SYDNEY, Nova Scotia — People in this economically battered community were contemplating a future of deep uncertainty Wednesday after Ottawa announced it was closing Cape Breton’s last working coal mine.
Miners throughout the city hit with chronic job cuts and industrial closures were trying to sort out how they would cope when the Prince mine shuts down this fall.
“I feel pretty bitter. Mining’s been in my family since as long as I can remember, with my grandfather, my father was killed in the mine,” miner Richard Atwood said after hearing Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale announce the shutdown.
Goodale, speaking at a news conference in Sydney, said the closure of the Prince mine will put 440 people out of work. About 120 people will be laid off early next week and the rest will continue to extract coal for up to six months.
Robert Thibault, the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, announced Ottawa will provide an additional $28 million in economic-development funds.
