PM Justin Trudeau speaks to media prior to the town hall on Jan. 26, 2017. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
The anniversary of the La Loche shooting was on the Prime Minister’s mind when he stopped in Saskatoon on Thursday.
This visit was the ninth town hall-style meeting PM Justin Trudeau has held in his cross-Canada speaking tour, and at the start of the Q and A he spoke about his visit last week with students from La Loche who were visiting Toronto on a whirlwind trip.
At a media availability earlier that day, Trudeau said there are plans to bulk up the limited mental health supports available to Indigenous communities after a crisis.
“We have to move beyond the crisis response model -investing in housing, investing in better schools, investing in economic, opportunities, growth opportunities, getting communities off diesel, getting communities better connected to the rest of the country – these are the kinds of the things that we also know are part of the solution to what is an ongoing national tragedy,” he said.
As an example, he spoke about millions over the next three years that are earmarked for crisis response. However, those funds have been allocated to other provinces not Saskatchewan.
While at the University of Saskatchewan, the Prime Minister addressed the Ocean Man First Nation oil spill for the first time. It’s the second significant oil spill in Saskatchewan in the past year.
He pointed out that tightening environmental regulations for pipelines like those are the province’s responsibility, but also used it as a chance to continue his tour’s theme of balancing the economy and environment.
“I think this highlights the expectation that Canadians have that while we grow the economy, while we create good jobs, we also are responsible and mindful of the impact on the environment: that we expect high standards of response to accidents,” he said.