NDP Energy Critic Irfan Sabir issued the following statement in response to the UCP Government’s creation of Mineral Advisory Council:

“The UCP spent more than a year waiting for their $4.7 billion corporate handout to work, without success. Investment dropped, the economy shrank, and almost 50,000 full-time jobs were lost before the pandemic.

"Instead of more jobs for panelists, we need a government that will take concrete steps to get Albertans back to work. This means diversifying markets and increasing export capacity. But it also means diversifying within our energy industry to develop our lithium, hydrogen, and geothermal resources to create jobs and an economy that prepares us for future challenges. Our NDP Official Opposition has also been consulting with industry stakeholders on production of minerals, such as lithium, and we will propose a series of concrete actions in the coming weeks.”