N.B. opposition says Agropur mused about shutting down Sussex-area dairy plant years ago

The New Brunswick government is facing more criticism for offering Agropur millions.

A former Progressive Conservative agriculture minister says the New Brunswick Liberals shouldn’t have been surprised by Agropur’s announcement to shut down a Sussex-area dairy plant, since the company mused about the idea to government a few years earlier.

Margaret Johnson, the PC MLA for Carleton-Victoria, served as the minister of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries in the Blaine Higgs government from 2020 to 2024.

Johnson says she had a conversation with Agropur officials about three years ago when a restructuring plan was mentioned by the company.

“They were talking about the fact they may have to scale down, or even close the operation in Sussex,” said Johnson. “I came back with, ‘This is the village, the town in New Brunswick that is known as Dairy Town. We can’t do this to this community.’”

Johnson said she asked the company to “rejig” their plans, adding there was no request from the company for funding at that time.

Last month, Agropur announced it would wind down operations at its Sussex-area facility by the end of 2028, resulting in approximately 60 job losses.

At the same time, Agropur said a $20-million expansion at its Miramichi facility would create 15 skilled jobs. In February, the New Brunswick government announced funding of up to $2.4 million in a non-repayable contribution to expand the capacity to process milk in Miramichi.

Questions about what the Liberal government knew about Agropur’s plans once again dominated question period on Wednesday.

Luke Randall, the minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick, criticized the former PC government’s communications with Agropur.

“The previous government’s response to that information was to hope for a rejig,” said Randall during question period. “Madame speaker, (the Liberal) government has acted. We’ve acted towards modernizing and expanding the Miramichi facility, and ensuring we are part of the long-term plans and commitment to the agriculture community that they have easy access to processing capacity.

“This government is about action, madame speaker, not hoping for a rejig.”

Last week, Premier Susan Holt told reporters “it would’ve been helpful” to have known Agropur’s full restructuring plans before the province’s financial commitment.

As part of a company-wide restructuring, Agropur also announced in April it would be expanding production in Bedford, N.S., while also ending operations in Truro, N.S.

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