PC Leader Tim Houston met with some tough questions at the Bridgewater Chamber of Commerce lunch Thursday.
Concerns about the Boat Harbour effluent treatment plant closure in his riding are echoing on the South Shore as the forestry industry tries to gauge what will happen if the Northern Pulp Mill closes.
Richard Freeman with Freeman’s Lumber says they used to have a good relationship with the mill in Liverpool.
“Now that’s closed down so Northern is our plan B and in terms of any alternative plans, it really doesn’t look very promising.”
Freeman says if the deadline to close Boat Harbour isn’t extended past January 2020 he doesn’t know what will happen.
“Our own business, we’re talking about 150 full-time direct positions and 500 including indirect. But that’s only a little tiny piece of it. We’re talking about thousands of positions here.”
Freeman says he is still waiting to see any political party show leadership on this issue.
Meanwhile, Tim Houston recognizes the forestry industry is tightly connected.
He says if the industry has to go through a period of transition it will be painful for the province.
“We need to be thinking about where we’re transitioning to. What other markets are there for our fibre. What other markets are there for our by-products, sawdusts, chips, all this type of stuff.”
Houston says government wasn’t thinking about what closing Northern Pulp could mean to the industry but he doesn’t feel they are entirely at fault.
“Government is responsible for setting the standard and companies are responsible for meeting the standard. The company had an obligation to understand those and to meet that standard. So, that fact that they filed an application that didn’t meet the standard, that has to be on their shoulders.”
Houston says the province could’ve done a better job monitoring Northern Pulp to ensure they were meeting their objectives.
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
