Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson issued the following statement regarding Millar Western's announcement of the indefinite curtailment of Quesnel River Pulp:

"Today's news that Millar Western is curtailing Quesnel River Pulp indefinitely is a hard blow for Quesnel and for the workers and families who depend on that mill. Many of them have been off the job since September, holding out hope that they would be called back and my thoughts are with them and with everyone in the community whose livelihood runs through that operation.

"Our government was elected to reverse the trend of the last nine years. Getting more fibre on the trucks and getting permits approved in months rather than years is how the mills we still have keep running, and how a mill that has gone quiet gets a reason to start back up. Millar Western has left the door open to a restart and we will be working with the company and the City of Quesnel to understand what it would take to walk through it.

"There's no overnight fix. The people of Quesnel will soon have a government that understands what forestry means to this province, that will make sure the supports are there for the workers affected and that is going to get to work on building the sector back."