AV Terrace Bay pulp mill (File Photo/Acadia Broadcasting)
Workers from the pulp mill in Terrace Bay are still awaiting word on when they can return to work.
The mill temporarily stopped operations in early January, with no date in place to resume work leaving over 400 people without a job.
The Ontario leadership of the United Steel Workers is still waiting for a reply to a letter sent to Doug Ford on July 17, asking for a meeting to discuss reopening the Pulp Mill in Terrace Bay.
Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles and MPP Lise Vaugeois have since written to Premier Ford urging immediate action.
“Close to 400 workers were laid off and the economic effects of this closure have been devastating for Terrace Bay as well as neighbouring communities,” said the letter.
“It has been eight months and there is no news of the mill re-opening. The mill is critical for a healthy forestry industry, and we know the importance of bringing the mill up to the highest standards seen in other mills, such as the Thunder Bay Pulp & Paper Mill.”
During a stop in Thunder Bay on August 9th the Premier addressed the issue.
“We’re going to continue working with the folks up there and give them proper training,” said Premier Doug Ford. “I wish I could dictate the market, the market is changing, and we’re going to come up with ideas with frontline workers. How we can potentially find a new buyer, save the mill, but that’s our ultimate goal, to make sure they’re taken care of.”
The next steps in the process of re-opening the mill are unclear but Ford says his ministers have been in contact with the mill’s parent company and the United Steel Workers.
