The Saskatchewan NDP are sounding the alarm today about the Saskatchewan Government awarding the province’s Northern Saskatchewan tire recycling contract to Emterra Tire Recycling, a company headquartered in Ontario, which the Saskatchewan NDP say follows the provincial government’s decision to hand the southern contract to U.S.-based company CRM. In both cases, the Opposition say the work was previously done by Shercom Industries, a Saskatchewan company that invested over $20 million into a recycling facility just north of Saskatoon. The facility is now shuttered, and more than 90 Saskatchewan jobs have been lost.
The Opposition is challenging the government saying they support Saskatchewan businesses because the Saskatchewan NDP say their actions are the opposite. They say the government has taken good, local jobs and handed them to companies in Ontario and the United States, and as a result a Saskatchewan business is out of work that they were doing successfully and Shercom says they weren’t even given a fair chance to bid.
The Opposition say it is bad for jobs, the environment and it is bad for the economy, the future growth and prosperity of our communities. They say a Saskatchewan built and Saskatchewan run facility is sitting idle, while work that should be done is being outsourced across borders.
Saskatchewan NDP Highways and Infrastructure Shadow Minister Hugh Gordon says the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce told them the decision doesn’t make sense. “We couldn’t agree more. That’s why the Saskatchewan NDP Official Opposition is calling on Environment Minister Travis Keisig to face reporters and explain why Shercom was excluded from the bidding process and why Saskatchewan work has been handed to out-of-province companies.”
Gordon says there are over 90 Saskatchewan workers left behind. “This is what happens when a government spends 18 years in office, becomes old and out of touch and forgets, quite frankly, who it’s supposed to be working for.”
The Minister says the Saskatchewan NDP’s bottom line is that in the face of tariffs and economic threat from out of our country, everything needs to be done to promote and ensure Saskatchewan companies and jobs are protected. They say the contracts and work leaving the province helps build the jobs and profits for those plants, and the money is best kept right here in Saskatchewan.
Additionally, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose 35 per cent tariffs in two weeks’ time, the Saskatchewan NDP are calling for the provincial government to return to a tougher stance against the U.S. president. In a letter to the government, Saskatchewan NDP Energy and Resources Shadow Minister Sally Housser says Premier Moe needs to stand up to Donald Trump to protect Saskatchewan workers, businesses and our collective economic future.
The Saskatchewan NDP say the provincial government appears to not show any loyalty to the province since there is no evidence of denying or cancelling any contracts with American companies who are running Saskatchewan medical lab services, parks and hunting registries, paid hospital parking lots and more, despite promising to do so months ago.
The Opposition accuse the provincial government of betraying the ‘Team Canada’ approach putting American liquor back on store shelves, while other provinces are continuing to hold strong on that front.