As a final agreement nears for the sale of the idle NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill in Cape Breton, Premier Darrell Dexter says the provincial government is offering the potential buyer, Pacific West Corporation, financial incentives including $66.5 million in loans. The premier says $26.5 million of that could be forgiven, based on the Vancouver company meeting certain criteria. The announcement comes after the province's Utility and Review Board approved an arrangement between Pacific West and Nova Scotia Power. The mill shut down last September, laying off some 600 employees and affecting another 400 forestry contractors. Pacific West wants to buy the mill for 33-million dollars and restart production this fall.
