“Our thoughts are with all of the employees at the Perth South Plant.”
That’s the reaction from St.Marys Mayor Al Strathdee to the news that the Maple Leaf Foods Plant outside St.Marys is one of three facilities slated to close to make way for a new, large-scale poultry processing facility being built in London.
The Town of St.Marys got a letter on Monday informing them of the closure which Maple Leaf says is expected to happen between late 2021 and mid to late 2022, the letter also says that current employees will be given priority jobs at the London facility.
Strathdee says despite that aspect, the news is hard to take.
“I think we’re all shocked, I mean it’s been a mainstay of the area and there’s been a lot of families and people who have made good incomes and made a living in that plant, my own family-my father-in-law-worked there for years and moved there from Toronto when it was the Campbell Soup plant so it’s been a big part of the community.”
The company says it also plans to work with local governments to find new uses for the plants being closed.
