REGINA - Opposition New Democrats have sounded the alarm about the future of the Evraz plant in Regina.
Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck stood alongside steelworkers at a media event outside the plant on Wednesday. At that event Beck told reporters the plant workers were uncertain and in the dark about their future.
“Not a peep from Scott Moe or Justin Trudeau about the future of this plant, about the future of these workers,” said Beck.
“What we’ve heard from Moe and Trudeau on this has been silence. Not a word about how they’ll be able to ensure that this plant keeps on rolling Saskatchewan steel in Saskatchewan into the future.”
Beck pointed to EVRAZ having putting the plant up for sale two years ago, when the Russian owners announced their exit from the North American market following the invasion of Ukraine. The NDP also pointed to the layoffs of 500 workers in 2020.
She also blasted Premier Scott Moe again for his “million dollar” trip to COP28 in Dubai, noting that he had failed to include a single Saskatchewan steel manufacturing.
“Saskatchewan has a great story to tell. Innovative, determined, hard-working, and one of three jurisdictions in the entire world certified to roll hydrogen pipe. We should be booming. Instead, we’re seeing layoffs and we’re seeing uncertainty.”
United Steelworkers Local 5890 President Mike Day voiced his concerns.
“There's a lot of frustration, a lot of confusion about what's going on,” said Mike Day, United Steelworkers Local 5890 president. He did welcome the recent move by the federal government to bring in a 25 per cent tariff on China steel.
He said China had been "dumping" steel in the Canadian market and were "bad players in the game." Day said they had been in Ottawa recently lobbying all the parties on the issue, pointing to the need to secure the borders.
"Is it too late? They've been bad players for so long," said Day.
Beck said she was committed to protecting the plant and Saskatchewan jobs, adding “we need to bet big on Saskatchewan steel.”
She added an NDP government would be “aggressive in getting out there, aggressive in securing these contracts, and securing these good mortgage paying jobs.”
Moe responds
Speaking at a media event in Regina later in the day, Premier Moe dismissed as “simply false” the claims from Beck that Evraz had lost 500 jobs due to government inaction.
"There is no government that has stood up for the product coming out of Evraz than this government right here," Moe said.
Moe pointed to the provincial NDP support for the federal Liberal-NDP "coalition," as he put it, that "is quite frankly bringing forward policy after policy that is restricting the very ability to sell pipe into the most sustainable oil industry in the world."
"With all due respect the Leader of the Opposition is nothing short of mistaken and wrong in her assertation. It was this government that has taken her federal coalition to task each and every time," said Moe.
