Green jobs

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner says he wants to focus on creating more local jobs.

Schreiner paid his first visit to Thunder Bay on Saturday as part of his tour of Northwestern Ontario. Schreiner and Green party candidate for Thunder Bay – Superior North Scot Kyle toured downtown Port Arthur before meeting with local party supporters.

Schreiner said one of the issues that he thought needed to be addressed was creating more local jobs.

“Some of the things that we’ve been talking about during this trip are revisions to the Far North Act and in doing so creating good local jobs that maximize the value of our natural resources here to benefit our local communities,” Schreiner said. “One of the ways we’re doing that is making sure the value added process of our mining industry for example happens right here so money and jobs stay here in the community.”

Schreiner said he was in support of mining development projects such as the Ring of Fire as long as developers managed the project in an environmentally friendly way and kept jobs in northern Ontario.

While the Green party focuses heavily on the environment, Schreiner said they’re not a single-issue party.

“We’re a part with a very comprehensive platform and a five point plan for Ontario,” he said. “I think it is bold and visionary. It’s a job about creating jobs in communities; a plan about seizing the opportunities in the new energy era and merging globally in the renewable energy sector; it’s about our health-care system by investing in primary health care reform; supporting our seniors by insuring we have adequate investments in home care and long-term care facilities and almost most importantly it is a platform that makes sure the government works for people.”

Kyle, who ran in the May federal election, said he hopes to have better luck this time around, as he tries to usurp Liberal MPP Michael Gravelle in the upcoming election.  

While his platform hasn’t changed much since he ran in the spring, Kyle said he wanted to focus more on engaging the youth because of their untapped potential.

“The youth are often misrepresented as being apathetic,” Kyle said. “I have three university aged children myself and I have a grandchild so I’m well aware that they are not apathetic. They are engaged, they are connected, they know the issues but they feel like they don’t have a way into the political process. I would like to be a bit of a bridge for that.”