Page 55 - C.M. (Clem) Anson and Steel

ISSUE : Issue 28

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1981/6/1

ceivership again. (So you do not agree that you could have diversified here and made the finished products here efficient? ly.) No, I won't go that far. What do you mean? That the wire and nail mill should still be there? (Well, actually, that was one of the things the Union listed.) I don't know how many times during my regime I'd be asked by somebody on the board of directors, well, why are you still making nails at that plant? And I produced fig? ures once every few years or so to show that it was good business. You see, not all the steel you make will fit the purpose for which you made it. You get off-heats in the open hearth furnaces. A lot of that steel went into wire and nails, which are not particularly high- quality products, nails, anyhow. So you can divert something that you might have to remelt. So I was always able to argue against closing down the wire and nail mill. (It was closed eventually.) After my time. (That's right, in 1966, two wire drawing machines went from the Sydney plant for Etobicoke, Ontario.) That was one of our other plants. (And the Union said. See, they're stripping the mill at Sydney. They saw this as part of a gradual withdrawal to Ontario and Quebec. They said the nail mill went, the tar and chem- i'cal plant went.) That was before DOSCO. (The benzol plant went.) I don't know why. (The plate mill went.) Well, it was no good. (Three coal mines were closed.) Yes. (That was just, three years after Hawker- Siddeley came in. Then a rod mill went to Quebec instead of to Sydney.) Well, I had to agree with that, putting that rod mill in Quebec. I wouldn't say it was the right thing, no, but the Hawker-Siddeley crowd were dealing with the government on that one, getting some help to build that rod mill, and they put such outrageous demands on the Nova Scotia government to build it that I couldn't go along with them. I re? fused to put my name to the report they submitted. And when the Nova Scotia govern- Claymore Motel p. 0. Box 1720, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2M5 ment wouldn't come through, well, they just made the decision to put it in Mont? real. (They would have put it here if the Nova Scotia government had given them e- nough?) No government could have said yes to the proposition that Hawker-Siddeley put forth. That's why I wouldn't sign it. It wasn't a reasonable proposition. Damn fools. (Terrible blow for this place, when Hawker-Siddeley came along.) Well, that's what I thought. I still do. I thought it right from the start, or near from the start. (In 1965 the Union was saying, this plant has to diversify or die. They said the plant needed to produce more finished prod? ucts here in Sydney, if it was to succeed-- but you made it clear to me that you do not think that is right.) 1965, I was out. (Oh yes, you're not there. But while you were there--the efficiency of the plant keeps growing. In 1963, you get a produc? tion record .of 796,000 tons. Then in '64, you're still there, 797,000 tons is hit. And the blooming mill breaks its own rec? ord. And the first blast furnace breaks the 12-month record. And they're doing it with a work force, not of 5000 but of 3000, gone down 2000 men in 20 years.) Something like that, yes. (So the plant seems like a good plant in the '60s.) It was. (Then what went wrong? Why does Hawker-Siddeley want out in 1967? What happened?) Well, tell me why did they buy out a car company in Montreal and spend 18 million,dollars and never open it again? They were incom? petent. Absolutely incompetent people. (That's terrible. I mean, at least we want a reason, we want to be able to say that somebody made a mistake or they pulled out because they could squeeze more money out of the plant that way....) They had not made a success of anything they had laid their hands on in Canada, Hawker-Siddeley. (Could it have been to their benefit to ' lose?) No. But they were incompetent peo- Phone 863-1050 - Telex 019-36567 52 Modern Rooms Licensed Dining Room and Lounge DON'S FLOWERS p. 0. Box 179, Port Hawkesbury, N. S. BOE 2V0 Serving Port Hood, Judique, Inverness, and sur? rounding areas. Telephone 625-2215 or 625-2717. Bagnell's Gift Boutique Camera Supplies, Handcrafts and Souvenirs Open Year 'Round in the Heart of Louisbourg '.K.3rttmun ICth. INVERNESS mmmm PHONE 258-2400 • NOVA SCOTIA MARY-PAT HOLDINGS LTD. "Turn left at the Causeway- Route 19 • It's a lovely way to go." 106 Post Road, P.O. Box 1534, Antigonish, Nova Scotia Bus. (902) 863-4824 Res. (902) 863-3556 MARGARET WHITTY Broker iSilDS Marina Young 345-2983 Paul & Margaret Page 345-2685 (55)

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