Town & Country

4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2019 THE PAS YOUR FULL-SERVICE DEALER FOR TRUCKS, SUV's AND VANS • SALES • PARTS • SERVICE • RENTALS 204 338-4292 WWW.OVERLANDTRUCK.COM COMPLETE LINE OF TRUCK ACCESSORIES 102 Aviation Blvd. St. Andrews, MB R1A 3N5 Manitoba's Leading Truck Cap Dealer Armaguard Spray-in Bedliner Highest Quality Protection for Your Truck • Truck Caps • Grill Guards • Running Boards • Box Liners • Hood Guards • Tonneau Covers • Visors & Extenders • Mud Flaps • Ladder Racks • Floor Mats • Step Tubes • Bed Slides • Window Shades • Light Covers • Ground Effects • Box Mats • Tailgate Guards • Tool Boxes • Box Rails • Hitches & Wiring • Plus Much More! M AN I T O B A M E T I S F ED E RA T I O N I N C . AIAC has pumped more than $45 million into Canadian Kraft Paper Industries since purchasing the plant in The Pas a couple of years ago. An economic resurgence PAPER MILL, FIRST NATION COMMUNITY ON THE RISE In the fall of 2016, there was one question on the minds of people in The Pas: could the last person out of town please turn out the lights? T he Tolko paper mill, the largest employer in the com- munity of 5,500, had just announced that it was going to close down, putting 320 people out of work. The repercussions would undoubtedly be dire — the majority of the soon-to-be-out-of-work employees and their fami- lies would move somewhere else in search of other opportunities, reducing the tax base and services that could be provided. As the standard of living continued to fall, others would follow. But before the first domino could fall, the American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC), a U.S.-based investment firm, came to the rescue that December with an 11th hour offer to buy the plant. But the facility — rechristened Canadian Kraft Paper Industries — was far from out of the woods. First and foremost, over the previous three months, all of its customers had scrambled to find new suppliers so it had no revenue. But then something just as unexpected happened — the new owners began investing in the operation, starting off with the purchase of a new super heater, the heart of a pulp and paper mill. The lifespan of such a heater is about 30 years. The old Tolko one was already 15 years beyond that. Over the ensuing two years, a total of $45 million was pumped into the plant, which makes heavy-duty bags for products such as cement, pet food and seeds. "If you want good quality paper in the market, some investment is required," says Ann Evans, chief financial officer at CKPI. "In 2018, we really came out of the gate with record production and sold out for the entire year." Not only did the employees keep their jobs, but it has become abundantly clear that the plant is in The Pas for the long run. Oswald Sawh, CEO of the Community Economic Develop- ment Fund, a lender to small enterprises in the North, isn't surprised that companies such as CKPI are not only surviving but thriving. "People always had opportunities in the North but there has been a general lack of knowledge of what the potential is. From reading the papers over the years, whenever there was a downturn with Hudbay Minerals or Inco, people associated that with the North. The North is a lot more than that. We're a region," he says. In 2016, the last year for which figures are available, CEDF made nearly $10 million in loans with about 40 per cent going to the commercial fishing industry. "It's all about helping to support economic growth in the North. We're supporting entrepreneurs and people who want to expand businesses," he says. Canadian Kraft Paper isn't the only outfit in the region that's on the rise. Christian Sinclair, chief of Opask- wayak Cree Nation, says when he was first elected three years ago, there was a lot of doom and gloom in the community. He figured OCN would be bankrupt in another six months so he and his team did a forensic analysis of their financial situation. After crunching the numbers, they decided to shut down a number of money-losing businesses, including an IGA grocery store. They also removed a number of council members from the board of directors of their economic arm and recruited three non- band members, including Bob Silver, president of Western Glove Works, a denim manufacturer, in Winnipeg. "We separated our businesses from politics and cut off all travel and frivolous expenses. It was a bloodbath," he says. "We put our financial house in order. You never want to let a good crisis go to waste." After the federal government announced plans to legalize canna- bis, OCN took action and made a $3-million investment in Meta Cannabis, the first public deal of its kind with a First Nation as a major shareholder. "This gives us the opportunity to become the Goldman Sachs of the cannabis industry," he says. OCN also created a think tank to come up with a housing strat- egy. Now, instead of having six houses constructed each year, OCN is building 28 houses annually, all of which have local tradespeople working on them. Other major development plans on the horizon include a $15-million regional landfill and a new $6.8-million water plant upgrade. A few years ago, OCN partnered to supply Pepsi products across the Prairies, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, the largest land mass for logistics for the soft drink company. OCN has also created a $1 million fund to allow its people to borrow up to $50,000 to renovate their homes. "We're doing things no other First Nation has done in Canada. We're nation-building," he says. Over a two-year period, a total of $45 million was pumped into the plant, which makes heavy-duty bags for products such as cement, pet food and seeds. D D Canadian Kraft Paper Industries' recent success has made it abundantly clear that the plant will be in The Pas for the long term. BY GEOFF KIRBYSON

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