Quebec 'improvising' solution to forestry crisis, PQ charges

Quebec's forestry crisis was front and centre during the national assembly's opening question period Tuesday, with Opposition leader Andr Boisclair accusing the provincial government of neglecting the sector costing thousands of jobs.

The Parti Qubcois leader singled out Premier Jean Charest for "improvising" his response to the waves of sawmill closures that have paralysed the sector this fall.

Boisclair asked where a promised aid package had gone, and why it was taking the Liberals so long to announce measures to assist unemployed forestry workers.

"The premier should have more decency, and a little more respect for people who have lost their jobs," Boisclair told the assembly in French.

Charest insisted his government was preparing its aid strategy. "We will help the workers, and we will do it the right way," he said. People in the sector must "brave the storm" of what Charest described as the worst crisis in the industry's history.

Quebec to blame for the crisis, says federal labour minister

The Quebec government will get financial assistance from Ottawa to deal with the forestry crisis, despite the federal labour minister's comments about the province's role in bringing on the storm.

Ottawawillprovide$200 million toQuebec businesses, and some of that money will be available to forestry companies,federal Labour and Economic Development Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Monday.

Quebec may also getup to$30 million dollars to assist unemployed forestry workers older than 55, according to Radio-Canada reports thatgovernment sources will not confirm.

Blackburn puts theblame squarely onQuebec for creating its own problems, because itbowed to environmental pressures and ignored the forestry sector's needs.

Quebec changed its forestry management plan in 2004 and introduced limits on clear cuts weakening the industry, Blackburn theorized.

"When we're talking about environmental clauses, we have to work with the enterprises. If we don't, if we only set barriers that they cannot manage, they close," Blackburn said.

The labour minister's theory was discounted by his colleague, fellow Quebecer and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, in comments from Ottawa on Monday.

The current crisis can only be understood in a global context markedbya strong dollar and hollowU.S. housing sector, Bernier said.

More mills to close

The political debate over the forestry crisis cameas more companies announced they were closing down mills.

Abitibi-Consolidated has announced it is winding down operations at another plant, this time the Beaupr mill, east of Quebec City. The temporary closure, effective Oct. 28, will put 420 employees out of work until at least the end of October.

The company needs to shut down the specialized paper plant in order to allow Abitibi to work its way through overstocked inventory, as it waits for more orders, said spokesman Denis Leclerc.

"The market is soft right now, so that's the reason. What we hope is that we'll find new orders to resume production as soon as possible," he said Monday.

"We have very good relationships with our clients, and we hope to be in a position to reopen the plan before two weeks, but we'll only know that when we know how many orders we'll get and how big they'll be."

Beaupr's mayor, Henri Cloutier, is taking the temporary shutdown in stride. "The mill is profitable. They have had record production. When orders dry up, plants close temporarily. We don't have to panic," he told Radio-Canada.

The Beaupr plant is the fifth mill Abitibi has decided to close in a week. The company announced Oct. 10 it was shutting down four other operations across the province, in Abitibi-Tmiscamingue, Lac Saint-Jean and the North Shore. Those plants closed Monday.

Nearly 1,600 Quebecers who work in the forestry industry have lost their jobs temporarily or permanently since the beginning of October.