Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey has a brand new constituency office, but the issues he’s hearing about are quite familiar.
“Really it’s the same concerns that have always been there,” Lindsey said at the recent grand opening of his office, when asked about issues constituents are bringing forth.
Those issues revolve around health care accessibility and ensuring there are enough doctors and nurses to serve patients. Lindsey has also been hearing concerns over northern roads.
More recently, he has fielded concerns over access to Flin Flon General Hospital amid the provincially funded construction of the new emergency department.
Lindsey discussed those and other matters at the Thursday, July 7 opening of his Flin Flon constituency office. Situated within the Royal Hotel, in a former cupcake shop, it was just the location the MLA was looking for.
“It’s [on] Main Street, it’s accessible, wheelchair-accessible, it’s ground-level, so anybody and everybody can get in,” he said. “And it’s visible. That’s the main thing. I want people to know where to come if they want to talk to the MLA.”
The office features a windowed seating area complete with restaurant-style tables. Nearby, Lindsey’s constituency assistant, Lyla Yaremchuk, sits at her desk.
Lindsey’s life has undergone a major shift since April 19, the night he became the Flin Flon constituency’s seventh MLA.
A retired health and safety rep for the Steelworkers union at Hudbay, he has been one of the more visible MLAs in the 14-member NDP opposition caucus.
Not surprisingly, Lindsey is a vocal critic of a PC government he worries will not live up to commitments made to northern Manitoba by the previous NDP government.
“We’re seeing that already, that there’s reportedly $48 million [less being spent in] the infrastructure construction budget,” he said. “So that’s going to affect roads, and road building and pavement.”
Lindsey said he will put pressure on the government to ensure northern highway projects previously proposed by the NDP proceed.
In terms of mining, Lindsey said there may be opportunities with the Pine Bay mineral deposit near Flin Flon and the McIlvenna Bay deposit, located 90 road km west of Creighton.
Outside of the mineral sector, he said there are “some other exciting things” happening in Flin Flon, including a burgeoning arts scene.
He said he has also spoken with various cabinet ministers about potentially bringing an MRI machine to Flin Flon General Hospital.
On a personal level, Lindsey said his transition from retiree to politician has “been interesting to say the least.
“It’s a new role but really it’s not all that new, I guess. I was heavily involved in the union, being a representative standing at the forefront, fighting for things for people, so this is fighting for things for more people. And being in opposition clearly isn’t as much fun as it would have been being in the government, but I’m pretty confident that in four years [the NDP] will be in the government.”
Lindsey isn’t sure how often he will be at his constituency office when the legislature is in session. Yaremchuk, his assistant, will be there to assist constituents.
