We’re eight weeks away from the federal election and although the campaign hasn’t begun officially, federal finance minister Bill Morneau was in Timmins today, helping the Timmins-James Bay campaign of Michelle Boileau.
Morneau and Boileau met politicians, business and industry leaders, and heard all about the shortage of skilled trades workers in these parts.
“We need to continue to think about how we get people with the kinds of skills they need,” Morneau tells My Timmins Now Dot Com, “because we want to be able to increase people’s outcomes from their work. Most people are working. We want to make sure people can do even better.”
That’s the message Morneau says he’ll bring back to the prime minister, who suggested it was important for him to come to this riding.
One challenge he sees in Timmins-James Bay is that it’s been represented on Parliament Hill for many years by a New Democrat.
“Effectively, this region has not been in government for 15 years.”
Morneau counters the argument that incumbent MP Charlie Angus has been a loud voice for his constituents.
“How loud you speak does not define how you’re heard,” he says. “Screaming and shouting are not necessarily the ways to have the biggest impact.”
The minister says focusing on the issues is the way to go, and he believes Boileau understands them, from the beginning of someone’s career on into retirement.