QUEEN’S PARK – In the last couple of days, the McGuinty Liberals have been trumpeting what they call a success in the pulp and paper industry in northern Ontario. Of course what they’re talking about is the start-up of one paper machine at the St. Marys mill in Sault Ste. Marie.
This leads me to ask: Why don’t the McGuinty Liberals talk about the three paper machines that have been shut down in Kenora under their watch, or the two that have been shut down in Dryden under their watch, or the one that has been shut down in Fort Francis under their watch, or the eight paper machines that have been shut down in Thunder Bay under their watch, or the two that have been shut down in Red Rock under their watch, or the two that are still shut down in Sault Ste. Marie under their watch?
Also, I wonder how it is that if we look to Quebec, there are 20-plus paper machines still operating in that province, providing thousands of good jobs for people. Fourteen paper machines shut down across northern Ontario, with thousands of jobs lost, and paper machines in Quebec are still operating, with thousands of jobs continuing.
Or I look across the border into northern Minnesota: In International Falls, Minnesota, there are two paper machines operating; in Grand Rapids, two machines operating; in Duluth, one machine operating.
Why are so many shut down across northwestern Ontario?
Howard Hampton MPP