Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall is keeping a close eye on the forestry sector yet again after Canfor announced curtailments at its local operations on Tuesday.
The changes take place on September 3rd and are expected to run until the end of the year.
This follows a production cut, which began last week (August 19th) at the Lakeland Mills sawmill, owned by the Sinclar Group.
Earlier this month, Sinclar also announced curtailments at its Apollo Forest Products and Nechako Lumber facilities in Vanderhoof and Fort Saint James.
Hall told MyPGNow.com a lot of questions still remain about the industry.
“It’s a concern from an economic development perspective, it’s a concern for the workers, their families and for us, it’s about what’s next and what will happen as to where the industry is going and how it will look six months from now.”
“Curtailments you hope are just that and the employees get back to work and there is no impact. I think where the real impact will come from are from those outlying areas.”
What Hall is most concerned about is the potential of fewer people from Mackenzie and Fort St James coming to the Northern Capital after they were recently hit with shutdowns and curtailments from Canfor and Conifex.
“If your not working and you are from those locations where the mills have shut down and if traditionally you have come into Prince George to do some of your bigger shopping or come into to Prince George for the weekend, you’re probably not going to do that anymore so absolutely we could see a bit of a trickle-down effect.”
In addition, Canfor’s Plateau mill in Vanderhoof along with their Houston location will transition to a four-day workweek next month until the market and economic conditions support a full operating schedule.