Phil Zajac is pleased with a meeting that he had last week with Estevan mayor Roy Ludwig.
Zajac, who is representing the new People’s Party of Canada in the Souris-Moose Mountain constituency for the upcoming federal election, discussed several issues with Ludwig during the session.
Among the issues they touched was the future of coal mining in the region.
He noted that Ludwig is also an employee of the Westmoreland Coal Company, and has been employed by the local mines for more than 40 years.
“I have spoken to many of the coal miners and SaskPower employees that are not only my friends but my constituents as well,” said Zajac.
He said the People’s Party would give the mines a voice in government and would keep them as a viable option for the future in coal and energy.
Zajac pointed out that recent news articles have discussed how southeast Saskatchewan and particularly Estevan could become a ghost town without coal mining.
“The People’s Party of Canada is not prepared to let this happen. There is no reason for Canada to allow political posturing and bad policy to affect the economies of our small towns in Canada.
“These tight-knit communities are the soul of our country and with the effects of the Paris Accord being implemented here the result will be lost jobs, lost families and lost businesses.”
If Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station were to remain open, several hundred jobs would be retained, and there would be the continued benefits for the suppliers and spin-offs of workers that come through on shutdowns and changeovers.
These jobs that would be lost are good-paying jobs and even with retraining they will not provide the quality of life that these residents have now.
Units 4 and 5 are near the end of their life cycle, he said. Both units could be refurbished and given new life, and the numbers would stay static for the coal mines and SaskPower.
“When you look at the costs of refurbishing these units or replacing them with alternatives like nuclear or wind, it would be a substantial savings,” said Zajac. “Unit 6 and Shand (Power Station) could be moved to clean coal technology, this is the only way to keep the mine running in the future even with reduced staff.”
Zajac expects the technology will get more cost effective as it is refined. There would be no job losses if the units were refurbished and SaskPower would be able to maintain the current power generation that it has today.
Using clean coal technology is environmentally friendly, he said. It is green technology and it does work.
The PPC would withdraw Canada from the Paris Accord, as Zajac said the enforcement and effect that the accord has on the Estevan area is unfair and Saskatchewan is by far a leader in the world in carbon capture.
“I believe coal is the most dependable baseload for creating energy,” he said.
He pointed out China is planning on building 20 new mega coal mines a year for the next 20 years, so Canada should be showing them the technology that has been developed here and reaching out to them to provide this service to them.
“They have the largest population in the world and have no intention in moving toward any of the Paris Accord on their own,” said Zajac.
The United States who is Canada’s most important trading partner has not only pulled out of the Paris Accord but is going full steam ahead with coal projects.
If Shand and Unit 6 are upgraded to clean coal, then they could operate past 2030 and help build the confidence of the community and the residents that there is a bright future here in the Energy City and in southeast Saskatchewan.
“Our government if elected would work with the provincial government to help them to support the review of the proposed closure of Units 4 and 5 and allow these well-paying jobs to remain in our community,” said Zajac.
