Nail it to a natural resource

It seems to be getting worse.

More of our province's heavy industry is in jeopardy. This time, it’s the pulp mill in Abercrombie, Pictou County.

Not that I'm into plundering the land or imposing heavy industry wherever possible - it would be nice to have high-tech this and high-tech that - all nice and clean. Let's be real: if an outfit - whether it’s a call-centre or a computer factory - comes here without some natural resource to anchor it, it could just as easily be gone on short notice - or as soon as the tax credits dry up.

As we've seen with Trenton industries, even with a heavy industrial facility at hand, a company could always just up and bugger off, too. Parent company Greenbrier up and moved railcar production down to Mexico, where there is cheaper labour and more open trade zones. The move cost industrial Pictou County 1,100 steel working jobs: good, well-paying, productive positions.

Something negative could well happen with Neenah Paper Inc.’s pulp mill in nearby Abercrombie, despite being tied to a natural resource. The facility, acquired from Kimberly-Clark in recent years and originally a Scott Paper facility, currently directly employs some 325 people. Good, high-paying, productive jobs. The company has reportedly informed its shareholders it would be selling the facility and its woodlands. Folks immediately affected don't quite know what this actually means.

I remember when the mill was built. There were a few folks in our community who didn't want to see the facility come. The mill's effluent did affect Lighthouse Beach at the Pictou landing First Nations and Boat Harbour. But, overall, the mill brought a lot of money and opportunity, not to mention infrastructure: modern roads and rail connections. Starting with construction, which used steel fabricated by Maritime Steel and Foundries, it also began providing a market for pulp wood from around the northern parts of the province. The mill brought in many other employees with skills and community spirit. Combined with the Trenton steel plants and the new Michelin facility at Granton, the pulp mill helped bring a full generation of prosperity to the county. It allowed young people to stay at home to work and raise families. this helped guarantee health care and school services.

This appears to be changing with recent announcements.

It's not only the concentrated heavy industry suffering in our province. With agriculture, here in Kings County we have the land and skilled practitioners, generally born to it. Our protein commodities - poultry, pork and beef - face major changes just to survive. The closure of the Canard poultry processing facility last year has posed a major problem. We still don't know how that's going to be remedied. The pork industry is still in crisis, with apparently little understanding from government and other elements of society. Beef is tied to national and international market issues.

The first step is realizing things are not going well - from food production to steel fabrication to the forestry industry. These plants and productions represent real people trying to support real families - and economies.