Mill seeks mediator in suit against N.S.

Northern Pulp has applied to The British Columbia Supreme Court to send its $450 million lawsuit against the province to mandatory mediation.

The motion was filed Friday with the court as part of its ongoing creditor protection proceedings.

“Litigation is lengthy and time-consuming, and the resolution of the Petitioners’ disputes with the Province is a necessary component of completing the replacement (effluent treatment plant),” reads the motion.

“Although there has been no progress in settlement discussions to date, that position may change after the parties mutually engage in discussions, in good faith, within the Mediation Process.”

According to the documents filed, Northern Pulp informed the province of its intention to seek mediation on Nov. 12, before it filed its lawsuit in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in December.

Northern Pulp alleges in its suit that provincial government bureaucrats conspired to force the company to voluntarily close the Abercrombie Point kraft pulp mill to get the taxpayer off its legal obligations to Northern Pulp and the Pictou Landing First Nation.

The suit further alleges there was a choreographed approach between provincial government departments via a committee of deputy ministers reporting to the executive council to first misrepresent data to set unreachable targets (well beyond those set by national pulp and paper effluent standards) for the mill’s industrial approval to operate as far back as 2014, then set a timeline for completing a replacement effluent treatment facility their own consultant said was not achievable.

The allegations rely upon extensive internal communications between government bureaucrats obtained by Northern Pulp.

As of Monday, the province had not filed a response to it.

While Northern Pulp is asking the British Columbia Supreme Court to force the province into mediation, the results would be non-binding unless agreed to by all parties.

Those parties would include Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation, Northern Pulp creditor Netherlands-based Hervey Investments BV, Paper Excellence Canada, the province of Nova Scotia and, if the court deems necessary, the Pictou Landing First Nation.

All negotiations and documents submitted during the mediation process would be confidential.

Northern Pulp is proposing the court appoint retired Canadian Supreme Court and former Nova Scotia Court of Appeal Justice Thomas Cromwell as the mediator. Northern Pulp estimates its share of the cost of the mediation would come in at just under $1 million, which it purports to have access to.

The mediation process would occur as the mill works through the environmental assessment process for its $350 million proposed replacement effluent treatment facility and mill overhaul. The company claims the project would make its Abercrombie Point kraft pulp mill one of the cleanest and most transparent in the country.

Those opposed to the project, including the concerned citizens, commercial fishermen and First Nations peoples represented by Friends of the Northumberland Strait, argue that the proposal to dump treated effluent into Pictou Harbour would have serious environmental consequences.