As NewPage was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary filed for creditor protection in Canada. NewPage Port Hawkesbury is petitioning the court for permission to proceed with a quick sale of the Port Hawkesbury mill, Pulp & Paper Canada reports.The company is requesting approval of the sale process, which would allow the mill to be shut down as announced a few weeks ago, but remain in a "hot idle" condition. This would allow it to be sold as a going concern. The alternative is a cold shut-down that would likely culminate in bankruptcy and the piecemeal liquidation of assets.According to Pulp & Paper Canada, the Canadian operation has been losing about four million Dollars per month for the past year. These operating losses had been covered by its parent company, but NewPage Corp. is "currently experiencing its own financial difficulties and is unable to continue to fund the operating losses of NewPage Port Hawkesbury."NewPage has been seeking buyers for several months, and a few are said to be interested in purchasing the Canadian mill, Pulp & Paper Canada reports.The Port Hawkesbury mill consists of one newsprint machine and one supercalendered paper machine, plus a thermomechanical pulp mill. The company recently concluded a deal with Nova Scotia Power to build a co-generation plant on the site, and operate the plant on behalf of the utility. /AA