The leader of Manitoba’s official opposition headed to Flin Flon last week for the first time since the pandemic broke out, meeting with local leaders and hosting a meet-and-greet.
Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew made appearances during a recent northern Manitoba tour, which included coming to the kick-off of The Pas’ recent Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival. While in Flin Flon, Kinew met with local labour leaders, council members and various community groups, along with Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey and a small delegation of party officials.
According to most recent provincial polling, Kinew stands a good chance of becoming Manitoba’s next premier in this fall’s election. If elected, Kinew would become the province’s first NDP premier since Greg Selinger lost the seat in 2016 and would become the first Indigenous premier of any Canadian province.
Kinew said during his visit, he wanted to hear from northerners about their needs with health care, jobs and the economy, as well as priorities on education, infrastructure and other fields the provincial government may affect.
“I think more than anything, we're looking to hear about and address some ideas on health care and trying to improve things in northern health care, with the understanding that Flin Flon should act as a hub for communities around it,” said Kinew in an interview with The Reminder.
“Of course, there’s the economic issues, jobs, cost of living, the fact that prices keep going up. There needs to be some economic opportunity and job creation for people in Flin Flon and the surrounding area. Those are things that are high on our radar, but of course, folks are keen to bring forward other issues and we'll engage with those.”
Front of mind is northern Manitoba’s mining industry and where Flin Flon sits within it - since the closure of 777 mine last year and much of Hudbay’s local operations, the community has seen wideranging effects. Kinew said he feels mining would be a key for Manitoba’s economy going forward, saying Flin Flon should and could play a big role within it.
“I think that mining is going to be absolutely crucial to the future of our province’s economy and Flin Flon should play an important part of that, as well as all of northern Manitoba - it’s where the vast majority of critical minerals and overall mineral deposits that we're going to seek to develop are coming from,” he said.
“We want to prioritize those jobs here in Manitoba. I think one of the things that the provincial government needs to do is to be a good salesperson around the globe and say, ‘if you're looking to develop critical minerals, let's do it here in Manitoba, where we have the highest labour standards, environmental standards, human rights standards and let's make sure that those economic benefits stay there as much as possible.' I think the whole world is going to continue to need the minerals that are in the Flin Flon area and across northern Manitoba, especially as we go to a more tech-powered future.”
Health care outcomes were also one of the biggest priorities for Kinew, who said that Flin Flon should serve as a hub for the region, not seeing service cuts.
“I think the first thing we’ve got to address is the staffing crisis in health care. We're going to need to hire more people to work in health and we're going to have to pay them more to work in the north. That's just one of the crucial steps that's going to have to take place. I would like to see birthing services returned [to Flin Flon]. I would like to see other options for diagnostic services and other procedures be able to return to Flin Flon. In order for us to be able to do that, we have to get the people, the staffing to be able to deliver those things. So I think step one, let's get a handle on the staffing situation,” he said.
“Another issue is brain drain. Right now, Saskatchewan is paying lab techs and X-ray techs and a whole host of other health care professionals more than we're offering here in Manitoba. We're at risk of losing some of our people - we can't afford that. We’ve got to put in a strong, strong offer and we’ve got to be competitive, to make sure we get those health care services meant to benefit people in our province.”
