Resolute Forest (formerly known as AbitibiBowater) is launching its second NAFTA Chapter 11 challenge within five years against Canada.
The most recent challenge relates to a Cape Breton paper mill.
In August 2012, the province of Nova Scotia put $124.5 million towards helping Vancouver-based Pacific West restart the Port Hawkesbury paper mill that had been closed since September 2011.
At that time, the Chronicle-Herald reported, “[Nova Scotia premier Darrell] Dexter suggested that allowing the paper mill to remain closed would have had a devastating effect on Nova Scotia’s economy. He noted that the mill will represent 2.5 per cent of the province’s gross domestic product, support 1,400 jobs in the rural area and bolster provincial coffers through tax revenues of $11 million to $13 million a year. The province will also receive roughly $3 million a year in stumpage fees, and a one-time $10-million stumpage value on the land being bought. Pacific West also said it intends to spend more than $165 million a year on payroll, maintenance, equipment and operating costs.”