Local MP Carol Hughes says she's "disheartened" amid news Espanola's paper mill is "indefinitely" shutting down.
Domtar announced Wednesday that it's shutting down its Espanola pulp mill in early October, to be followed by the idling of the paper machines in November, with President Steve Henry saying "the Espanola mill has been challenged for some time now" with "years of ongoing operating losses and high costs associated with maintaining and operating" the mill, adding "we have worked diligently to find a viable path forward for the operation including offering it for sale".
Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing New Democrat Carol Hughes says she's "shocked and saddened", adding she reached out to Domtar to see if government assistance could help avert the closure, but was told it could not.
The closure's set to put 450 people out of work, and Hughes notes "once you lay off workers, the chance of being able to rehire them becomes more challenging as those experienced professionals move on with their careers elsewhere", pointing to challenges White River faced in reopening its lumber mill.
Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha says he's "already been in contact with Ontario's Minister of Labour, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, and have reached out to the Minister of Colleges and Universities to highlight the impacts that this will have on the community and our region", and hopes to work with them - as well as their federal counterparts and "impacted stakeholders" - to "mitigate any concerns in the community", emphasizing "protecting and promoting good paying, stable jobs in the North should be a priority for all elected officials".