'A community in crisis': 400 workers off the job as 3 mills go down in northern B.C. lumber town

More than 400 mill workers in Mackenzie, B.C., are out of work, after three mills closed in just one week in the lumber town north of Prince George.

The layoffs mean more than 10 per cent of locals are now unemployed, though some hope to be recalled within weeks. 

"We're a community in crisis. There's no other way to say it," said Mayor Joan Atkinson. 

In addition to the hundreds of mill layoffs, many loggers and contractors are also out of work.

"I have a roller coaster of emotions," said Atkinson. "I'm very worried ... for the people in our community that need to have jobs. How are we going to help them through?"

And she fears things could get worse.

Atkinson says hundreds more people could yet be laid off, if Mackenzie's pulp mill goes down. That's because the pulp mill depends on material from Mackenzie's sawmills to operate.

"The sawmills produce the lumber and then the sawdust goes to our pulp mills ... But now that chain has been broken, so there's been  a domino effect," said the mayor.

Canfor's temporary curtailment now indefinite

After a shutdown that was supposed to be temporary, Canfor suddenly closed its Mackenzie sawmill July 19, calling it an "indefinite curtailment."

In a written statement, the company said high log prices, poor lumber markets and "challenging operating conditions" made the mill uneconomic. 

Just three days later, Mackenzie's Conifex Timber sawmill sent about 150 workers home for a two week "temporary curtailment." 

Four days after that, Mackenzie's Parallel 55 finger joint mill shut down, because it couldn't get the trim end material it needs from local sawmills.

B.C. mills hit from Kelowna to Fort St. John

"This is a crisis in many small rural communities," said Atkinson.

The job cuts in Mackenzie come as 24 other mills across the B.C. Interior have laid off workers through plant closures or temporary curtailments.

Fort St. James declared a local state of financial crisis after a major mill closure this month.

The mayor of Clinton called closures there "a kick in the stomach."

'People are nervous'

But Mackenzie's mayor believes her community may be hardest hit.

"We are in a far worse position," said Atkinson. "People are nervous. We are very dependent on the forest industry." 

However, there is a glimmer of hope.

Atkinson says forestry officials have assured her that the community still has a "robust fibre supply." Although the timber supply has been affected by pine beetle and, more recently, spruce beetle infestations, it hasn't been hit by wildfire.

However, that doesn't change the high fibre costs or sagging demand that's driving mill closures.

1 in 6 B.C. mills could close, analyst says

Last week, Canfor posted a $50 million loss in the second quarter. A company release said Canfor expects more mill curtailments and closures in the B.C. Interior.  

Russ Taylor, a forest industry consultant with Wood Markets, predicts one in six B.C. mills will close, most of them within the next five years. 

He said only mills that attract investment and upgrades will survive.