STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC Nov. 25, 2020
The MRC Council of Mayors had a rare public airing of disagreement during their Nov. 25 meeting, with Warden Jane Toller breaking a nine-nine tie to require Renmatix, a multi-national corporation being courted by Fibre Pontiac, to confirm forestry operations in the region by the end of 2020 in order to move forward.
Fibre Pontiac was created by the MRC following the closure of the Smurfit Stone mill in 2008. Renmatix had been targeted by them to build a . . .
$100 million biorefinery at the Pontiac Regional Industrial Park in Litchfield. Renmatix’s interest in, as well as past visits to, the proposed biopark project are thanks to forestry consultant and Fibre Pontiac President Pierre Vézina, who brought them on board in 2013.
The resolution that was voted on was regarding the renewal of Vézina’s contract for 2021. Otter Lake Mayor and MRC pro-warden Kim Cartier-Villeneuve put forward a slight revision to the resolution prior to the vote, adding two conditions that should be met by the end of 2020 to renew Vézina’s services.
Those conditions were: first, that the Investment in Forestry Industry Transformation (IFIT) funding that was applied for through Renmatix be approved and second, that a quick decision be made by Renmatix regarding it’s intention to build in the Pontiac.
Toller’s vote meant that the resolution was passed. Of those that voted in favour of Cartier-Villeneuve’s resolution, Toller and several mayors voiced their dismay with the approximately $800,000 that had been spent on consultant fees since the project’s inception. They also took issue with the fact that a major company that he has connected with has yet to confirm it’s intentions in the Pontiac.
“I sincerely hope that the Fibre Pontiac plan moves forward,” Toller said during the post-meeting media scrum. “I just think we need more oversight, and we need to have some expectations … More than anything, I felt it was important this be brought to the attention of the public because I’m not sure that a lot of people in the MRC Pontiac were aware of the expense of this project in terms of what was coming from the MRC.”
The mayors that voted against it cited concerns that the required conditions would not be met in such a short period of time, thereby ending the MRC’s relationship with Renmatix through ending the contract.
The split was also largely between those who thought that the consultant had not done enough to warrant the expenses, and those who felt that he had contributed value and was in the process of contributing more.
Sunstrum was among the nine dissenting mayors. After the meeting, he expressed his thoughts on the two conditions.
“You don’t put that kind of pressure on a company that’s interested in coming to the Pontiac,” he said. “It’s not a very good investor attraction strategy to do that.”
He said that it is almost certain that Renmatix won’t meet the two conditions required within five weeks. He also explained how Vézina is the major component in keeping the proposed biopark as a viable option.
“A company called Forespect is already [at the biopark],” Sunstrum said. “Another company called ABRI-Tech has expressed an interest and they’re doing their due diligence on financing to be there.”
He said that both companies would not be in the picture if not for Vézina’s outreach to businesses, and that they will likely be out of the picture if he leaves.
In addition to Vézina’s contacts, he was also instrumental in helping the MRC receive a letter of interest worth $15 million from the provincial Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MEI) and attracting the National Research Council (NRC) and Canmet Energy to carry out $450,000 worth of studies on potential new technologies for wood transformation.
According to another dissenting mayor, Litchfield’s Colleen Larivière, Vézina was effectively serving as the MRC’s industrial commissioner, as they haven’t had one for years. On top of the federally funded NRC studies, he had assisted in performing several other studies prior to that to assure feasibility.
“Those two conditions are, ‘Well we’re not going to renew the contract until these two conditions are done,’ which is kind of putting a big block on the project,” she said. “So who do they contact in between? The link falls and when the link falls, there’s a big possibility that the project will fall.
“A project of this magnitude does not get to where it is on its own,” she added.
While Fibre Pontiac had dedicated its focus to the proposed biopark in Litchfield, a different significant forestry project has also been supported by some local leaders.
Énergie Davidson, a proposed cogeneration project at the Davidson Sawmill, has received past support from Toller, Pontiac MNA André Fortin and Mansfield et Pontefract Mayor Gilles Dionne, to name a few.
Asked whether multiple possible forestry projects on the go created a conflict that forced mayors to pick a side, Toller dismissed the idea.
“I think that the Pontiac has to have as many forestry projects as possible,” she said. “They don’t need to compete with each other.”
Sunstrum said that the question of a conflict was valid and needed to be asked, although he didn’t elaborate.
He added that he thought it was important to note that prior to Toller’s tie-breaking vote, the mayors who voted against the resolution represented 52.7 per cent of the MRC Pontiac’s population.
Despite noting that, he said that he respects Toller’s right to use her vote as warden.
He also said that the forestry businesses and people involved in forestry in the Pontiac should have a say on the issue of renewing Vézina’s contract.
Those in favour of the resolution were: Cartier-Villeneuve, Rapides des Joachims Mayor Jim Gibson Jim Gibson, Dionne, Thorne Mayor Karen Daly-Kelly, Laporte, L’Île du Grand Calumet Mayor Serge Newberry, Alleyn et Cawood Mayor Carl Mayer, Portage du Fort Lynn Cameron, Waltham Mayor David Rochon and Toller.
Those against the resolution were: Sunstrum, Larivière, Bristol Mayor Brent Orr, Campbell’s Bay Mayor Maurice Beauregard, Clarendon Mayor John Armstrong, Chichester Mayor Donald Gagnon, Bryson Mayor Alain Gagnon, Sheenboro Mayor Doris Ranger and Shawville Mayor Sandra Murray.
