WINDSOR, QUEBEC – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced further support to protect jobs in Quebec’s forestry industry while making it more productive, competitive and sustainable.  The Prime Minister was joined by the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources Canada.
 
“Our Government is committed to protecting and creating jobs in all of Quebec’s regions,” said the Prime Minister.  “Today’s announcement will reinvigorate the forestry sector with clean energy technology, and will help boost the production of new forestry products.”
 
The Harper Government’s support will help Domtar invest in energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies at its Windsor Mill in Quebec. 
 
“We recognize the vital role the forestry sector plays in Quebec’s regions,” said Prime Minister Harper. “Support for the Domtar Mill in Windsor is part of our overall, Canada-wide efforts to help build a greener more competitive forestry sector.”
 
Domtar is one of 24 pulp and paper companies across Canada that qualified for credits under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program announced in June 2009.  The program was created to support environmental improvements in the pulp and paper industry.
 
The Harper Government is also announcing support today for six other mills, located in British Columbia, Alberta and New Brunswick.  These significant investments are helping to ensure that Canada’s forestry industry is stronger, with safer and more secure jobs for Canadian forestry workers and their families.
 


Backgrounder

DOMTAR WINDSOR MILL
 
The Harper Government is committed to promoting technologies that enhance energy efficiency and the production of renewable energy.  The Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) is part of a forestry sector transformation and renewal that is laying the groundwork for a greener, more prosperous future for Canada’s pulp and paper sector.

Domtar will use this $24.8 million in federal funding being provided for its Windsor Pulp Mill under the PPGTP to invest in new energy efficient equipment and to modify existing equipment to realize a number of environmental benefits.
 
Specific measures include:
 
1. Upgrading the biomass boiler and its handling capacity: This includes improving the lower furnace combustion to enable the boiler to operate at increased steam flow by replacing the lower furnace arches; upgrading the wood residue grinder and adding two new hog grinders.
 
2. Reducing steam demand for two paper machines: This will be accomplished by installing new steam boxes to better control moisture content of the papers, produce a more uniform product, and save on steam to dry sheets; installing a stock screening system; and dedicating an existing pulp storage tank for recycled pulp storage so the mill can produce more paper with recycled content with fewer operational challenges.

These upgrades will result in a higher volume of alternative fuels being used at the mill to generate renewable energy; the use of less steam to produce more paper with recycled content; a reduction of 8,400 tonnes per year in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and the elimination of approximately 25,000 tonnes of solid waste a year through the use of wood waste and other alternative fuels.

The Windsor mill has been in operation since 1865 and was acquired by Domtar in 1961.  The mill produces uncoated freesheet paper, digital paper, copy paper, laser forms bond, envelopes and recycled paper.  It also produces bleached hardwood wet-lap market pulp.


The investment in Domtar’s Windsor mill is just one of several announcements related to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program being made across the country today.  The investments totaling $278 million will benefit various companies and mills in communities in New Brunswick (Edmundston and Saint John), Alberta (Boyle), and British Columbia (Prince George, Quesnel and Kamloops).

How the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program Works

The Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program provides companies with credits based on their production of black liquor ($0.16/litre) in 2009.  Black liquor is a liquid by-product of the pulping process used to generate heat and power.

Firms then have until March 31, 2012, to draw on these credits to finance approved capital projects that offer demonstrable environmental benefits, such as improvements to their energy efficiency or their capacity to produce alternative energy.  The program is capped at $1 billion and total payments to Canadian industry will not exceed this amount.

Thirty-eight pulp and paper mills across Canada, representing 24 companies, generated credits under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program based on their 2009 production levels of black liquor.

By investing in clean energy technologies, this program is helping the forest industry contribute to the growth of a domestic clean energy industry, creating and maintaining high-quality jobs for Canadians, and helping to protect and preserve our environment.

More details about the program and its eligibility requirements are available at http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/subsite/pulp-paper-green-transformation.