NDP Leader Ryan Meili and Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon were joined by members of United Steelworkers Local 5890 in front of Evraz Friday to call for the defense of steel jobs in the province.

Meili says that 500-800 jobs at the Evraz steel mill in Regina are in danger, he adds that there needs to be advocacy for the use of Canadian steel, otherwise the impact will be tragic.

“When I think about that five to eight hundred jobs lost, the families, the way that will hurt them, the local businesses that are supported by those workers, that’s a tremendous loss,” said Meili. “And yet, we’ve heard nothing from Scott Moe about this.”

Meili says that if he is elected Premier, he would try and make sure that projects built in Saskatchewan use materials built in Saskatchewan.

“We need to be doing that work with our workers, and our companies, and our products that are mined, grown, and milled right here in Saskatchewan, and that’s what we’re here to commit to,” said Meili. “As Premier, as government, we will fight for every job in this province, and that includes fighting to make sure there’ Canadian in those projects that are completed here on Canadian soil.”

Mike Day, President of United Steelworkers Local 5890, says that 2020 has hit Evraz pretty hard, and he thinks they may never recover from it.

“They’re saying there’s nothing on the books for (20)21 and ’22 doesn’t look much better, there’s little projects here and there,” said Day. “But to get up to the capacity we’re at right now, I don’t know if they’ll ever get back to it.”

The group voiced their displeasure towards TC Energy, a Saskatchewan-based company, that decided to source their steel elsewhere.