SAINT JOHN -- The food processing giant Saputo now says 81 workers will lose their jobs next year when the former Baxter's Dairy closes in Saint John, not the 200 reported yesterday. Efforts are underway to find new jobs for those affected, as a sometimes painful transition continues in the Saint John economy.
The north end of the city has been home to the milk processing plant for almost a century.
That tradition is coming to an end next year, with the closure of Saputo Foods -- a plant located in the riding of the province's labour minister.
"Our economy is transitioning here," said New Brunswick Labour Minister Trevor Holder.
He's confident that in the coming months, other jobs will be found for the people about to lose their livelihoods.
"We've had great success in the past making sure that people find work elsewhere," he said. "If we need to retrain them, we retrain them."
Others say the transition will not be easy.
"Lots of those people will have to leave Saint John," says port worker Owen Boyle. "They'll have to leave New Brunswick to find jobs."
Boyle is a long-time supporter of blue collar jobs in the city. He says jobs like those in the Saputo plant are hard to replace.
"When you go by there, it's a big huge parking lot, it's full of cars," Boyle said. "High-end cars, so they're high-end jobs."
Saputo, or what used to be called Baxter's, joins a long list of traditional industries in Saint John that used to form the backbone of the local economy.
The list includes Saint John Shipbuilding, the Simms brush factory, Labatt's Brewery and the Lantic sugar refinery -- all gone within a period of two decades.
"What we're trying to do is hold on to our traditional, we make things, we export things, we sell things, to, we create things, we innovate things," says Ron Gaudet, who heads up the economic development office for Greater Saint John.
He agrees the economy is in transition, but he says, the long term trend is favorable.
"There are pains and there are gains but overall, we think there are lots of opportunities in Atlantic Canada and in the Saint John region in particular," Gaudet says.
Government and private sector efforts are underway to organize a job fair for Saputo workers who will lose their jobs next year.
After initially saying that 200 jobs would be lost in Saint John, the company issued a correction and an apology on Friday, saying it got the numbers mixed up.
The loss of 200 jobs is at the Trenton, Ont., plant. There will be 81 jobs lost when the Saint John plant closes.
