Canfor’s Quesnel Sawmill Shuts Down
Quesnel, B.C.- The sawmill operations at the Canfor sawmill in Quesnel have come to a halt.
Today was the last day for that operation, a closure that was announced last fall because of a low fibre supply in the wake of the mountain pine beetle infestation.
The closure of Canfor’s Quesnel sawmill was part of a deal with West Fraser.
Canfor closes it’s Quesnel sawmill and gives West Fraser some Quesnel area timber rights, and West Fraser closes it’s sawmill in Houston and gives Canfor some fibre access in that part of the province.
For the Quesnel workers, the planer will continue working on available inventory until about the 22nd, and beyond that, there will be some shipping work for about half a dozen workers as they reload rail cars. But today, the sawmill fell silent.
“It is a difficult day for many of the workers” says Frank Everitt, President of Steelworkers Local 1-424 which represents the employees. “Many have been working at that mill since they graduated from high school.”
Everitt says much of the Quesnel sawmill workforce could be classed as “mature” and about 50 opted for retirement. Another 24 accepted transfers to other Canfor operations, 10 have decided to try opening up their own businesses, 5 are enrolled in education programs, 15 have secured employment elsewhere, 25 believe they will be able to find other employment, 15 remain on long term disability, and some have accepted large severance packages and have not decided yet just what they will do.
“It isn’t easy to just pack up your family and move to another community” says Everitt.
Some workers had hoped the New Prosperity mine would be approved so they could transfer some of their skills to landing new work with Taseko, but that project is in a holding pattern following the latest rejection of the project by the Federal Government.
Comments
With the monopolization of the fiber supply this will be the norm in the years ahead. No room in the fiber basket for any new entrants that could create new jobs. Essentially its this monopolization of the fiber supply that got the Americans so worked up, as they wanted a more market based fiber market when arguing for softwood lumber tariffs. No big deal for West Fraser and Canfor now though, as they have operations in the States now and any penalty they pay here in Canada they receive back on the American side.
Sounds like good business to me…and at the same time will stabilize the jobs in Houston and Quesnel for many years. Don’t knock employers who know how to run a good business….they are the ones who create jobs.
It would have had a jeopardizing effect on both Canfor and West Fraser if they had continued as two mills competing for allowable cuts that could only support one mill. They made a good solid business decision.
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