The leader of Manitoba’s official opposition recently made his first visit to Flin Flon since taking office.
Along with a small group of NDP staffers, Wab Kinew made his way to Flin Flon on Oct. 19. It was Kinew’s first trip to Flin Flon since being named Manitoba NDP leader in 2017. During the visit, Kinew held a meet and greet, met with civic and union officials and took in a Bomber game with Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey.
During the visit, Kinew sat down for an interview with The Reminder in which he shared ideas for the north, speaking about health and senior care, the Manitoba mining industry and the recent proposal by the Manitoba Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission (MEDBC) that could potentially change the provincial electoral map.
With the future of northern Manitoba’s mining industry unclear, Kinew pledged to support workers in northern industries, calling the economic wellbeing of the region a “big priority.”
“Both here and in Thompson and across the north, there’s a concern for people. In some cases, folks are looking ahead and wondering what the job situation is going to look like in the next couple of years. For me, that is going to be a big priority for us at the Leg,” he said.
“Not only do you make a living from having a good job and provide for your family by having a good job, but having a job also gives you a sense of pride, some dignity, discipline, structure in your life. When communities lose jobs, not only do you lose out on the economic benefit, but you lose out on some of the other important things that jobs have.”
Kinew said community members in the north had discussed health care with him more than almost any other issue.
“It’s been one of the top issues I’ve been hearing about the last couple of days,” he said.
Particular to Flin Flon, Kinew said he had heard people raise issues with the number of permanent Flin Flon-based doctors. While the Northern Health Region hired two permanent doctors in Flin Flon earlier this year, health care in the community has often relied on locums, doctors from outside Flin Flon who come to the community and work on a temporary basis before returning home.
He said a long term solution would be not only to hire doctors to serve northern Manitoba from outside the region, but to start programs that could train northerners to become medical professionals, similar to how the NORTEP program in Saskatchewan trained and taught northerners to become teachers.
“In the bigger picture, there is a need to not only bring more doctors to the north, but to also expand health care services in the north.”
Kinew also said access to health care facilities in the north, including MRI or basic hospital services, should be improved, advocating for training programs for north-based health care and senior care workers.
With an aging population, senior care has become an issue on many Flin Flonners’ minds.
“What people are telling me is that Flin Flon has an aging population, so there’s a need there already, but it’s only going to increase in the future. There is a need for the province to create more seniors’ housing,” said Kinew.
“Unfortunately, with the current government, they haven’t built a single new personal care home bed since they’ve been in office and they haven’t built any new social housing since they’ve been in office. We haven’t seen anything. That’s province-wide, never mind just the need in the north. We’re not seeing much there.”
Kinew also discussed a proposal that would shake up the province’s electoral boundaries and potentially impact northern involvement in provincial politics.
Under the MEBDC’s proposed new map, the number of ridings serving northern Manitoba would be cut from five to four, with one more riding being added to the Winnipeg area, making 32 total ridings within the provincial capital.
The proposal would put Flin Flon and The Pas together in the same riding for the first time in more than 50 years, while creating a far northern riding that would extend along almost the entire northern and eastern boundaries of the province.
The list of local figures who have opposed the proposal includes Flin Flon Mayor Cal Huntley, the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce, Lindsey and former Flin Flon city councillors Greg Bauman and Leslie Beck. They have all publicly spoken out against the move, calling it a negative move for Flin Flon and for the north.
Kinew sided with the dissenters, saying northern representation should not be reduced in legislature.
“As the party, we did say there should be five northern seats, counting Swan River – I understand that people in the north sometimes ask if Swan River is part of the north, but we support having five instead of four seats, from the party perspective. They’re going to bring back the final decision soon, so there still is a little bit of an opening there. Maybe they’ll reverse that decision,” said Kinew.
“People in the north deserve representation and having more northern MLAs helps that representation.”
Kinew also acknowledged that, as a traditional base for the NDP, having fewer ridings in northern Manitoba would hurt the party he leads.
“We have two great MLAs in those seats. We’ve got Amanda Lathlin in The Pas, we’ve got Tom here in Flin Flon. I don’t want to lose either one,” said Kinew.
