It has not been a good month to work in Cumberland County’s forests.
It was at about this time last month when Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil stepped up to the mike at Province House and announced his government would not support extending the 2015 Boat Harbour Act, effectively ensuring one of northern Nova Scotia’s largest employers – Northern Pulp – will permanently close its doors at the end of this month.
Everyone agrees on the need to stop pumping effluent into Boat Harbour, but the timelines and the treatment alternatives are where government, the First Nations community and the company differed. At the end of the day, the provincial government had to make a decision and after weighing the pros and cons elected to enforce the legislation.
The premier said the company had five years to make the changes to its mill and treatment practices to meet the legislation while the company said it was working toward that goal but found the goalpost was being constantly moved by the Environment Department.
It seems with one announcement the premier has thrown the province’s forest industry into disarray and told those who have invested millions of dollars into growing their companies that it was all for naught.
Cumberland County is one of the largest producers of wood in Nova Scotia. It supplies an average of 20 per cent of the province’s wood production annually with 800,000 acres worth more than $400 million – the value of which was pretty much cut in half by the premier’s announcement.
It would be easy for foresters and those employed by the industry in any way to simply throw their hands up in surrender, but there is an effort gathering steam across the county to look for ways to take a stand as an industry. Led by the Athol Forestry Co-operative and the region’s two MLAs, a series of meetings have been held to rally those in the industry to come together to look for ways to preserve forestry and to soften the blow.
During the initial meeting Jan. 5, there was a perception among those in attendance that the community outside the industry does not really know what’s at stake and the impact Northern Pulp’s closure will have on Cumberland County’s economy, as well as that of the rest of rural Nova Scotia.
We’ve seen several years of tough times in agriculture. There aren’t nearly the number of farms there used to be in this area. The blueberry industry has seen several years of poor prices, to the point that some have left berries in the field, while the fishery is stable but has seen better times.
Unfortunately, the government’s decision is only going to worsen an already bleak economic situation in rural Nova Scotia and lead more people to leave for opportunity elsewhere. This could translate into fewer people and less services, fewer schools and potentially longer lineups for health-care services.
It’s not a pretty picture. However, if there is a silver lining it has to be the work of the group of industry officials who are continuing to meet and establish their own transition team. As a community, we need to support them and we need to push government to be there to support the industry and those who have been impacted by its decision in any way.