NewPage woodland workers promised help

A program is being developed to keep woodland contractors working after the NewPage paper mill shuts down, says Nova Scotia's premier.

Darrell Dexter announced the program Wednesday after meeting with union leaders at the mill and local politicians in Port Hawkesbury.

The premier said the program would allow about 400 people who normally supply NewPage to keep cutting wood, and keep up payments on their equipment.

"The question is being able to co-ordinate that so that we keep the people in the woodlands here working, and those incomes secure, and of course their ability to pay the costs of the capital they have invested in their machinery," Dexter said Wednesday.

Dexter was vague on details. He wouldn't say how much the program would cost or how long it would last. He said those details will be worked out so the program would be in place by the time the first machine at the mill is shut down on Sept. 10.

He also invited the municipalities to be part of a provincial committee that is looking for ways to ensure the mill re-opens.

Woodlot contractors reacted to Wednesday's announcement with cautious optimism.

Many were afraid their workers would head to parts of western Canada as soon as the work for NewPage ends.

"The guys that I have working for me. If they wanted to go out west, they would have gone out west long ago. They want to live here. They want to make a living here," said Brent MacInnis, who operates MacInnis Lumber in Frenchvale.

"Definitely we are all receptive to good news like that. Hopefully it's going to be something that is, you know, long term in one way or another," he said.

MacInnis said the announcement gives him hope the NewPage shut down might be temporary.

"I already had guys — some of my employees — call me with the news they heard on the radio. They seemed to be almost ecstatic, hoping that things are going keep rolling."

NewPage Port Hawkesbury employs about 250 people in the area and provides a big chunk of Richmond County's tax base.

The mill produces newsprint and glossy paper for magazines.

The mill's second machine will be turned off on Sept. 16.