GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, N.L. — The Progressive Conservatives cut a wide swath across the central part of the province Thursday as Newfoundland and Labrador moved toward the halfway point of the 2021 election campaign.
PC Leader Ches Crosbie was in the region for a pair of announcements, in Grand Falls-Windsor and Botwood. And before the day was out, Crosbie was scheduled to campaign in the district of Lewisporte-Twillingate with party candidate Rhonda Lee Simms.
Flanked by Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans MHA Chris Tibbs and Exploits MHA Pleaman Forsey, Crosbie pledged his party’s support for the province’s oil and gas industry, in particular the offshore sector.
“While the Liberals have given up on our offshore, we have not.” — Ches Crosbie
“As the world becomes more selective in its choice of fuels, we have the oil the world ought to be choosing,” Crosbie said during the announcement in Grand Falls-Windsor. “We have the economics of large fields. We have low carbon emissions at point of extraction and rather low carbon intensity as fuels.
“And we have an incredible, safe, experienced workforce needed to carry this industry into the future right here at home.”
Crosbie said the only thing missing from the picture is a provincial government willing to fight for the industry, pointing to low exploration bids as an example.
Crosbie stressed government with the Conservatives at the helm would fill that gap
“Today, I am here to tell you there is a better way and that’s where Progressive Conservatives come in,” he said. “While the Liberals have given up on our offshore, we have not.”
The PCs' say their oil and gas initiative would not only preserve current jobs, but also create new ones, that they work to expand the industry here while meeting emission targets and global climate-change goals.
Crosbie also committed to supporting workers on projects like West White Rose, Terra Nova and Bay du Nord by forging a new relationship with the federal government and seeking targeted provincial equity investments where needed.
He also spoke expediting the sale of the Come By Chance refinery as well as the initiation of a joint feasibility study on the development of the province’s natural gas resources.
The Furey Liberals have bent the knee to the Trudeau Liberals and have given up on the offshore oil and gas industry,...
Posted by PC Party of Newfoundland & Labrador on Thursday, January 28, 2021
“This is an industry too important to our people, to our families and our economy just to let die,” said Tibbs.
Crosbie, who said the party’s blue-book campaign platform would be released next week, also expressed support for the transition of the former paper mill lands and Grand Falls House to the town, for the Lionel Kelland Hospice and for the restoration of lab services at the town's hospital.
Health issues were also at the forefront in Botwood, where the PC's appeared at the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care Centre.
Crosbie said they were there to pledge his party's support for the return of 24-hour emergency services to the hospital and its intention to restore that service should the PCs form the next provincial government.
Earlier in the day, the Progressive Conservatives also spoke to the need to improve youth mental-health and addictions strategies in the province.
Nicholas Mercer is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering central Newfoundland for SaltWire Network.
