N.B. premier says Agropur should’ve shared plans to close Sussex plant

Premier Susan Holt says she would have liked a heads up before Agropur decided to end operations in Sussex, N.B.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says “it would’ve been helpful” to have known Agropur’s full restructuring plans prior to the dairy co-operative’s announcement last week of winding down operations in Sussex while expanding in Miramichi with the help of taxpayer’s money.

Agropur said the Sussex-area facility – which makes butter and powdered milk products – would close by the end of 2028, resulting in approximately 60 job losses. At the same time, Agropur said a $20-million expansion at its Miramichi facility would create 15 skilled jobs.

In February, the New Brunswick government announced funding of up to $2.4 million in a non-repayable contribution to expand the capacity to process milk in Miramichi.

On Thursday, Holt said she had misunderstood information from the company when she told reporters there would be a net gain of Agropur jobs in New Brunswick.

Holt said on Monday there would in fact be a net loss of about 45 Agropur jobs in New Brunswick.

Holt said when Opportunities NB learned Agropur was in the process of restructuring, the provincial government “saw the potential for loss” and decided to act.

“We were holding on to as much as we could within the province’s means and with the responsible fiscal analysis we needed to do about how we invest to support jobs in New Brunswick,” said Holt.

As part of last week’s announcement, Agropur also confirmed it would be expanding production in Bedford, N.S., while also ending operations in Truro, N.S.

Holt and Minister responsible for Opportunities NB Luke Randall said they didn’t know the full details of Agropur’s restructuring plans when non-repayable contribution was announced in February.

“That would’ve been helpful information to have, to understand the full picture of the impact on New Brunswick and not just the opportunity to modernize and secure, prevent the loss of jobs in the Miramichi, but to really understand the full picture of what the company was planning to do,” said Holt.

“It’s not good news for Sussex. It’s not news that any of us are happy about. But the support will be there for families and the people impacted.”

Holt said employees in the Sussex-area would have opportunities to relocate for other Agropur jobs with the company “should they choose to,” adding there were no conversations happening to try and reverse the company’s decision.

Progressive Conservative MLA Tammy Scott-Wallace told CTV Atlantic last week “we do not have these jobs to lose in this region.”

“I’m absolutely livid to think that the province would even consider giving money to one region that would cause such serious harm to another,” said Scott-Wallace.

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