PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. - A plan will be in place to help wood suppliers in Nova Scotia sell their product after a NewPage mill in Port Hawkesbury shuts down next month, Premier Darrell Dexter said Wednesday.
He said the plan is expected to be in place by Sept. 9, one day ahead of the planned closure of the first of the Port Hawkesbury mill's two paper machines. The second machine will be shut down Sept. 16.
"In order for them (contractors) to continue to meet their bills and to pay for the investments that they've made in the machinery they have, that needs to be done by the time the first paper machine begins to idle," Dexter said after a meeting with union leaders and local politicians in Port Hawkesbury.
He said details of the plan are being worked out and he didn't reveal how much it might cost.
About 50 employees work in the mill's woodland operations and about 400 forestry contractors provide the company with pulp wood.
Dexter said there is demand for the wood from pulp mills and saw mills in other areas of the province.
"It's about co-ordinating and ensuring that the cost is reasonable between the suppliers and the companies that could use that fibre," he said.
Ohio-based NewPage announced Monday that it would close the paper mill in southern Cape Breton for an indefinite period as it struggles to cope with the strong Canadian dollar and rising rates for shipping and electricity.
The move would affect about 1,000 jobs, including 550 at the mill.
Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean said town council is setting up a committee of mayors and wardens from surrounding counties in the Strait of Canso area to examine possible solutions or alternatives.
He said it will work with a special cabinet committee announced by Dexter on Tuesday and with the provincial Department of Economic Development.
Every option should be examined to keep the mill viable, he said.
"I think there's nothing that we can't put on the table for discussion," MacLean said. "This community is looking for us to turn every stone."
MacLean said time is of the essence because many of the mill's workers will likely move to find jobs.
"Am I optimistic? I'd love to be, but I have nothing to be optimistic about yet," he said.
Dexter, who has called on Nova Scotia Power to ask for less in profit at rate hearings next month, said the company is being responsible by discussing a multi-year rate plan and other issues on Thursday with customers who are intervening at the Utility and Review Board hearings.
Dexter wants the utility to drop plans to request an increase in its rate of return on investment because of the economic circumstances affecting the mill.
"It's not just about not having a mill, it's about having 1,000 Nova Scotia Power households who can't pay the bills because they have income insecurity," said Dexter.
