The strained relationship between Thompson Mayor Dennis Fenske and Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen did not improve following their face-to-face meeting on Tuesday, June 26 in Winnipeg.
During a recent interview with CHTM Radio, Fenske revealed that they weren’t able to reconcile their differences over access to the Mining Community Reserve Fund (MCRF), which has been a large point of contention between the two throughout the last several weeks.
According to Fenske, the biggest source of this disagreement is their differing interpretations of the Mining Tax Act, which originally established this fund back in 1970.
Based on their reading of the legislation, the province believes they can’t distribute money from the MCRF if its balance evens out to less than $10 million, which is its current status according to a recent letter sent by deputy trade minister Dave Dyson.
Meanwhile, Fenske believes part of that $10 million should be used to help a community like Thompson, which is going through unprecedented cutbacks in the local mining sector.
NDP Wab Kinew also chimed into the conversation recently by saying this $10 million threshold only applies to exploration initiatives, not a financial cushion for mining communities like Thompson.
However, when the mayor ultimately asked Pedersen on June 26 if he would be willing to lower the $10 million threshold through passing new legislation he was met with a flat “no.”
“So I’m very, very disappointed in this government, as well as our local MLA for not speaking up for this job loss in our community,” said Fenske. “This is the biggest job loss in the mining sector since the inception of the mining reserve fund and this government is interpreting that the fund is not available to us because they’ve already allocated money to prospecting and to exploration and there’s nothing left for communities that are in need.”
Fenske went on to say that city officials also made a point of trying to disprove Minister Pedersen’s recent comments about the city’s short term planning by hosting an investor breakfast in Winnipeg on Monday, June 25.
This event featured a group of Winnipeg business owners and government officials, including Minister Pedersen, and was designed to highlight Thompson’s potential for investment opportunities even during these tough economic times.
“It was very very evident by both the presentations by Mark Scott from Vale and Harold Smith from Thompson 2020 that we’ve had a plan since 2010, which is cumulating in a lot of efforts,” said Fenske. “Not that we can take a lot of credit for it, but the fact of the matter is there’s $160 million being invested in Thompson this summer in light of the economic times that we are in.”
Looking into the future, Fenske said they will continue to put pressure on the Manitoba government for financial aid in these trying times, although he said the city will also be considering alternative methods of obtaining that money.
“From our perspective, the City of Thompson, we will continue our lobbying effort, but we will also continue from a legal perspective and see where our standing is there on accessing that fund and we’ll move forward.”
Fenske will likely address this issue in greater detail during the next Thompson city council meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, July 16 at 7 p.m.
