Neil Godbout

The finger pointing and excuses from Canfor were as loud as a chainsaw from the outset of the company’s announcement that it was axing its pulp line at its Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill… It’s because of the closed sawmills in the Prince George area (Canfor’s choice), they said. It’s because of the reductions in the annual allowable cut (the B.C. government’s choice) and the difficulty getting “cost-competitive” fibre, they said. …we’ve arrived at this week because of the greed and incompetence of the big forest companies and the provincial government more interested in milking every cent out of the sector on a month-to-month basis to bolster their revenues than on the long-term management and protection of this invaluable resource. …Premier David Eby will be in Prince George next week for the Natural Resources Forum. It’d be nice to see the affected employees [and] local residents when Eby is at the Civic Centre giving the keynote speech.

Mike Bernier

BC Liberal Critic for Forests Mike Bernier on Thursday said that the news about Canfor’s Pulp and Paper Mill shut down is devastating. Bernier said in a statement: “The situation in our forestry-dependent communities is dire, and this second-term NDP government has failed to come to the table with solutions. No solutions for the industry as a whole, and no solutions for workers and their families. [Premier] David Eby has admitted that the industry is facing unprecedented amounts of stress and yet one of his first orders of business was to disband the Cabinet Working Group on Forestry. …This requires a concerted focus and commitment from government with tangible supports made available on the ground immediately for the families impacted and a plan forward for forest sector workers and forestry-dependent communities that addresses a range of NDP policies that have unnecessarily exacerbated strains on the industry.

MERRITT, B.C. — In December, Aspen Planers announced a three-week shutdown of its two mills in Merritt, citing a lack of steady log supply. Those three weeks have come and passed with the mills remaining silent. “This is the last actual operating sawmill in this community. We need to protect it,” Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz said. The city of Merritt once had five mills. After the closure of Tolko in 2016, Aspen Planers is the last one standing. …“When we lose a tax base, a lot of our things in the community are threatened. Do we change hours on the pool? Do we change hours at the civic centre? Because … when we lose a corporate taxpayer, it’s hard on the community,” stated Goetz about the importance of Aspen to the community. Aspen Planers is a B.C.-only company, and Goetz believes it’s time for the government to support local.

Chuck LeBlanc

The president of the local representing unionized workers losing their jobs as the result of Canfor’s decision this week to close its Prince George Pulp division blames the move on “failed forestry policy.” …“Starting with the Liberals when they changed the forests code to recently the old-growth deferrals to recently the caribou habitat stuff… has definitely put pressure on them,” Chuck LeBlanc, Local 9 president of the union said. …“On top of that, we have five million cubic metres of raw log exports shipped overseas. That’s eight to 10 sawmills and it affects the pulp mills after that and it’s happening year after year. We need to change what we’re presently doing, otherwise we’re going to lose a lot more jobs in this area.” …City councillor Brian Skakun…“In my opinion, Canfor has not reinvested like they could have and have invested heavily in U.S. operations.”

Additional coverage in MyPGNow, by Brendan Pawliw: “It’s a dark day for Prince George,”: Union President, city councillor weigh in on Canfor closure

B.C. Premier David Eby says he is deploying a crisis response team to Prince George to support workers losing their jobs at a Canfor pulp mill. …”It’s an incredibly stressful time for them and for the whole community in Prince George,” Eby said, adding that the transition team will help workers losing their jobs with access to benefits the government has established, including training, transition to retirement or other supports. Chuck LeBlanc, a union representative for those employed at the mill, says workers were “all in shock” at the news but said it had long been expected that a pulp mill in the Interior would shut down as raw fibre available to supply it declined. …Joel McKay, CEO of the economic development organization Northern Development Initiative Trust, said he would expect up to 900 additional jobs to be lost as a result of the closure, for a total of 1,200.

A Labour Relations Board panel member has set aside an arbitrator’s decision that would have entitled workers to “group termination pay” following closure of Canfor’s Mackenzie sawmill. On June 10, 2019, Canfor issued a six-week “curtailment” and one week later, on June 17, 2019, laid off almost all of its 187 unionized employees. Then, on July 18, 2019 – 10 days before the mill was scheduled to re-open – the company announced that the curtailment would be extended indefinitely. The Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada filed a grievance which contended… an employer must pay out group termination pay whenever it terminates 50 or more employees at a single location within any two-month period. In a decision issued May 10, 2021, arbitrator, Nicholas Glass, agreed with the union. But the panel member, LRB vice chair Stephanie Drake, found in favour of Canfor. …Drake found there were “exceptional and compelling reasons” for granting an extension and hearing the appeal.”

Collin Phillip and Marlene Higgins

Victoria, BC – PRT Growing Services Ltd., North America’s premier producer of container-grown forest seedlings, announced today two strategic additions to its executive leadership team, with Collin Phillip joining the company as Chief Commercial Officer and Marlene Higgins as Chief People Officer. Both hires bring extensive leadership experience and will help position PRT for its next phase of growth. “At PRT, we believe people make all the difference, so we are pleased to welcome Collin and Marlene to the team,” said Randy Fournier, CEO, PRT. “They each bring diverse experiences to their roles, and have a shared vision of expanding our critical natural resources, which drives PRT’s future success.” Phillip previously held positions at Corteva Agriscience and The Monsanto Company, operating in a variety of sales and supply chain management roles. …Higgins brings a wealth of experience to PRT, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Human Resources for Structurlam. 

“The city is not going to take this lying down,” Prince George Mayor Simon Yu said in reaction to Canfor’s plans to permanently close the pulp division of Prince George Pulp and Paper. “I will be talking to potential investors to see if there are economic opportunities we can seize upon immediately,” he said. “If we do not have a program for these 300 families they will move out of town and this will be devastating to the local economy and beyond.” …Yu said there could be opportunities to work mining or transportation sectors. …Bailey, Ralston and Premier David Eby will be in the city next week for the three-day reources forum. Some senior employees will be offered early retirement packages to help absorb the job losses. But with so many other businesses connected to the pulp mill supply chain there will be an obvious ripple effect.