Sawmill closure hits Maniwaki hard | CBC News

Uncertainty looms in Maniwaki, Que., as a Resolute Forest Products sawmill begins a temporary closure, leaving hundreds out of work and raising fears of spin-off impacts on the local economy.

The pulp and paper company’s decision will put 280 workers out of a job during the holiday season. Union officials say the closure is expected to last at least six months.

Several forestry plants in the region have shut down in the past year. A Commonwealth Plywood plant in Rapide-des-Joachims also announced this week that 23 workers would lose their jobs. All told, nine plants have closed across Quebec since April.

The closure in Maniwaki is already affecting local businesses like Maniwaki Pizza Resto-bar.

“We have so many people that order and come here,” owner Constantinos Tsoudis said. “They eat with their families. Especially now, this time of the year, Christmas, they come often. It’s going to affect us very hard.”

Crisis unit mobilized

The MRC de la Vallée-de-la-Gatineau has mobilized its forestry crisis unit, set up last October, to find solutions and assist affected employees.

Daniel Feeny, who works with the unit to co-ordinate with the industry, said he’s also concerned about a lack of support for those indirectly affected by the closure.

“I’m thinking about all the entrepreneurs, the people working in the forest with the machinery, the people moving all the wood on our roads to the mills,” he said.

“For those people, there’s no such program. There’s no safety net protecting them at the moment.”