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 Intrinsic
      
Location: Collingwood
Gender: Male
 |  | [Media] Razing roadblock (Smooth Rock Falls)
< on 10/16/2009 4:20 PM >
|  | | | (It's too bad nobody got into this place while they could)
Smooth Rock Falls residents took matters into their own hands yesterday, blocking the entrance to the Tembec mill site, where demolition continues.
More than 100 residents were up at the crack of dawn to stop workers from entering the site. They were hoping to send a strong message to the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.
Just last week, a public meeting was held in the community, where residents learned a plan to bring a new business into the community was shot down because the province wouldn't approve a fibre allocation.
"We're getting tired of the run-around," said Rick Isaacson, a resident of Smooth Rock and an organizer of yesterday's protest.
"We got word from the ministry they don't have the authority to re-allocate the timber and that's a total farce.
"We all know it, it was said it the house by (MNR minister Donna) Cansfield."
Prior to a Sept. 10 meeting in Sault Ste. Marie, the community and other partners were ready with a viable business plan. The planned initiative was to gain about 700,000 cubic metres of ground timber and biomass.
Tembec permanently shut the doors to the mill in December 2006, leaving about 240 people -- about 10% of the community's population -- without jobs.
Several buildings have been torn down over the past several said Isaacson. "So if it takes three months to get timber allocation, but then we don't have the site, the facilities or the equipment to move forward, we'll have to address it with a new line of investors."
Isaacson said he was happy with the turnout for the early morning protest. Residents were able to block three of the entrances into the site.
weeks, with the bulk of the infrastructure already down. The community had hoped to salvage some of it for future use.
"The buildings are going down. we need some of that infrastructure to show we have a viable business operation going forward," "They definitely want to have answers and they definitely want to have the meetings with the ministers," Isaacson said. "We don't want anymore dismantling going on at the moment, especially for three or four priority areas, especially until we have things solved at the ministry level."
MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP -- Timmins-James Bay) said he met with Michael Gravelle, minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, along with Smooth Rock Mayor Kevin Somer yesterday, but little came from the meeting.
"We asked him to intervene under his authority under the Sustainable Development Act," said Bisson. "He actually admitted that he has the authority, but he's not going to do it."
Bisson said there has been a lot of frustration in Smooth Rock Falls. He said the community has done whatever the Ministry and Tembec asked it to do.
"They've given their business plan and application for wood allocation, it's all been done," Bisson said. "He (Gravelle) admitted he had the authority, but what he committed to at the meeting was not much of anything: go back to talk to his officials and get back to us by next Thursday ... I think the minister was just trying to nice to us.
"If he's not prepared to utilize his authority under the act, then he's not going to have wood to give us."
Isaacson, who was once an employee of Tembec, said the only way to ensure the North receives proper wood allocation is to have a coalition of Northern Ontario mayors and strong representation from the community. He said the North needs to ensure the Sustainable Forestry Licence includes the proper language so that if a mill closes, the wood allocation remains in the community.
He also said it doesn't make sense why Tembec is so keen to tear down the buildings that used to make up the mill site.
"The ironic thing here is that these buildings have been standing for 50-60 years and we've had men working in them," Isaacson said. "But now, within 10 months they are saying they have to come down because of they are a hazard."
Cite your sources
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Boffo
 
Moderator
Location: Smithers, BC
Gender: Male
HONK! HONK!
| | Re: [Media] Razing roadblock (Smooth Rock Falls)
<Reply # 1 on 10/16/2009 5:38 PM >
| | | | Posted by Intrinsic
(It's too bad nobody got into this place while they could)
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I dunno. Some of us did: http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=26342
Here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you. |
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Intrinsic
Location: Collingwood
Gender: Male
| | Re: [Media] Razing roadblock (Smooth Rock Falls)
<Reply # 2 on 10/16/2009 11:34 PM >
| | | | It's a much larger mill than the Mattawa location, very nice photos. Wish I coulda been there. 
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