The Premier of Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter, met with NewPage Port Hawkesbury‘s top mill managers this morning.

Dexter has offered the province’s assistance for marketing the mill’s products to Asia and South America.

The Premier also took a shot at Nova Scotia Power Inc. for its proposal to hike power rates in the province for a larger profit for its shareholders.

Dexter is heading to Port Hawkesbury tomorrow to meet with the Mayor Billy Joe MacLean and he also plans to meet soon with local MP Liberal Rodger Cuzner.

Dexter said a committee of ministers and MLAs will examine how to assist the mill. A committee of deputy ministers has also been looking at issues affecting mills for two years. The province’s large land purchase program last year came out of that deputies’ committee.

Dexter said the mill and its workers have faced adversity before and that he is willing to work with all the stakeholders to keep it running.

“For more than 50 years, that mill has faced many, many challenges. Over the years, many of them seemed like they would be insurmountable, but the mill is still here and it’s still operating at a very high level,” he said.

Source:
Dexter offers help to keep NewPage mill open (The Chronicle Herald)