Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 17/99) - The territorial government has not done enough to save jobs at Giant mine, said Jake Ootes, MLA for Yellowknife Centre.

"I'd like our government to tell us why -- at this 11th hour of Giant's demise -- the cabinet is not pulling out all the stops to save these 300 jobs," Ootes said.

Ootes said the closure of the mine would translate into a weekly loss of $35,000 in workers' taxes or roughly $1.8 million per year

He feels a government investment of the same amount would keep the miners working without costing the taxpayers anything.

Further, he said if the government was out to attract a company bringing 300 jobs to Yellowknife, government would spend millions to woo the jobs here. The GNWT has indicated they will not financially support a buyout plan to buy the workers some time, Ootes said.

"For the good of the North, I am asking the Premier and his cabinet colleagues to intervene, seek the support of the federal government, gain time for alternatives to be investigated and revisit the funding issue," Ootes said.