Jon Gerrard brought his campaign to lead Manitoba’s Liberals to familiar – and increasingly friendly – territory last week.
During a stop in Flin Flon, the physician-turned-politician spoke of improving broadband access and expanding mental health supports.
But Gerrard saved some of his lengthiest comments for the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy, a Flin Flon-based post- secondary institution he believes warrants additional provincial funding.
“It was put here as a new wonderful infrastructure, but unless you provide the operating support to make it fully functional in helping the community here, then it’s not going to reach its potential,” he told The Reminder in a sit-down interview. “So I think that providing some [higher] level of core funding is essential, and then working with local industries and businesses and so on, using it better for training.”
Gerrard, who visited the mining academy on Monday, July 10, said the facility is “not playing the role, yet, that it was envisioned to play in terms of supporting the various stages in the mining industry, building a base for the future skilled workforce in this area.”
He said there is clearly a future for mining in northern Manitoba and that there is potential to further expose local high school students to career opportunities in the industry.
Still on the mining front, Gerrard wants to see improved partnerships between First Nations and mining companies.
“I think that the long-run future of the industry will depend on us ensuring that we’ve got a stable approach to partnerships that the industry understands and that benefit the First Nations and other communities in the North,” he said.
On other issues, Gerrard favours a clear plan for improving Flin Flon’s broadband access by 2020. He also wants to hire more peer support workers to work in the area of brain and mental health.
Gerrard was arguably the most visible provincial party leader in Flin Flon during his initial stint as head of the Liberals from 1998 to 2013. He visited the community multiple times to meet with residents.
This was despite the fact the Liberals had not held the Flin Flon constituency since the 1950s. But while the Liberals were essentially a fringe party in the riding when Gerrard first became leader, by 2016 they came within 159 votes and four percentage points of winning the seat.
Gerrard, 69, is MLA for the Winnipeg riding of River Heights. As of press time, Gerrard, Cindy Lamoureux and Dougald Lamont were the declared candidates for the Liberal leadership.
Manitoba Liberals will choose their new leader on October 21.
