Supporting,Protecting, andRespectingCanada’s North
Fighter. Builder. Leader.
2
Peggy Nash Campaign
for the Leadership of the New Democratic Party
Fighter. Builder. Leader.peggynash.ca
At Issue
Natural resource industries are integral to the economy o Canada’s Northerncommunities. However, our mining, orestry, and other industries in the North are acingsevere challenges.Many o Canada’s important natural resource companies have been taken over by oreigninvestors whose actions indicate a lack o respect or workers’ rights. Plant closuresand massive layos in the region have had a ripple eect on small businesses. Youth areleaving Northern communities to fnd work elsewhere, while Aboriginal peoples acesignifcant barriers to education and housing.As the cost o living in the North rises steadily, wages have stagnated. Meanwhile, too ewcommunities in the North have adequate health resources. A severe shortage o amilydoctors and increasingly long wait times at medical acilities are leaving amilies in direstraits.Crisis ater crisis has been ignored by successive Liberal and Conservative governments.We can do better.It is possible to build a strong economy while protecting the environment and supportingall Canadians with smart social policy. Doing so with an eye to the North is crucial.Northerners deserve no less.
3
Peggy Nash Campaign
for the Leadership of the New Democratic Party
Fighter. Builder. Leader.peggynash.ca
In Context
Jobs and the Economy in the North
The importance o the natural resource industry or the livelihood o our Northerncommunities cannot be ignored, yet the Harper Conservatives have allowed poorly-regulated oreign takeovers and tax cuts or large corporations to negatively aectNortherners. They have let the orestry sector be worn down by a lack o a comprehensiveorestry strategy and have chosen not to properly invest in innovative clean and renewableenergy in the North. These missteps hurt local economies and in turn aect smallbusinesses and lead to youth outmigration.Many oreign takeovers o Canadian companies have led to signifcant job losses whilea lack o respect or hard-won collective bargaining rights throw workers into urthertrouble. For example, hundreds o Northern jobs were lost when Swiss mining giantXstrata bought Falconbridge Ltd. It slashed 686 jobs rom its Greater Sudbury operationand shut down the Kidd Creek Metallurgical site, costing Timmins 670 jobs.When Brazilian mining company Vale purchased Inco Ltd, it introduced a plan to shutdown the smelter in the city o Thompson, costing 600 jobs. The same company thenorced thousands o Canadian workers into a yearlong strike (18 months in Voisey’s Bay)to protect their pensions and the rights o uture workers, having a negative impact on theeconomy o many communities.The Investment Canada Act should ensure Canadians beneft rom oreign ownership, yetthe Harper Conservatives continue to hide behind the smoke screen created by the Act’srigid confdentiality provisions and reuse to enorce the Act in deense o Canadian jobsand communities.Meanwhile, sixty thousand jobs have been lost in the orestry sector alone. Closure aterclosure o pulp and paper mills in the North have thrown communities like Kitimat, Jonquière, and Dubreuilville into peril. Workers recently laid o rom the Terrace BayPulp and Paper mill represent jobs that are no longer contributing to the local economy.And now, the Harper Conservatives have cut back on the Forest Sector Initiative,an initiative with the goal o creating sustainable natural resources development andenhancing long-term economic opportunities or Canada’s orest sector.Instead o cuts to research and development, Canada needs a national orestry strategy toprotect value-added jobs in Northern communities.
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