Canada's northern-most commercial grower closes
Jack Danylchuk
Northern News Services
Norman Wells (Jan 29/01) - Rising energy prices have forced Canada's northern-most commercial greenhouse to close its doors.
"It really upsets me, but I'm not going to open this year," said Gerry Loomis.
Natural gas is the problem. Imperial Oil almost doubled the price this winter. After protests from the community, Imperial lopped off 30 per cent, but that didn't help Loomis.
"I've almost always lost a little money every year, but this is too much, I can't afford it," said Loomis, who finds some irony in the situation.
Norman Wells sits atop a bubble of natural gas, but under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the town's residents - like all Canadians - must pay market prices for their energy.
But there is no pipeline to carry the gas to southern markets.
Imperial Oil sells natural gas locally, or uses it to force oil from the ground, and still has gas to burn.
"Imperial flared off that gas for years before they sold it to local consumers, and they are still burning it," Loomis said.
Higher energy prices are also squeezing Inuvik's community green house. It will shorten its operating season this year, said Sean Gray, a spokesperson for the project that Loomis helped design.
For the last 12 years, bedding plants from the Loomis greenhouse in Norman Wells have brightened the town with flowers and given local gardeners a head start on the short growing season.
Loomis recently sold a hotel he owned in Norman Wells and was looking forward to devoting most of his time to running his 8,500 sq. ft. green house.
When the price increase hit, he cancelled an order for 14,000 seedlings. Norman Wells gardeners will have to start their own bedding plants or pay high freight rates to bring them in from the South, Loomis said.
The greenhouse will also be missed "by people who liked to come to and enjoy the plants," he said.
Norman Wells grew a reputation for floral displays that rested largely on plants that started life in the Loomis greenhouse.
"It was catching on in other communities as well and it was nice to see all the flowers - it really brightened those places," Loomis said.
