Dalhousie Mayor Clem Tremblay wants the N.B. government to expropriate the assets of AbitibiBowater, similar to the N.L. government. (CBC)

The New Brunswick government should follow the lead of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams by expropriating the property of AbitibiBowater's Dalhousie paper mill, according to the town's mayor.

Dalhousie's economy was devastated when the paper company shut down the local mill, throwing 330 people out of work in January. The paper mill's closure is causing uncertainty in the north shore town of 3,600 that has depended on the paper mill for employment for 80 years.

Dalhousie Mayor Clem Tremblay said he'd like to see New Brunswick seize the company's assets left in the community.

"As far as Newfoundland's premier is concerned, I applaud everything that he did," Tremblay said.

AbitibiBowater also closed a mill in Grand Falls-Windsor recently but the Newfoundland premier responded quite differently than the New Brunswick government.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government, with the support of opposition members of the house of assembly, passed urgent legislation Tuesday afternoon to expropriate all AbitibiBowater assets in the province, except the mill in the central Newfoundland town of Grand Falls-Windsor.

Williams said if the company won't provide jobs it shouldn't have any access to natural resources.

But that's not likely to happen soon, according to Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne. Byrne is careful not to criticize Williams, saying his government doesn't want to do anything to scare away business.

"In a New Brunswick context, we want to look at how we can work best with industry, how we can attract investment. And that's what drives us," Byrne said.

Meanwhile, the defunct Bowater plant in Dalhousie sits idle, still stuffed with machinery that no one can use. And there are no investors on the horizon. Tremblay said he doesn't think it will ever operate as a paper mill again.

"People are kind of realizing that the paper mill industry in Dalhousie is fait accompli — it's finished," he said.

He said the town is moving ahead with plans to diversify but the jobs that come probably won't replace the well-paying jobs at the paper plant.