NDP Desparation Apparent in Domtar Deal

With only weeks to go before an anticipated call to the polls, Lorne Calvert, flanked by members of his NDP cabinet, arrived at the Forestry Centre in Prince Albert. In tow were top officials from Domtar, the company that now owns the former Weyerhaeuser pulp mill that closed two years ago (a closure that resulted in more than 700 jobs lost).

Lorne Calvert couldn’t wait to tell the people of Prince Albert the news. Domtar had signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The second line of the government news release indicated the mill could be re-opened as early as next summer or fall. When the Premier spoke to reporters, the first words out of his mouth were highly charged and political: Under a Saskatchewan Party government, this deal never would have happened.

Phase One in the un-gluing began with the release of the actual four page MOU. The document is not legally binding. It commits the province to paying for a 70 percent share of the clean up at the old mill site. In exchange, Domtar makes this promise: to use commercially reasonable efforts to reopen the Prince Albert pulp mill.

Phase Two of the un-gluing began when reporters began seeking out clarification on the MOU from Domtar officials. Michel Rathier, a Domtar Vice-president, made it clear it was far too premature to contemplate a date for when the mill would be back up and running.

Phase Three of the un-gluing came just a few days ago. Raymond Royer, President and CEO of Domtar addressed an audience in New York. Mr. Royer described the agreement with the Calvert NDP in far less certain terms. “…the understanding is that we would consider re-opening that mill….but there are many things that need to happen before we get there”.

It should also be noted that local First Nations say they were never consulted about this “deal”. In fact, they received a copy of the MOU from the Saskatchewan Party caucus, not the NDP government.

Those who remember the last election will compare this latest Lorne Calvert fiasco to the Broe deal prior to the last election. As he sat on a backhoe for the assembled reporters and schoolchildren, Lorne Calvert promised an ethanol plant. It never happened. The deal was a sham. Even though it seems like the Calvert government will spend our money to buy anything, but the people of Saskatchewan are not buying the bill of goods the NDP are trying to sell.

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