OTTAWA — A delegation from Fort Frances sat down Tuesday in Ottawa to discuss the future of the former Resolute pulp and paper mill with two influential members of the provincial cabinet.
Mayor June Caul, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Brown and two councillors met with Natural Resources and Forestry Minister John Yakabuski and Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford.
The get-together occurred during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention taking place this week in Ottawa.
In a statement, the Fort Frances delegation said the ministers expressed interest in working with the town and other stakeholders "to put in place a process to determine the wood fibre needs of current and future forest industry participants in the district."
The lack of a wood supply will prevent any possibility the mill can resume production under a new owner.
Among the restrictive covenants attached to the recent purchase of the mill by Riversedge Developments is one which forbids, for the next 10 years, any user of the property from inducing the provincial government "to reduce, redirect or change" the fibre allocation currently approved for Resolute's operations.
Resolute currently uses wood from the Crossroute Forest around Fort Frances to feed mills at three other company operations in the northwest including Thunder Bay.
According to the town's statement, the two ministries will hold internal meetings next week regarding the fibre issue.
Coun. Douglas Judson, who participated in Wednesday's meeting, described it as a productive session.
The ministers, he told Tbnewswatch, are looking at the tools available to them to ensure the regional wood supply can support communities in the Rainy River district.
"We're waiting for them to figure out what that process will look like. For now we're in a bit of a holding pattern," Judson said.
