Office of the Official Opposition
For Immediate Release

St. John's, NL (December 4, 2020) – PC Opposition Leader and MHA for Windsor Lake, Ches Crosbie, is disappointed in Premier Furey for not securing the future of the West White Rose project and for creating the illusion that more jobs will be created when in fact, yesterday’s announcement does little to secure long term jobs for the tradespeople of this province.

Crosbie noted that Trades NL have spoken out and indicated that only 40 of their members will be recalled.

“As now confirmed by Trades NL, most of the jobs announced are actually already in place, only 40 tradespeople will actually be rehired on the project. While I am glad to see 40 people going back to work, this is a far cry from a project restart and full employment on the worksites,” said Crosbie.

Crosbie continued to wonder if the timing of the announcement had more to do with politics than with standing up for workers.

“The funding announced may do nothing more than delay the cancellation of West White Rose until after the next provincial general election. No one at the press conference would give any guarantees that West White Rose will proceed, because Ottawa refused to accept Husky’s plea for a partnership to make that happen. This little bit of funding simply kicks the do-or-die decision to 2022, as Husky’s spokesperson made crystal clear,” said Crosbie.

“As I indicated yesterday, if I was Premier, I would do everything in my power to resume full construction on the West White Rose project immediately. I would not be letting Ottawa off the hook, I would not settled when the industry needs more support, I would use the full bargaining and political power of this province to fight for jobs, and to stand up for workers in this province,” indicated Crosbie.

“The workers of this province need someone to fight for them. The fact that the future of the West White Rose project is still unknown is a failure of Furey to fight for workers,” concluded Crosbie.
 

Contacts:

Bradley Russell

Director of Communications and Digital Strategy

(p) 1.709.729.3668

BradleyRussell@gov.nl.ca

-30-