SaskParty Says NDP Had Hand In Mill Closure
Thursday, October 06, 2005 at 13:20
Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall still feels the business climate in the province had a lot more to do with the Prince Albert pulp mill closure announcement this week than the NDP government would care to admit.
Wall says it’s clear that the biggest factors in Weyerhaeuser’s decision to close the mill were global ones — issues like poor markets and a rising Canadian dollar.
However, Wall says he’s still troubled by the fact that there are four similar mills in other provinces that Weyerhaeuser chose not to touch.
In a tour of Prince Albert, Big River and Meadow Lake this past week, Wall says locals indicated to him they felt the provincial government could have done more to accommodate Weyerhaeuser over the years — including letting the company develop an alternate energy source for its Prince Albert mill.
Wall says the NDP government should be “moving heaven and earth” to make sure the cost environment is ideal for companies like Weyerhaeuser.