Hornepayne, Ont. lumber mill shutdown 'devastates' residents

Superior Morning8:30Hornepayne - Life After The Mill

Nearly half of the people who had a job in Hornepayne two weeks ago are now out of work - potentially for good. But, not all hope is lost in the community. The CBC's Jeff Walters is in Hornepayne

Heading into the holiday season, nearly half of the workforce in Hornepayne, Ont., is without a job because of layoffs at the mill, which were announced two weeks ago and could become permanent.

• Hornepayne, Ontario lumber mill shutdown has community on edge
• Ontario's electricity management won't accept more power from Hornepayne mill

The co-generation plant at the OlavHaavaldsrud Timber Company needs to sell more power to the provincial grid, in order to turn aprofit. But so far, the Ontario governmentis saying no. And that means no work, and no jobs.

Steelworkers union steward Serge Trudel is putting on a brave face for his colleagues, but he told CBC News he is unsure what will happen in the end.

"It's the waiting game that everyone gets frustrated over," he said.

"We're not sure what's going on. We don't know what to do next. We're just sitting here and waiting."

Eric Berube said he's not sure what to think about the future of his hometown, which is about 500 kilometreseast of Thunder Bay. He's one of the 140 workers laid off at Haavaldsrud Timber.

Berube said his gut tells him the mill has produced its last piece of lumber.

"I try to stay very hopeful, like, especially this time of year, it's Christmas. Things come through at Christmas more than you'd expect," he said.

"So, you've gotta try to keep high spirits, but plan for the worst, just in case."

If the mill closes permanently, Hornepayne will become a ghost town, Berube added.

'What do you do?'

Trudel said the prospect of seeing the value of his house diminish is disheartening.

"You've worked all these years to own a home, and now it's not worth anything," Trudelsaid.

"What do you do? Just leave it there and lock the doors, or give the keys to the town hall on the way by and say, 'see you later';, he said.

Yvan Neron and Emilie Allaire are also asking themselves difficult questions.

Neron has applied for work in Hearst, 130 kilometres away.

'We want to be here'

Explaining to their daughters that they may have to move is tough, Allaire said.

"It's very hard. We're kind of saying right now there's no work for Daddy here and we're waiting hoping he'll find work," she said.

"I'm just devastated. We spent all of last week crying, didn't know what to do, because we're here because we want to be here. Our friends are here, [the] kids' friends are here, [and there's a] nice school."

Neron and Allaire said they will wait until after the holidays to decide if they will pack up, and move away.

"We can wait until after Christmas," Allaire continued.

"But if we're told it's a couple more weeks, a couple more weeks, [and] a couple more weeks, like how long do you wait? EI won't last forever, and it's not like it's your wage."

In the meantime Hornepayne residents like Berube are resigned to the reality that "life goes on."

The last week and a half has given me a lot of time to think about it," Berubesaid.

"It would be a big hit to Hornepayne, but life does go on, and you have tothink about what's next."

Up North8:04How Hornepayne is reacting to a lumber mill closure

Almost 150 workers at the lumber mill in Hornepayne may be laid off permanently. The CBC's Jeff Walters visited the community for reaction.