I keep asking myself “why didn’t the government of NS buy the mill for $33 million” and run it as a crown corporation or some such operation. Then at least when it was no longer a viable proposition, the province could have sold the assets to the highest bidder, even if at firesale prices. As it stands now, Stern got the mill for a song and can shut down whenever it wants and sell the assets as the owner.
The way forward is for government to seek to minimize taxation (by spending less) and avoid labour legislation that distresses private sector employers (investors). If the ‘work-climate’ were more attractive, these ‘real’ work providers would reinvigorate our economy, perhaps even replacing our sad government-economy.
Well Bill you hit some key problems with this Stern group deal but also I would like to add in regards to Melford. Melford Terminals is buying the Linwood Junction to Mulgrave siding which was abandoned when the causeway opened in 1955. This is a huge step forward and progress in relaying tracks will not take long as satellite photos from Google Earth show that the roadbed is very clear of forest growth. The ironic thing about Melford vs the port of Halifax is there is more sidings and marshaling track from Truro to Port Hawkesbury then there is Halifax to Truro. I would also look to Georgia Pacific with their two gypsum quarries in Inverness County to eventually come back for employment. The housing market in the US will eventually come back which was the backbone of the gypsum mining industry in Nova Scotia. The new Biomass Generator at Point Tupper is also going to employ people as well. What should have been done in regards to the New Page mill was to allow the possibility of a changing in manufacturing there. An east Indian company Aditya Birla Group recently bought a Pulp mill in Terrace Bay Ontario for 300 million dollars. Aditya Birla Group owns two pulp mill in New Brunswick , one of which was producing photographic paper, now producing dissolving pulp for the production of rayon. The demand and need for rayon will never go away and the market place in Asian . Better to have a ownership group that would probably like to have a ice free deep water port with their own dock to export all their Canada production to Indonesia, China, India and Sri Lanka. The Province of Nova Scotia subsidizing Sterns operation will result in Tariffs for the worlds largest marketplace the United States. New Page Ironically challenged and won tariffs on Chinese and Indonesian papermakers in 2010 and a New Page in Chapter 11 will probably make the same case against the Point Tupper Mill.
I keep asking myself “why didn’t the government of NS buy the mill for $33 million” and run it as a crown corporation or some such operation. Then at least when it was no longer a viable proposition, the province could have sold the assets to the highest bidder, even if at firesale prices. As it stands now, Stern got the mill for a song and can shut down whenever it wants and sell the assets as the owner.
Ron Gilkie. P.Eng. | October 13, 2012 |
The way forward is for government to seek to minimize taxation (by spending less) and avoid labour legislation that distresses private sector employers (investors). If the ‘work-climate’ were more attractive, these ‘real’ work providers would reinvigorate our economy, perhaps even replacing our sad government-economy.
gordon stanfield | September 28, 2012 |
Well Bill you hit some key problems with this Stern group deal but also I would like to add in regards to Melford. Melford Terminals is buying the Linwood Junction to Mulgrave siding which was abandoned when the causeway opened in 1955. This is a huge step forward and progress in relaying tracks will not take long as satellite photos from Google Earth show that the roadbed is very clear of forest growth. The ironic thing about Melford vs the port of Halifax is there is more sidings and marshaling track from Truro to Port Hawkesbury then there is Halifax to Truro. I would also look to Georgia Pacific with their two gypsum quarries in Inverness County to eventually come back for employment. The housing market in the US will eventually come back which was the backbone of the gypsum mining industry in Nova Scotia. The new Biomass Generator at Point Tupper is also going to employ people as well. What should have been done in regards to the New Page mill was to allow the possibility of a changing in manufacturing there. An east Indian company Aditya Birla Group recently bought a Pulp mill in Terrace Bay Ontario for 300 million dollars. Aditya Birla Group owns two pulp mill in New Brunswick , one of which was producing photographic paper, now producing dissolving pulp for the production of rayon. The demand and need for rayon will never go away and the market place in Asian . Better to have a ownership group that would probably like to have a ice free deep water port with their own dock to export all their Canada production to Indonesia, China, India and Sri Lanka. The Province of Nova Scotia subsidizing Sterns operation will result in Tariffs for the worlds largest marketplace the United States. New Page Ironically challenged and won tariffs on Chinese and Indonesian papermakers in 2010 and a New Page in Chapter 11 will probably make the same case against the Point Tupper Mill.
paul | September 28, 2012 |