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2009-09-11 at 17:41

Creditors make case against Terrace Bay Pulp

By tbnewswatch staff
ROCK 94Listen to Mark and Dee Weekday mornings for the Classic Rock You Love, The New Rock You Needhttp://www.rock94.com
Creditors with liens against Terrace Bay Pulp are waiting for a judge’s decision.

The mill, which is owned by Buchanan Forest Products, filed for court protection earlier this spring leaving the lien claimants with several unpaid bills

Three days of legal presentations in the Superior Court of Justice, which saw claims presented by lawyers representing 15 different creditors, wrapped up Friday.

Lawyer Terry Gilbart represents one of the claimants. He said a variety of issues are being dealt with as 25 separate claims were presented involving work done for the mill by various woodland operators.

There's no word on when Justice Helen Pierce will hand down her ruling.
TbNewsWatch.com

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pulpgal says:
2009-09-17 at 13:45
bobguy says:
laidoffmillguy is right on the money again. I also personally know that Ken has made decisions in the past to keep mills running even when he should have taken downtime because he didn't want to lose good workers and lay people off. I agree that he has driven a hard bargin at negotiating time but on the other hand would we rather see mills shut down because of too rich wages and benefits as? I believe that he has been competitive with wages so that he can keep a reasonable cost. For those who complain too much, take a look at Canfor and West Fraser Mills. You will see a lot of machines and very few workers putting out millions more board feet.
2009-09-15 at NOON
talltails says:
All I know it will be a sad day if this mill(Terrace Bay Pulp) does not start up again this fall,it will effect so many families companies,truck drivers,in town buisness owners it will go on and on with big time losses and who will lose in the long run Ontario as a whole a small but valuable part of our province Northwestern Ontario...how and why did it come to this!
2009-09-14 at 20:43
laidoffmillguy says:
Look elvis2010 I worked for Mr. Buchanan at one of his mills that went down. In the time that I worked for him I bought my first house, new truck and had a decent living. I am one of the people he owes severence to. Would I like the money? yes I would! but I would like my job back alot more. From what I see and hear(and I got great sources) Ken Buchanan is fighting to start up some of his mills again. I never said Ken is a hero, but from my point of view he is a hard driven industrialist who has created many a job in north ontario at his peak( pouring millions in taxes back into the community). Elvis2010 do you really think Buck is responsible for the layoffs and hardships his employees have indured?? Really c'mon now can you be that narrow-minded. How about the harper gov botching the softwood lumber deal? Buchanan lost 20%!! of there export income from the states. If any other business took a 20% hit on revenue, they would of went bankrupt immediately. Instead he got through that to into the worst housing crisis in the history of the world caused by greedy banking and moronic politicians. Funny you don't bring up the real causes of this horrible economic situation only pointing and blaming the wrong person.
2009-09-14 at 14:47
laid off mill wife says:
All I know is this...my husband is working far away from his family because this mill is down. I would be very happy to see it running again so my husband could come home again. Whatever the story is, I just want the mill to go and I'm glad Buchanan is willing to fight for it to open and to stay open. The government was quick enough to bail out the auto industry...now it our turn!! Why is it that Northwestern Ontario is always left behind? We deserve the same treatment as Southern Ontario...we all belong to the same province!!!
2009-09-14 at NOON
elvis2010 says:
Yeah, laidoffmillguy and bobguy you two are right. Buchanan is the true unsung hero of the northwest. How about you talk to a few of the sawmill workers that he has done nothing but screw over for past couple years. Ask him why if they force him to pay severance(something that is rightly owed to the workers) he will go bankrupt, but you will never see him lining up at the food banks or for social assistance like a lot of the employees that broke their backs earning him his income. You two are fools to believe in Bucky's propaganda. Bucky has held a gun to the heads of his employees for the past couple of years. Time for him to start paying what he owes to his workers, contractors and the tax payers of nw ontario.
2009-09-14 at 11:01
madman says:
Having worked for Ken for many years and being in management i know the games and handouts he was given to keep people working for many years, at one point his stumpage bill to the MNR was like 35 million or so. And they wrote off 14 million or more. It is the people who have made the decision to move on and have had to fight for severence, both union and management that makes me angry. It is a fact that only the best managed companies have survived the downfall, and they are still operating in the same conditions. Canfor, West Fraser and Domtar to name a few. Just remember folks that sometimes change is good and things become easier over time, there are still great jobs out west and a few mills in Ontario pushing ahead. Bucky will emerge from this with a few less mills and a lot less debt, but he will be back.
2009-09-13 at 21:51
laidoffmillguy says:
Yeah bobguy your right, I forgot about the credit problems. I hear that buchanan is in talks right now in Toronto trying to secure loan guarantee's that will be needed to start up TB pulp. I find it funny that some people think that Ken Buchanan has some huge secret stash of money and gold, driving around in his limo looking to buy some ivory backscratchers. Any money he has made he has put back in to the company to make it stronger. Unfortunatly the last several years have seen a unfair lumber tariff(botched by the harper gov resulting in only 80% payback), high energy costs, high dollar, housing market crisis, record low lumber prices, severe reccession and for pulp the americans are unfairly subsidizing there mill's resulting in a 200$ per ton advantage. As for your comment NeebingNomad do you really think that Ken Buchanan is responsible for all the job losses and hardships that have happened?? you seem to imply he does, which is absoulutly ridiculous. This industry has taken more hits than any other. I as a former worker would like the chance to work for him again.
2009-09-13 at 14:42
bobguy says:
laidoffmillguy has it very close to the truth. He is correct about the price of pulp and the turbine but he forgot or doesn't know about the inability to gain credit after the market crash in September. Buchanan was unable to find credit to maintain operations thus the bankruptcy of Terrace Bay and the Woodlands. The government is unable/unwilling to help because they are afraid of having to subsidize everyone, the softwood lumber dispute and the low vote concentration of the north. I guess that elvis and neebingnomad enjoyed when the monopoly wasn't there because of Abitibi, Smurfit Stone, Domtar, Weyerhauser, Nenah and MacBlo...I see how they all treated the good workers of T.Bay. Oh wait, did they not leave NW Ontario and left Bucky to pick up the pieces and start operations again???
2009-09-12 at 19:41
laidoffmillguy says:
elvis2010 You clearly know nothing about what happened in Terrace Bay. The mill was doing well but a drop in the price of pulp and one of there turbines blew up in oct/09 forced the company to go into creditor protection. So how do you suppose he pay these bills?? by tearing the mill apart and selling it off to the Chinese or for scrap??. Right now Buchanan is trying hard to start the mill again bringing back hundreds of workers. Buchanan did not buy the mill for it to fail, what kind of idiot would think that? instead he put in a new co-gen making it 100% self-sufficiant in it's power use. He made many updgrades making the mill more efficiant. I seen too many American owned companies in the area give up and bail when things get tough. I give Mr Buchanan credit for not giving up and fighting mad as hell to get these mills started back up. No one else will.
2009-09-12 at 14:25
NeebingNomad says:
You got it elvis. unfortunately, that's how the corporate world is structured. You have to ask yourself how Bucky has insulated himself from the sawmills here in town. He strung the workers along about their severance until there was nothing left to pay them. You can bet it was siphoned out and lined his personal pockets. To the point that if they want to restart, he needs to borrow many millions just to get ramped up again. That's just poor ethical business prctice, and in a proper world, he'd not be allowed such a monopoly in the northwest. He's certainly got the cash or credit line to back him. When he was forced to liquidate his machinery, it was all sent to auction in Toronto in the spring. Well, what do you know? All the best pieces came back and are sitting at his various sites again. Rumor in the woodlands, is he's soon to start procuring fiber for the paper mill, crews have already started to prep his bush roads. I have to marvel at the gall he (or his managers) has/have to approach former workers, look them in the eye, and ask them to work for him again, when it's almost a certainty they won't be paid for the losses they've already incurred. But then, that's where the monopoly comes in. Want to work with your millions of dollars of idled machinery? You'll take what we offer and like it!
2009-09-12 at 11:47
elvis2010 says:
Buchanan Forest Products should be forced to pay their bills. They went into this operation knowing full well it had just failed and for it to fail for them too and then say we are not paying our bills! Enough is enough already. Buchanan sure knows how to play the game!
2009-09-12 at 01:42
broke & broker says:
2009-09-11 at 20:37
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