Teamsters Canada Rail Conference

North Bay – The Ontario Northland General Chairperson's Association (GCA) is calling upon the Federal, Provincial and Municipal Governments to assist in keeping the Timmins Smelter open.

"The loss of jobs at the Timmins Smelter, tied with the negative spin offs in other industries such as the ONTC, will have a huge impact on the entire region which has been already severely impacted by the recession. At the ONTC alone the loss in revenues is over $8 million a year", said GCA spokesperson Brian Kelly

"All levels of government should be lobbying to keep this facility open, not only to process the local feed but to retain the ability to keep the processing plant available for future mines related to "Ring of Fire" North of Timmins", added Kelly.

"This facility is too important to the people and the communities of Northeastern Ontario to be abandoned without investigating all avenues to keep it in operation. As an example, as the sole owner of Hydro One, the provincial government could have a positive influence in reducing electricity cost, continued Kelly.

"As the Provincial government's development road the ONTC has a role to play in keeping this facility open as well. We call upon all parties to work toward maintaining this Smelter as a viable alternative to transporting natural resources out of province for processing", concluded Kelly.

The GCA is made up of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, United Steel Workers and Canadian Auto Workers unions who represent all unionized employees at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.