Press release
September 18, 2026
Statement by Green Party leader David Coon on the Closure of AV Nackawic
FREDERICTON – This morning David Coon issued the following statement on the idling of the Nackawic pulp mill:
“The decision of the Aditya Birla Group to close the Nackawic mill is devastating news for the workers, their families and the community. The company’s earlier decision to cease buying wood had already affected woodlot owners in the region and turned out to be a harbinger of what was to come. The Premier must move quickly to look after the workers, their pensions, their families, and the woodlot owners who depended on the mill for their market.
This is no time for the Premier and her cabinet to panic and risk making a terrible deal concerning the future of the mill and the Crown land license that supports it. The wood needs to stay allocated to the Nackawic region, while options are being explored.
The New Brunswick government must come together with Unifor, workers and community members to explore diversifying the mill’s products as proposed by the union. There is a pressing need for the Department of Natural Resource to assess the state of the hardwood growing on the Crown land license held by the company and report publicly to determine what possibilities there might be for tapping into new markets for biochemicals and glues made from lignin.”
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