Dalton & Denley duel on northern forestry

NEWS RELEASES

MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES

PETER DENLEY ALGOMA-MANITOULIN NDP CANDIDATE

************************* McGuinty government strenthens forest industry

Forest Sector Prosperity Fund supports investment that will create jobs for Northerners

HORNEPAYNE, ON - The Ontario government is strengthening the forest industry by investing in Olav Haavaldsrud Timber Company Ltd. through the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced yesterday.

“I welcome the news that this investment will help to secure the existing jobs at the Haavaldsrud facility, and create new positions,” said Mike Brown, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin.

“I applaud the vision of management at Haavaldsrud to not only replace the saw line that was claimed by fire, but also look at new, more efficient equipment that will make the company extremely competitive in a difficult market," Brown said.

"I applaud the Haavaldsrud family for their commitment to the community.”

The government is providing a grant of $700,000 to Haavaldsrud for the installation of a new $7-million saw line at its Hornepayne facility.

The new line, which replaces one destroyed in a fire in July 2006, will increase the number and size of logs that can be processed while achieving productivity and recovery gains in lumber production.

The investment will help secure over 100 existing jobs in the mill, and create about 10 new jobs.

“Our government is investing in the businesses that help Northern Ontario prosper,” said Ramsay.

“Through the prosperity fund, we are working to make our forest sector – a key engine of our economy – more competitive, as well as securing and creating good jobs in the North,” Ramsay said.

“The new saw line we are putting in place will ensure an even more efficient and competitive operation at Hornepayne,” said Carlo Bin, administrator and head of lumber sales for Olav Haavaldsrud Timber Company.

“We thank the government for the contribution from the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund, which helped us move ahead with this important initiative,” Haavaldsrud said.

The Forest Sector Prosperity Fund is part of the McGuinty government’s over $1-billion plan to help forest companies invest in their own future and the future of the communities that depend on them.

This is just the latest example of how the McGuinty government is working to create a stronger and more prosperous forest sector.

Some other initiatives include:

- Providing a $1.65-million grant to Flakeboard Company Ltd. for a $16.5-million capital investment to upgrade its Sault Ste. Marie mill. - Providing a grant of $600,000 to Long Lake Forest Products for a $6-million capital investment in new machinery at its Nakina Forest Products sawmill.

- Providing a grant of $280,000 to Garden River Truss Company for the development of a $3.2-million value-added manufacturing facility on the Garden River Reserve near Sault Ste. Marie.

- Providing $430,000 to Black Loon Millworks towards an investment of $4.7 million for a custom hardwood millwork operation in Sault Ste. Marie.

Since 2003, investments in infrastructure, post-secondary education, research and innovation, and key economic sectors have strengthened Ontario's economic advantage and continue to build opportunity.

************************* McGuinty delivers empty promises, not action on forestry

ECHO BAY - Algoma-Manitoulin NDP Candidate Peter Denley, said the McGuinty government's own records show that virtually no money has flowed to forestry operations through the McGuinty government's repeatedly-announced funds for forestry aid.

"When Northerners were losing their jobs for four long years, Dalton McGuinty was nowhere to be found," said Denley (pictured).

"Now that their jobs are on the line, the McGuinty Liberals are making empty announcements," he said.

Documents obtained from the Ministry of Natural Resources by Ontario's NDP show that as of the end of the last fiscal year, March 31, 2007:

- Out of the $150 million McGuinty promised for a "Forest Sector Prosperity Fund" no money had been distributed.

- Out of the $350 million in loan guarantees McGuinty promised, less than 3 percent (only $10 million) had been disbursed.

- Out of the $140 million McGuinty promised for a Northern Pulp and Paper Electricity Transition Program, less than 2 percent (only $2 million) had been disbursed.

The McGuinty government has been announcing some of these programs - like the prosperity fund for over two years.

Nearly a year ago, Ramsay said: "We have had a very positive response from the forest industry to the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund and the loan guarantee program. We expect that 100 percent of the prosperity fund will be committed to investments like this by the end of 2006." (Ministry of Natural Resources news release September 22, 2006).

"When Dalton McGuinty voted himself a $40,000 per year pay raise that money flowed right away," Denley said.

"But working families and communities across the North were still waiting for 98 percent of Dalton McGuinty's promised relief for forestry years after he announced it."

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