Témiscaming fights to save mill after Trump tariffs — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Témiscaming's paper mill shut down indefinitely in early October after US tariffs disrupted trade, leaving 360 employees without full pay and threatening the town’s survival.
- RYAM, the American owner, implemented an 'economic shutdown' of the Témiscaming mill and declined to comment on a potential sale, leaving workers to organize a buyback effort.
- Nadine Suley and other residents describe the mill’s closure as a personal attack, warning it endangers not just jobs but their entire way of life in rural Quebec.
- Stéphane Lefebvre, a union leader whose family has worked at the mill for generations, says the community needs significant financial support from Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec to reclaim ownership.
- Mayor Alain Gauthier blames US tariffs for crippling Canadian manufacturing and demands Ottawa retaliate with tariffs on US board products, calling current responses inadequate.
- Sébastien Lemire, Bloc Québécois MP for the region, expresses deep concern over the Carney government’s inaction on supporting Quebec’s forestry sector amid the crisis.
- Frank Dottori, a retired mill engineer who helped lead a successful worker buyout in the 1970s, urges today’s workers to organize boldly and secure external leadership to repeat the feat.
Why it matters: The mill’s prolonged shutdown risks turning Témiscaming into a ghost town, with cascading job losses in healthcare, retail, and trucking. Without federal or provincial intervention, a proven model of worker ownership may fail despite historical precedent and $400 million in sector-wide aid already pledged.
Ask SkimNews
