Curtailed Port Alberni sawmill will not reopen as is; owner announces working group
A Vancouver Island sawmill where work has been curtailed since last October will not be reopening in its current configuration, its owner announced Thursday.
Western Forest Products Inc. said in a statement that it will not restart its Alberni-Pacific Division facility in Port Alberni as currently set up. Instead, the company "has established a multi-party working group to explore potential viable industrial manufacturing solutions for the facility."
A report commissioned last year by WFP, Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership and Huu-ay-aht First Nations found that manufacturing options for the facility are "very limited," the company said.
The new working group includes representatives from WFP, the United Steelworkers union, "Indigenous partners and contractually aligned business," the company said, adding that it will meet over the course of 90 days to explore options for the site.
“We believe the coastal forest sector has a strong future and we have and plan to continue to invest in partnerships, people and facilities to achieve a long-term sustainable business model in B.C. that evolves with the changing fibre supply, forest policies and global markets,” said WFP CEO Steven Hofer in the statement.
“We are committed to exploring options with partners to advance potential solutions for the APD facility and appreciate the support of the working group members who have stepped up and joined us in this important work.”
Approximately 90 employees were affected by the curtailment of the Alberni-Pacific Division.
Thursday's announcement is the latest in a flurry of updates on the province's forestry industry that have been made at the start of this year.
Last week, Premier David Eby announced both the creation of a new, $90-million fund for innovation in rural communities and a $50-million upgrade project at the Paper Excellence mill in Crofton, B.C., which will be funded in part by the federal government.
Mill closures and curtailments have also been announced, including at Canfor facilities in Chetwynd and Houston, B.C.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.