Union Officials Confront Martin

Martin scheduled the private meeting when his election campaign pulled into this eastern Ontario city a day after Domtar announced it was eliminating an industrial operation that has been an anchor of the local economy for decades. Laid-off employees are angry that the federal and provincial governments didn't step in a long time ago to try to prevent the plant closing, said Huget, an administrative vice-president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. "What happened in Cornwall was a tragedy — it didn't need to happen at all," Huget said in an interview. "This industry is in crisis and needs government intervention." Martin, 67, listened sympathetically and promised to consider ways to help laid-off local workers and bolster the pulp and paper industry, Huget said. Among the options discussed was enlisting the federal and Ontario governments to provide financial and other assistance to reactivate the unused Domtar facility under different ownership to produce specialty paper products, he said. In a public event later at a local high school, Martin tried to offer hope to the hard-hit community, saying that Canada's social and economic support programs are intended to be of assistance when employees suffer a blow like the one felt here. "You're going to hear a lot of talk over the course of the next couple of months about just how strong the Canadian economy is," he told hundreds of students. "And yet, we just heard ... here that one of the major employers is shutting down." But "even in good times, there are parts of the country — or there are industries — that have trouble." Martin said being a Canadian is never more important "than when one part of the country is hurting while others are doing well. "The fact is that the country is reaching out to you. The country is saying that Cornwall and, in fact, the whole region does not stand alone." http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1133477415879&call_pageid=968332188492 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on December 3, 2005]

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