades reports its unaudited financial results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2019. Sales of $1,264 million compared with $1,275 million in Q2 2019 (-1%) and $1,175 million in Q3 2018 (+8%). …Adjusted (excluding specific items) operating income of $88 million compared with $84 million in Q2 2019 (+5%) and $76 million in Q3 2018 (+16%). …Mr. Mario Plourde, President and CEO, commented: “Cascades delivered solid consolidated third quarter 2019 results, as demonstrated by the 24.9% OIBD margin realized by the Containerboard segment.