Duane Hicks
Rumours that Boise has offered to buy the local mill are just that: rumours.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty said he asked Resolute Forest Products president Richard Garneau about such an offer when he and Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell met with Garneau last Thursday night in Toronto.
“I asked him about Boise and when I said that, he kind of chuckled a little bit and said, ‘That’s the first I’ve heard of it,’” Rafferty noted this morning.
“You know how rumours are.
“Boise made a strategic decision for them to buy pulp from their Washington mill and keep those guys working, and so that’s what happened,” Rafferty added.
Rafferty said the meeting with Garneau and his advisor, John Valley, was informative, covering discussion about the mill here and Resolute’s operations in Thunder Bay and Ignace, as well as the business challenges facing the pulp and paper industry.
The local MP added he was “cautiously optimistic” coming out of the meeting, stressing that Garneau “has great hopes for Fort Frances.”
“He explained they now have in Ontario and Quebec four mills that are down to one [paper] machine and he explained the economics behind it,” noted Rafferty.
“The other three that have already happened, that one paper machine is making money and he [Garneau] fully expects the Fort Frances mill, with one machine running, to make money.”
Rafferty and Campbell were reassured the indefinite idling of the kraft mill and #5 paper machine here does not mean the company is preparing to shut down the mill permanently, and that the company actively is pursuing alternate product development.
Rafferty said Garneau also renewed his commitment to “working towards fully funding pension plans,” and said the company would have a representative come to Fort Frances in the future to speak to pensioners and employees and answer their questions.
Resolute Forest Products announced Nov. 21 it would idle indefinitely its kraft mill and #5 paper machine here as of the end of November, laying off 239 employees.
Paper machine #7 will continue to operate, with about 200 employees staying on at the mill.
