Hampton concerned with $25M loan

elvis2010 says:

Too bad Mr. Hampton stepped down as leader. I would have voted for this guy!

11/24/2009 3:43:33 PM

AisA says:

Is it possible that mr hampton has some uterior motives to not wanting to see the terrace bay mill operate. could it be that he along with anyone else associated with the A-B organization (FF is in his riding)feels threatened that we will be the low cost producer. that we will be the survivor. personally i hope we all do well.

11/24/2009 4:03:01 PM

AisA says:

where is mr hampton on the a-b pension fiasco?

11/24/2009 4:04:33 PM

AisA says:

where was mr hampton when a-b was allowed to spin off thier 'free issue from the ontario government' hydro dams and sell them for a $340,000,000 profit? did he demand that those monies be sent to support the pension plans?

11/24/2009 4:07:03 PM

AisA says:

mr hampton has made a life career of being being 'a critic'. mr hampton has had all of the opportunities afforded in life to be a leader, yet he has always chosen the route of being the critic. he tells us what his version of 'what is' and his version of 'what ought to be' yet he does nothing to get us there. mr hamptons idealisn is misaligned. Mr Gravelle can be proud of himself. For Mr. Gravelle hope is his foundation of action.

11/24/2009 4:15:40 PM

fairsfair says:

Mr. Hampton isn't opposed to the TB mill starting..he's trying to get the severance that is owed to the sawmill workers. If it was the other way around TB would be screaming for their severance...

11/24/2009 8:03:09 PM

joewho06 says:

Let's see now,The "smart" People understand that the best senario for everyone is to restart the Terrace Bay Mill.The Federal Government came through with the black liquor subsidy for Terrace Bay($19 million.)The Provincial Government is reconizing that the financial impact of the Terrace Bay Mill up and running will cover their $25 million investment(loan) within months(over $2 billion to the economy of the Province of Ont. annually)Then we have the back bencher, Howard Hampton,who is doing his best to kill the deal of starting up a viable mill in our Norwestern of Ontario.Mr. Hampton who said in Chronicle Journal on Nov 20TH "the TBP loan is minuscule compared to the $2.5 billion in provincial financial support to General Motors and Chrysler plants in southern Ontario" Is now back at doing everything in his power to derail the restart of a Mill. Howard,you were no good to the north as the Leader of your Party, you are no good to the North as a critic for your Party. Looks like Hampton loves Hampton. Hampton likes to get on his soap box and criticize everything anyone will ever propose to get this part of the province back on track. Remember,anything the Liberals do to help us will make the impossible even more impossible of ending up with an NDP Government in power.

11/24/2009 9:15:17 PM

joewho06 says:

Does anyone one know when the plane from Finland is coming back? Can't wait for Bruce Hyre to get back and share what he learnt out there about the forest industry. That was the purpose of the visit,right? He is still the MP for Thunder Bay Superior North isn't he?

11/24/2009 10:10:11 PM

misunderstand says:

I think everyone misunderstood what hampton said.Howard hampton did not say he didn't want terrace bay pulp to restart,he said that the buchanan group has made out generously with previous help from the government.His statement was that buchanan has received over 80 million dollars from the government in the last 3 years and not 1 cent went to the people.I feel howard hampton had a very valid point and it is good news terrace bay pulp is restarting but it still doesn't give closure to the unemployed people that are owed money.I no that gravelle stated that it is a domino affect that sawmills will follow in restarting but in reality maybe 2 and not 8.I think that people are getting their hopes up and as soon as the pulp market floods again his mills will be down flat.lets face it buchanan does not have deep enough pockets to run a pulp mill and you can not sell 30000 ton of pulp on the open market(he has no customer base).I think people are quick to point the finger at howard hampton where he was looking out for his area be we all no who really caused this big mess.

11/24/2009 10:15:09 PM

TBP Employee says:

Mr. Hampton, you are only interested if you are attacking Buchanan Group. Perhaps your time would be better spent on improving the Bankruptcy Act, since you credit yourself as an expert with all the answers.

You are attempting to sabatoge TBPI -- will this get severance for others? You owe it to the people to allow TBPI to go forward in acquiring the finance needed to restart the mill.

AGAIN, thank you to Minister Gravelle and all those involved to get us where we are today -- I wish the Buchanan and TBPI guys all the best in getting the mill restarted.

11/25/2009 8:03:41 AM

joewho06 says:

Is the NDP,Provincial and Federal, in partnership with Greenpeace? If it is, nice job Hampton and Hire, let's keep all the Mills down.Don't help keeping them open or re-open.Wait until they go down and fight like hell for the severances. Hmm, did you tell these people what the plan is after the severance checks are gone? Greenpeace must really enjoy working with you Guys. What's the bonus this year? Black Suburbans? Nice!

11/25/2009 12:00:53 PM

windigo says:

Is it truly possible Howard Hampton is so stupid he feels the best for the workers of Northern Ontario is to pay out seperation pay and go bankrupt? I believe people want jobs, not just a one time hand out. It was truly pathetic to see Howard Hampton grandstanding in the legislature, with no concern for the employees in the forest industry. When will the leader of the NDP show some backbone and muzle the fool?

11/25/2009 4:02:15 PM

woo says:

Is there a specific reason that you don't want TB Pulp to reopen, Mr. Hampton? Because it seems to a lot of people that you're trying your hardest to throw a wrench into the works!
If TB Pulp reopens, then some communities on the North Shore live on to see another day. If it doesn't, these towns will soon die out. I happen to live in one of these communities and I can tell you, I want that mill to start up again! I'm glad the government gave them a LOAN to start back up again....as we in the north are so often overlooked in our efforts to survive and stay in our smaller communities. Finally, our voices were heard thanks to Mr. Gravelle and others like him! I appreciate what you're trying to do for others but don't do it at our expense please!

11/25/2009 4:35:59 PM

joewho06 says:

Hampton is a very selfish Politician and here's the proof.Do you think that if TBPI was in his riding,Buchanan owned or not, he would be telling the Government to not assist TBPI until all the severance pay was paid up when he knows that the only chance of anyone getting any kind of revenue is to start TBPI back up.
Everyone knows the financial situation Abi/bow is in; $6 billion debt, $1.3 underfunded pention plan and yet Hampton,on May 14th 2009, in the Legislature,made the following comment;

"New Democrats believe the Ontario government should help to sustain good Northern Ontario jobs at Abitibi-Bowater, just as the Ontario government is investing to help sustain good jobs at Chrysler in Brampton and Windsor. It’s only fair,” Hampton said.

I don't believe for one second that Hampton's battle is againt Buchanan, it's about TBPI not being in his riding and is direct competition with mills in his riding.He is too narrow minded to see that some sawmills in his riding will never run again if TBPI don't start up.

11/25/2009 10:16:52 PM

hockeyday says:

No one including Howard Hampton want to stop Terrace Bay from getting its mill back up. BUT, it should be a good news story for both Terrace Bay and the 2000 struggling families owed severance. The liberals should be attaching strings to this loan so that in 1,2,3 years if this mill is making money again, Buchanan can't simply declare bankruptcy at his sawmills to avoid paying severance. If its a blank tax payer cheque with no strings attached, Howard Hampton or someone has to make some noise on behalf of the 2000 workers and contractors that Buchanan may be planning to dodge severance and other payouts if Terrace Bay is making money again. We can't let Buchanan play the game of getting more of our tax payer Ontario money with no intention of following Ontario laws.

11/26/2009 2:48:48 AM

quietman says:

The problem facing TBPI is who is going to cut the wood? Let's look at the track record. New Brunswick contractors hired to come here and cut...bankrupt. Alberta contractors shown the promise land and then...bankrupt. How many contractors over the years have gone bankrupt. So many that BFPL thought they would show us how it was done with Hemlo timber! When they couldn't do it they sold off the equipment to the workers they had hired with big promises of "nice wood" and what happenned? Bankrupt! They kept people under their thumb. Let me bring you through the thought process. If you pay someone well to work for you they will have money to take holidays and maybe go home for a weekend here and there. And at some point they may get large enough that you need them to work or the mills run out of wood. But! If you pay them little and cut the scale to a point where they are starving then they will have to work their asses off on weekends and without holidays, just trying to scrape by but will produce more. Hence the term "More for Less"! they kept peoples spirits low and fed them the lines to just be happy they are working. If a well paid employee left the mindset was that they could hire a new employee for $32,000 a year and they could save money! Promise that employee that in 6 months they would get a raise but in 6 months? Boy times are tough. Just ride it out and when things pick up we'll take care of you. Mill workers were taken better care of (other than no severance and termination pay and the threat to go bankrupt if they persue it like they did with the Wawang employees) than us bush contractors and I think this is the differences of opinion you see here in these posts. Good luck TBPI. I really hope people go back to work and when they do lets see if BFPL can follow through with all the promises of taking care of the people that are owed money. Problem is that the companies that owe the money are bankrupt and the other companies have no obligation to pay their "brothers" debt. If we get any money when they get back up and running I'll eat my hat!

11/26/2009 2:56:08 PM

wendee says:

hey, i have to say it is so nice to see Howard getting slammed. No one deserves it more. Let's not forget that he was always the one saying the gov't was not doing enough to help forestry. Now once again they provide assistance and this guy yells about a different topic just to keep yelling and keep playing politics with people's lives. Hey Howard, take your huge pension buy out from 1995, and retire already. You and your wife certainly have enough money, that you made yelling allegedly for the little guy, and built yourself a great big retirement plan. Keep yelling Howard, it is all you know how to do. Not calling this guy for a quote, cannot happen soon enough. Please media, give us all a break and put this guy out to pasture already.

11/26/2009 6:56:46 PM

Bobguy says:

Dear contractors. I hate to tell you this but you are involved in the free market. If you are not paid enough for the wood, get out. If Buchanan cant get enough wood, he will pay more. Just as in any business, competition rules. Part of the reason Buchanan has been so successful in the past 30 years is by reducing the log costs for the mills. Remember the Abitibi log camps? What happend to them and all the mills associated with them. Same goes for Terrace Bay. It was too easy for a minority unionized workers to bring the bush to its knees by damaging company equipment when they were unsupervised or it was Friday afternoon and they wanted the day to end.

11/26/2009 7:56:31 PM

passlake says:

reducing log costs also including buying wooded land plots in various areas around the city and harvesting.. harvesting private land isn't the same as crown land.

hamptom makes a good point.. why is it terrace bay that is getting this money? other mills are hurting too.. longlac, marathon, red rock, ignace, ear falls, etc.. spread the wealth, don't play favourites.

11/27/2009 12:34:29 AM

captain says:

dear passlake. Maybe this mill is getting money because they are trying to restart. If the other mills were trying, I am sure they would also get funding. A number of things likely went into this decision, but Hampton is still trying to score political points at the expense of those jobs, not in support of them. This guy screamed the gov't didn't support the forest industry, despite evidence to the contrary. Now they give even more and he still screams. That is all Howard knows how to do, yell. Find me one news clip in the last 10 years where Howard said any gov't was doing something right. Good luck with that. As Wendee said, it is long past time for this guy to retire

11/28/2009 7:46:59 AM