Sandi Krasowski

The Township of Terrace Bay is feeling the crunch from the shutdown of the Terrace Bay pulp mill as businesses reduce operating hours and people relocate to find work. Jonathan Hall, the town's chief administrative officer, said there's not a lot of change in information. “We're in regular contact with (AV Group, which is part of Aditya Birla) and they're optimistic there's still a viable buyer out there,” Hall said. “They have not ruled out reopening under the existing owner. I think anybody who's looking to buy that mill is going to do their due diligence and it's going to take a long time for them to come to a decision.” Meanwhile, the town has found a new initiative that could help to rebuild its economy through a partnership with EDF Renewables and their development of a solar farm. “They actually approached us,” Hall said. “They did a presentation to council sometime in February and council was supportive of the initiative so in negotiations with them right now trying to see if we can make this work.” He added that an Independent Electricity System Operator request for proposal will be issued for generation space on the grid sometime in 2025. “I think a lot of power development is going to respond to that and we definitely have space with an underutilized airport,” Hall said. He said the project could generate $200,000 annually for the community through leasing of the property. Among the creation of some jobs for the building of the infrastructure, the revenue generated from the project will replace the mill's taxation. “It's the revenue aspect what the township was looking for,” Hall said. With the possible development of the solar farm, an end could loom for the Superior Classics Car Club's annual Terrace Bay Drag Fest, which utilizes the former airport runway twice a year for its events. At this point, Hall says nothing has been finalized. “We don't have a final design or how much room they're going to need or how big the farm is actually going to end up being in the end. But the car club will definitely be able to continue its operations and annual events for at least the next three years, maybe even up to year four and five,” he said. “We'll be in close communication with them and it will be a blow to the community to lose that event. But the township has to look long term and the revenues that can be derived from having this solar farm.” Speculation about Nadin Contracting building a quarter-mile drag race in Thunder Bay was quickly squelched by the contractor. Nadin Contracting said drag racers typically look for an old airport runway that has the pavement infrastructure to accommodate this style of racing. Drag racers would have to travel to the U.S. for racing events.

The change is aimed at advancing the agency's compliance and enforcement efforts. CARM protects a growing $40 billion a year in revenue for Canadians and the digital change will provide many other benefits, the agency claims.

An area will be set up for the market vendors which is separate from the already established food vendors.

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A new partnership between EcoSuperior and Sic Sox Circular Ltd. strives to divert textiles from the landfill while recycling them into usable materials.

A new partnership between EcoSuperior and Sic Sox Circular Ltd. strives to divert textiles from the landfill while recycling them into usable materials. Sic Sox Circular, which is an Indigenous-owned startup company in Chapleau, Ont., appeared in Thunder Bay late last year with a similar partnership with Confederation College. The first local collection bin was set up on the college campus. The company provides a textile recycling program that operates from its headquarters in Brunswick House First Nation. Kennedy Bucci, the ReThinking Waste co-ordinator for EcoSuperior, said an estimated 500 million kilograms of textile waste is sent to Canadian landfills every year, where it remains without decomposing for hundreds of years. “Jerret Paquette, the chief executive officer and co-founder with his mother Dorris Mitchell of Sic Sox Circular, approached us to host one of their bins as they were expanding their reach,” Bucci said. “He told us about their mission and the goal to divert textile waste from landfills. We knew there was a huge need for that in our community, so we thought it was an amazing opportunity.” In their pilot year, Sic Sox Circular is studying ways that they can break down landfill-quality textiles and turn them into usable materials, like housing insulation. “Most of our textiles these days are made of polyester, nylon, acrylic, and other synthetic fibres, which are all types of plastic,” Bucci said. “Because they are made of plastic, they will never truly break down in the environment, they just break apart into smaller pieces called microfibres.” Bucci added that in landfills, even natural materials like cotton and wool take an extremely long time to break down because the bacteria that help with decomposition aren't able to survive under landfill conditions. “That is why innovative recycling methods like they are developing at Sic Sox are so important,” she said. Acceptable items include household and industrial textiles, such as bedding, towels, pillows, clothing and stuffed animal toys in all conditions, and gently used shoes and handbags. Gently used donations will be cleaned and resold online at sicsoxcircular.ca and landfill-quality material is diverted to a shredder that will break the textiles down into usable fibres. Waste reduction efforts ongoing at EcoSuperior EcoSuperior, meanwhile, offers many waste reduction initiatives, year-round. They serve as a drop-off depot for cigarette butts, water filters, and household batteries with round-the-clock accessibility beside their back door. They also sell composters and rain barrels, which Bucci says are two great ways to reduce food waste and water waste. “We offer workshops for community groups on topics such as composting, single-use plastic reduction, and waste reduction and recycling, which can give folks tips and strategies for how to reduce their waste,” she said. Sic Sox Circular's second textile recycling bin is now in Thunder Bay at EcoSuperior, located at 562 Red River Road. The bin is bright pink. Businesses or individuals with larger donations can arrange a pickup directly with Sic Sox.