Most people, when they hear the name Paiement, think hockey and the brothers who made it to the NHL.  Fewer are aware of the rich history surrounding the Paiement family and the forest industry in Timiskaming.

In 1938 Wilfred Paiement was contracting for Murphy and Gordon out of Latchford.  In 1940, he, his wife and 16 children; 5 boys, 11 girls, moved north to the Earlton area so he could start contracting out of the Round Lake area.

The first Paiement mill was constructed near Round Lake in 1942-43.  In total the Paiement family owned and operated 8 mills, 5 of which accidentally burned.  In 1950 they purchased cutting rights and built a planer mill in Elk Lake, unfortunately it never operated due to the evolving environmental legislation that made it difficult to transport timber by water.  W. Paiement & Sons then began selling their timber to Elk Lake Planing Mill and Kokotow Lumber in Kenogami, which was closed in 1977 and reopened a year later by Normic Perron Inc and is currently operated by Tembec Inc.

W. Paiement & Sons began hauling timber in 1970 and were the first to begin site-preparing harvested areas for forest renewal for the then Department of Lands and Forests.  In 1972, Wilf decided to pass on the reins to sons Ambrose and Larry, who today, along with 20 employees, based out of Earlton ON, continue to successfully operate as independent logging operators off the Timiskaming land base.