The McKenzie Forest Products idled Hudson mill is feeling the impact from the negative decision of the Province of Ontario and the Provincial Wood Supply Competition.Having received notice that the Hudson sawmill was declined in the competition, the Hudson mill currently has no wood supply.  With hopes to reopen this summer, this will put approximately 300 full-time workers on the unemployment line, according to Hudson mill general manager, Don Fenelon.“We took wood off the Caribou which was an agreement with Bowater out of Thunder Bay, and that is off the table now.  We don’t have an agreement,” said Fenelon.  “I think we’re done.  As the tenure system changes, if you don’t have a wood supply, you lose your licence.”With a letter-writing campaign pending by local residents addressed to Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Michael Gravelle and Premier Dalton McGuinty, the region hopes to spur enough attention within the Liberal government to convince the powers-that-be to revisit their decision.Gravelle stated, “This has been a very tough situation.  The wood supply competition brought forward about 115 applicants.  If I was in a position of being able to actually make the decisions, or just simply overrule this system that’s in place, I’d probably want to give wood supply to every company or community that applied for it, but that would be wrong.  I don’t think anybody would argue that.  It would be unfair, it wouldn’t be sustainable, and I think I would be strongly criticized if I tried to do that.”Gravelle states a contracting firm was hired as a fairness commissioner, to ensure a transparent system with specific criteria.  He goes on to say that there have been some decisions that were extremely difficult, and this particular case tears at his heart, although he must respect the process.Sioux Lookout mayor, Dennis Leney says, “There’s quite a few mistakes we think that were made, we don’t think that they had enough time to do it, and we feel that the company that was doing the survey are in conflict of interest by doing it.  FP Innovations are the consulting group that did it, and back in July, they signed a contract and are working with Domtar.”Conservative MPP and Opposition Critic for the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Randy Hillier states, “It was just absolutely atrocious and brutal last week when Mike Brown who’s a member for Algoma-Manitoulin and of course Dave (Orazietti) and he’s from Sault, and they said ‘we’ve heard all their needs to be heard.  All the big forest companies are down here (southern Ontario).”“I know theres an election this year, but that doesn’t mean you can run away from your responsibility or run away from your job.  You still have to represent and advocate for your constituents,” said Hillier.The communities of Sioux Lookout, Hudson and surrounding areas are convinced that something can be done, and are not giving up home on the chance that the MNDMF decision can be overturned.“I know there is a hope or an expectation that I will, as Minister, simply overrule this process and again, if I even tried to do that, the fairness commissioner and others involved in this process would stop me, as they should,” says Gravelle.By Ally Dunham