Lecours Lumber to reopen talks on resolving outstanding issues related to lease agreement and averting permanent closure of sawmill in Calstock, Ontario; company recalls workers, restarts mill

Wendy Lisney

LOS ANGELES , October 23, 2012 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – The permanent closure of Lecours Lumber Ltd.’s sawmill and planing mill in Calstock, Ontario, might be avoided as talks have resumed to try to reach a lease agreement on the mill site, reported the Kapuskasing Northern Times on Oct. 22.

The family-owned company and Constance Lake First Nation agreed to begin to resolve outstanding issues on the lease deal following a meeting on Oct. 22. After the meeting, Lecours Lumber restarted its mill and recalled all the workers.

Constance First Nation said it would stay the current notice to evict Lecours Lumber from the band’s land, the Kapuskasing Northern Times reported.

On Sept. 21, Lecours Lumber received a federal order to vacate the land and remove all of its equipment by Nov. 16, after failing to work out a lease contract for the site, according to an Oct. 17 Moose FM Radio CKAP report.

In the negotiations, Northern Development Canada and Aboriginal Affairs will sit in, as demanded by both parties. This will ensure a fair lease is reached, said Constance Lake First Nation Acting Chief Fred Saskaney, reported the Kapuskasing Northern Times.

Lecours Lumber had sought mediation to help resolve the stalemate in negotiations on the new lease agreement. The company has leased the land since 1943, according to the Moose FM Radio CKAP report, which was carried by IndustryIntel on Oct. 18.

Both sides have agreed to a process that will attempt to settle the issues outstanding in the least agreement by Jan. 16, 2013, the Kapuskasing Northern Times reported.

The primary source of this article is the Kapuskasing Northern Times, Kapuskasing, Ontario, on Oct. 22, 2012.

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