Merritt city council is planning to lobby the province as one of its biggest local industries taking a hit.
The Aspen Planers sawmill is closed for this week and will be closed for two more weeks during the holidays, from Dec. 22 to Jan. 7. The shutdown is due to reduced log supply, high log prices and rock-bottom timber prices.
The mayor of Merritt Linda Brown says the city can’t control the global market, but she says they plan to lobby the Ministry of Forests for support locally.
“There’s nothing we can do about it at this time, but we certainly want to make our trip to the ministry to talk about that we only have that one licensee left in the area and we’d like to keep them here, and keep those jobs in our community,” Brown says.
Brown says the sawmill closure will affect about 100 staff members.