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Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
February 21, 2024 09:00AM
  • Feb/21/24 11:10:00 a.m.

Thank you for the question. First and foremost, our thoughts are with those workers in Terrace Bay in that mill that has been idled. We want to get them back to work as soon as possible. That’s why, Mr. Speaker, the moment that this happened, we started outreach not only to the workers but to the mayors of the affected communities all through the sector to make sure that we have opportunities that are presented to us to work with the owners, to work with the sector to find a way to get this mill back up and running again.

Speaker, we know that the forestry sector is a very integrated sector. When something like this happens, it can cause challenges all throughout the sector. We are leaving no stone unturned to find a way to get this mill back open, whether it’s with the current owner or whether it’s with another operator. We know that the future of forestry in northern Ontario still remains bright. We will find ways to get over this hurdle and continue to make northern Ontario the strong powerhouse that it deserves to be.

Mr. Speaker, this government continues to invest in the forestry sector in Ontario; we’ll make no bones about that. We want to ensure that this sector is very strong in the northwest, in the northeast and all throughout the integrated—and I’ll use that word many, many times, “integrated”—forestry sector that exists in this province. It is one of the backbones of our province’s economy, and 142,000 people work in this sector. We’re making investments every day, whether it’s through our biomass program or our forestry innovation program, to ensure that opportunities continue to exist in forestry in Ontario now and well into the future.

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