Manitoba NDP Leader, Wab Kinew, says a New Democrat government would fight climate change while protecting mining jobs in the north.

 

Kinew says his party wants to say yes to the mining industry, but to say no to oil and gas subsidies, as mining can be done in an eco-friendly way.

 

“Supporting good jobs in the mining industry is going to help us meet emission reduction targets because we know that mining can be done in a more environmentally friendly way in Manitoba than it can be in other parts of the world.”

 

“And, also, we know we’ll need those minerals in order to build the technology for a sustainable economy.”

 

Kinew says one of the ways he’ll bolster mining jobs in the north is by utilizing the Mining Community Reserve Fund.

 

“One of the ways we want to do this is use the Mining Community Reserve Fund to help create jobs in communities like Thompson and Flin Flon and other northern communities, to keep people working.”

 

“One of the criticisms we’ve had of the Pallister Government is that they’ve got more than 10-million dollars in this Mining Reserve Fund that they’re not using to help mining communities.”

 

“We want to put that money to work to help people continue to have good jobs and along the way we’ll help improve the environment.”

 

Kinew adds that Manitoba’s mining industry is vital to the provincial economy, saying that the NDPs will work on meeting the Paris Accord emission targets by reducing reliance on subsidies from oil and gas companies. K

 

inew outlined his party’s climate change plan last week, which included incorporating a provincial carbon tax as a deterrent for big polluters, even if the federal carbon tax is rejected.