YELLOWKNIFE — Northern miners say the federal government’s wage subsidy program to get the country through the COVID-19 pandemic leaves them out in the cold.
Tom Hoefer of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines says the program doesn’t work for the mining industry.
He says miners have been flying local workers home to their remote communities and using chartered planes to pick up their workers from the south.
As well, he says, it’s tough for exploration companies to show a COVID-related revenue drop since few of them produce revenue.
Local indigenous companies that service mines have large seasonal income swings that also don’t fit into the federal framework for relief.
Hoefer says industry representatives are to meet with Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal on Wednesday to try to work something out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2020
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
