The Weyerhaeuser mill sale may be moving forward again after a scheduled meeting between Arbec and government officials yesterday.
During a visit to the Miramichi Wednesday, Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne said he was meeting with Arbec representatives yesterday to find out what their plan is and what their request is to the province.
"Certainly, as you can appreciate, it's going to be important to us to sit down with the company, to look at the business case they're going to present, to look at the markets they see and to look at what specific requests they'll make in terms of any wood allocation or financial assistance, but that is the purpose of the meeting ..., and we'll probably in a position to shed more light following that meeting."
Arbec had signed a tentative deal with Weyerehaeuser to buy the mill on the condition they could get a sufficient Crown wood allocation from the province.
But The deal expired in December when the province told Arbec they wouldn't commit to an allocation without business and industrial plans, but the forestry company won't submit them without confirmation they would be able to get enough wood.
The sale has been stalled ever since.
Miramichi-Bay du Vin MLA Bill Fraser said the government is doing what they can to get it up and running, but they have to do it in a responsible way and can't just allocate wood without knowing what Arbec's plan is.
"I hope that will come to a positive result. I want to see people working at that mill ... there was 160 people employed there at one time."
Dawn MacDonald is a local resident who has been pushing the government to keep the deal moving forward since she heard about Arbec's interest in the mill.
She has a rally planned for tomorrow at the Weyerhaeuser site and said she hopes about 200 or 300 people show up.
"It's kind of hard to judge. You do the leg work and hold your breath."
Last week she sent out 10,000 leaflets urging people to contact their local MLAs and other government officials.
MacDonald said she has been calling former Weyerehaeuser employees and has heard people around town talking about the rally.
"It seems to be the topic of conversation since the mail out went out last week."
She has also sent e-mails to Byrne, Fraser, Miramichi Centre MLA John Foran, and Environment Minister Wally Stiles inviting them to the rally, but said she didn't know if they will be attending.
"I haven't gotten any response."
When asked about the rally, Byrne said he can appreciate people in the area are anxious about the mill deal.
"They're been faced with significant downturns with the closure of the UPM mill and the Weyerhaeuser mill, and obviously they'd like to see a project move forward."
But Byrne cautioned his government would have to see the company's plan before they are in a position to provide support.
"We want to work with the company and create new opportunities here, but again, it's important with us to sit down face to face and deal with the specifics."
Fraser said the province has the same goal as the rally organizers, which is to see the mill in operation, but added they have to do it in a responsible way.
"We can't just carte blanche say, OK, here's a wood allocation and not have a feasibility study and full business plan in place so we know what the plan is for the mill and that wood."
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