Key facts
- Témiscaming, Quebec, faces economic crisis after US tariffs led to paper mill shutdown.
- RYAM, the mill's US owner, idled operations in early October.
- 360 mill employees are out of work, with some receiving partial government pay.
- Property values in Témiscaming have fallen significantly.
- Residents are attempting to buy the mill back from RYAM.
- The mill produces paperboard for packaging and lottery tickets, with 75% of output going to the US.
Residents of Témiscaming, Quebec, are facing an existential threat as the town's primary employer, a paper mill owned by US-based RYAM, has shut down indefinitely due to US tariffs. The mill's closure has led to widespread job losses and a sharp decline in property values, with fears of the town becoming a 'ghost town'. Employees, like Nadine Suley, feel the tariffs are a personal attack, impacting their way of life. Stéphane Lefebvre, a union leader, highlights the disproportionate pain felt in communities like Témiscaming compared to larger cities, and the potential ripple effects on the wider forestry industry. The town's mayor, Alain Gauthier, criticizes the Canadian government's response as insufficient, likening it to fighting an 'economic war' with 'kid's water guns'.