Terrace Bay might be losing it’s main employer as over 400 employers were recently laid off work at the Terrace Bay pulp and paper mill. AV Burla, the current owners of the mill issued a statement earlier in the month, that although vague, seems to indicate that the mill could be permanently closed.

The official reason for the layoffs blames a decline in demand for pulp but it appears there is more to the story. Since taking over nearly 12 years ago, there have been outstanding maintenance issues and the mill barely operates at 60% capacity.

Immediately after the news broke, a special council meeting was convened. At issue are no mention of a date of returning to production, the current state of the premises, and a shortage of skilled workers willing to relocate to Terrace Bay.

During the rather brief meeting, a summary of past mill closures was mentioned. Terrace Bay has seen three downturns in the mill over the past few decades, with each new owner leaving the business in a worse state of disrepair. There was an attempt made at finding a new buyer which indicates that there is intention for the current owners to depart, but as the deal never came to fruition due to the huge cost of renovations, it would seem the fate will remain unknown for the foreseeable future.

Currently 50 of the 400 member labour force remain to oversee the operation with no product actually being made. Outstanding debt was also raised as the company can no longer afford to replenish the materials needed for production. The current handful of staff will be let go at the end of March unless a solution can be found.

During the recent council meeting it was determined the delegation travelling to Toronto this month for the ROMA conference will be actively pursuing ministers in an effort to find solutions to the current situation.

Another meeting was held with NDP leaders later in the week. That meeting focused on the economic impact of the possibility of the permanent closing of the mill to the region.

Schreiber Media Centre will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds.