February 1, 2010
SELINGER SHOULD CHECK UP ON JOBS IN SASKATCHEWAN
Trend hasn’t changed, more jobs leaving every day
While Greg Selinger is in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Progressive Conservative Competitiveness Critic Blaine Pedersen encourages him to check up on the jobs recently created there courtesy of a made-in-Manitoba company.
When Winnipeg-based James Richardson International (JRI) announced its plans to build a new canola crushing plant, Manitoba made the shortlist, but in the end, instead opted to set up shop just a few kilometres west of our borders in Yorkton.
Pedersen said because Manitoba has struggled with job losses in recent months at several large employers, he assumes the former finance minister will want to see firsthand how a business-friendly job climate can help create jobs.
“Manitoba’s economy won’t rebound from the recession unless we have concrete plans to create jobs in all sectors,” Pedersen said. “Since Statistics Canada’s latest Labour Force Survey revealed that Manitoba lost 6,600 full time jobs in December and the same survey prompted the Saskatchewan government to issue a news release boasting their unmatched job growth and economic strength, I know this is a stop the premier will want to make.”
The JRI plant will employ up to 70 people, including a number of highly-skilled, highly-paid technical and professional jobs. Even the construction of the plant is anticipated to generate 200 person years of employment in Saskatchewan.
Pedersen said JRI isn’t the only company to overlook Manitoba in recent years. Louis Dreyfus of Calgary and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. – both international companies – are also in the construction phase of a canola crushing plant in Saskatchewan. This plant is expected to add 45 full-time jobs for the Saskatchewan economy.
Yet another example, CanAlaska Uranium Ltd., said government delays awarding exploration permits prompted the multi-million dollar company to choose Saskatchewan over Manitoba for a new mining exploration site last summer.
“Yes, these are economically challenging times, but if government is focused on job creation – even when times are good and transfer payments from Ottawa are soaring – weathering a recession becomes much more manageable.”
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