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Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis tried to calm fears around fossil fuel jobs during a stop in southern Saskatchewan Thursday, as tensions with Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck continued to hang over his first tour through the province since winning the party’s leadership race in March.
Lewis stopped in Lebret after earlier meetings at the Cowessess First Nation and Pasqua First Nation, where he faced repeated questions about oil and gas, the future of the industry workers and Beck’s public criticism of his energy policies earlier this year.
Read more:
- Avi Lewis is the new NDP leader, as Alberta, Sask. leaders say his policies can ‘hurt’
- Sask., Alberta NDP leaders slam policies of new federal party leader
- Carla Beck says letter to new federal NDP leader said it all
Beck publicly distanced herself from Lewis following his federal leadership win, warning that his stance on eliminating fossil fuels threatened jobs and industries in Saskatchewan.
But Lewis told reporters the relationship between the two leaders has since improved.
“There was an initial kind of settling-in period. Carla sent that letter, but within days she had actually reached out to me to have a meeting,” Lewis said.
“We had a meeting a few weeks ago. We spoke at length.”
Lewis said Beck wanted him to better understand Saskatchewan’s provincial NDP “grit and growth” strategy, which he said he has since read.
“There’s a lot of common ground, a lot of things that we agree on in that platform,” Lewis said. “There are some differences as well, but those differences are healthy.”
Still, Beck made it clear on Thursday morning that she would not be meeting with Lewis during his stop in Regina on Friday. Beck said her attention remains focused on what she called the Saskatchewan Party government’s “$26 billion coal catastrophe,” tied to leaked SaskPower documents.
“My calendar, right now, is pretty much built around this issue,” Beck said.
“I haven’t changed that schedule. I don’t think there’s a lot of room in this schedule.”
The divide between the provincial and federal wings of the party was most apparent when Lewis defended his push for a long-term transition away from fossil fuels while attempting to reassure Saskatchewan workers their jobs would not disappear overnight.
“The first thing fossil fuel workers hear when they hear the word ‘transition’ is ‘we’re getting screwed,’” Lewis said.
“Because if you ask the workers in the fisheries industry in Atlantic Canada, or forestry workers in British Columbia, ‘transition’ is the last word workers hear before they lose their jobs.”
Lewis repeatedly stressed he was not calling for an immediate shutdown of Saskatchewan’s oil and gas sector.
“Nobody is talking about shutting anything down tomorrow,” he said.
“Not a single worker, in our vision, pays the price.”
Lewis said the federal government should invest heavily in clean manufacturing, renewable energy infrastructure and battery storage projects that could create unionized jobs before workers leave existing industries.
He argued the global economy is already shifting away from fossil fuels, and warned Canada risks falling behind if it fails to invest in new industries.
“The question is not whether or not we do anything about it,” Lewis said. “The question is what we do.”
Lewis also acknowledged that the federal NDP has lost touch with some working-class voters, and said rebuilding those relationships will be a major focus of his leadership.
“Part of my job, as leader, is to crisscross the country and meet with workers in every sector, including and especially the fossil fuel sector,” he said.
Lewis said he had already begun discussions with industrial unions nationally, including Unifor and the United Steelworkers, but admitted he did not meet directly with Saskatchewan fossil fuel workers during this trip.
His Saskatchewan tour continues through the weekend, with stops planned in Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
Lewis will join The Evan Bray Show on Friday morning at 8:36 a.m.
