Reducing taxes for Cape Breton mill would gut programs for kids, elderly: lawyer

HALIFAX – A lawyer for a Cape Breton municipality says reducing taxes for the idled NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill would gut programs for children and the elderly.

Bruce Clarke, representing the Richmond County Municipal Council, told the Nova Scotia Supreme Court today in Halifax that residents would suffer if an existing tax deal for the mill were cancelled.

Pacific West Commercial Corp., the prospective owner of the mill, wants the court to nullify a tax agreement between Richmond County and the plant’s former owner, Stora Enso.

Pacific West Commercial says it should pay about one-sixth of its estimated tax bill of $2.5 million.

Clarke says if that happens, Richmond County would have to raise taxes, defer maintenance and either cancel or charge large fees for recreational facilities.

The mill in Point Tupper, N.S., closed last September, throwing about 600 people out of work and affecting 400 forestry contractors.