Thompson MLA Kelly Bindle was the guest speaker at the Thompson Chamber of Commerce meeting today, which took place at the Meridian Hotel.

Two of the big things Bindle talked about were the state of health care in the province and the new carbon tax coming soon to the country.

As far as health care goes, the provincial government says that spending is the issue, not revenue, when it comes to health care.

Bindle said that the health care costs are too heavy at the top, like a water tower.

He added that two task forces working on the system. One is working on wait time reduction and the other on medical procedures. Their recommendations are due by June.

When speaking about the carbon tax, Bindle said that if the Province doesn’t have its own strategy to implement the tax by the end of the year, the federal government will implement one for them.

He also added that agriculture will be the hardest hit industry in the province and that most people will feel the tax at the pumps. He also added that that price of energy shouldn’t go up too much since Manitoba Hydro uses hydro to generate electricity rather than fossil fuels.