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CBC
26-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Canada needs to develop its natural resources as fast as possible, says pulp and paper CEO
Canada's next government needs to focus on developing the country's natural resources as quickly as possible to ensure its economic future, according to the CEO of a pulp and paper company in northeastern Ontario. "As a country, we have such massive natural resource wealth. And over the last, I'm going to say two decades, this country has struggled to be able to, to capitalize on those resources so that we have more financial capacity as a nation to battle these sorts of trade situations," said Kap Paper CEO Terry Skiffington in a panel discussion on tariffs on CBC's Morning North. During the federal election campaign, Skiffington said he'll be looking for action on projects to develop Canada's natural resources. Those include developing the Ring of Fire mineral deposits in northwestern Ontario and building an east-west pipeline for Alberta's crude oil. Skiffington said his own industry is already in a precarious position, and many pulp and paper mills would struggle to keep their doors open if U.S. President Donald Trump imposes broad tariffs on Canadian goods by April 2. The Kap Paper mill, located in Kapuskasing, Ont., is the last remaining pulp and paper mill in northeastern Ontario, following the closure of Domtar's Espanola mill in December 2023. In January, the mill received a $10-million loan from the provincial government to help diversify the business by building a biomass plant which would produce energy by burning wood. Mike Da Prat—president of United Steelworkers Local 2251 representing 2,700 workers at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie— said his industry has already been hit by 25 per cent U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. "Everybody's concerned, right?" he said. "And the answer is we have to wean ourselves off of the dependence on the American market." Since the tariffs, Algoma Steel has cut 29 jobs, but Da Prat said his members have not yet been affected. The company temporarily paused shipments to the U.S. over concerns from the tariffs, although half of its production normally goes south of the border. Da Prat said he'll be supporting the Liberals in this election because he feels party leader Mark Carney as the "only person that I'd see that has the credibility, and perhaps the experience, to attempt to redevelop new markets and reestablish old ones." For Will Runnalls, a canola farmer near New Liskeard and chair of Ontario's Canola Growers Association, potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian crops would arrive on top of China's new 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian canola oil. "With the potential of the tariffs starting next week to the States we're basically losing our two biggest markets," he said. Runnalls said Canadian crop farmers depend on exports because of Canada's relatively small population. He said there were discussions before the election about streamlining support programs for farmers, such as interest-free loans. "But for the most part farmers don't want any more loans," Runnalls said. "We need our export markets because we need free trade. So they're saying we don't want any handouts and we don't really want financial support."
CBC
05-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Tariffs arrive when the pulp and paper business is already in a 'difficult place,' says CEO
The CEO of the pulp and paper mill in Kapuskasing, Ont., says he was not surprised, but is disappointed by U.S. tariffs that are expected to have a big impact on Canada's forestry sector. "The pulp and paper business is in a very difficult place in Ontario," said Terry Skiffington, the CEO of Kap Paper. In January, the century-old mill, historically known as Spruce Falls, received a $10-million loan from the provincial government in January to help the business diversify and keep it open through lean times. The province argued at the time that the loan would protect 2,500 jobs in the region, including the 300 people who work directly at the mill. In December 2023 the pulp and paper mill in Espanola, Ont., owned by Domtar, closed its operations. That left Kapuskasing as the last paper mill standing in northeastern Ontario. In addition to diversifying the business, by building a biomass plant which would produce energy by burning wood that can't be used for paper production, Skiffinton said Kap Paper, and the forestry industry at large need to look at markets outside the United States. Skiffington said that will mean focusing on products that are in higher demand in European and Asian markets. "We can move products into Europe, into Asia and into India relatively competitively, which is quite odd intuitively when we're sitting, essentially, in the geographic centre of Canada," he said. The 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports to the U.S. were levied on top of decades of softwood lumber tariffs. And U.S. President Donald Trump said he's exploring further fees on Canadian wood products. "I'm feeling like I've done a few rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson over the last little while, but our intention is to remain on that course," Skiffington said. Rallying around Canada At the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in Toronto, the sentiment from smaller Ontario companies was to rally together in the face of tariffs. "The side that I've been hearing more so right now is that it's actually just going to push us to be that much stronger and to support each other and what we're up to within the mining industry," said Kayla Nestler, the general manager at L. May, a Sudbury-based company that makes aluminum lunch boxes for underground miners. Nestler said nearly half of L. May's customers are based in the U.S. and tariffs could eventually lead to a price increase due to higher costs of manufacturing the lunch boxes. "We do hold intellectual property for the design of our product in both Canada and in the States, which means we don't have direct competitors in either country," she said. She said a possible silver lining from tariffs is a growing movement from Canadian businesses and customers to support each other and buy Canadian. "I think we're going to have to encourage each other. We're going to have to work together," Nestler said. "We're going to have to come up with solutions because I mean, if we don't, then we're just giving ourselves up essentially. I know that may sound horrible, but we need to make sure that we're supporting the businesses that can help leverage each other."
