Press Release
Leaders of Canada’s largest forestry union are calling on the Nova Scotia government to step up to the plate following today’s announcement of the indefinite closure of the Resolute Forests Products mill in Brooklyn, N.S.
“We call on the government of Nova Scotia to immediately purchase the private forest lands owned by the company to ensure the citizens of Nova Scotia have access to forest-dependent jobs and their community for the long run,” said Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
“The closure of Bowater-Mersey-owned mill is the result of the lack of a national economic industrial strategy to deal with the devastating collapse of the forest industry,” he charged.
“Our members are devastated,” added Chuck Shewfelt, CEP’s Atlantic Regional Vice-President.
“This is a disaster for the community and the province,” he stressed, noting the closure will affect some 350 employees directly and hundreds more indirectly from the spin-off effects.
Coles said the CEP has pursued every political avenue in an attempt to have the forest crisis addressed.
“But political leaders, in particular the Conservative government in Ottawa, have slammed the door in our face,” he charged.
“Forestry is a renewable resource. It is the ultimate ‘green’ industry, generating vast wealth from trees that grow back again after they’ve been cut.
“This simple fact is one that many current political leaders have been unable to grasp.”
