Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in Northern B.C. this week to meet residents and community leaders to hear their top concerns on federal issues.

Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen led the four-day partial tour of his riding through several communities deeply affected by a clampdown on the salmon fisheries, and U.S. tariffs on aluminum.

The town of Kitimat is home to one of the largest manufacturing complexes in the province, the Rio Tinto鈥檚 aluminum smelter.

Singh and Cullen held a press scrum in Terrace Wednesday morning. Here are the highlights:

On fisheries

Following historic low salmon returns, Fisheries and Oceans Canada shut down all recreational salmon fishing in northern tidal and freshwater fisheries. Then on May 30, DFO allowed for limited marine sports chinook fisheries with a precautionary 25-30 per cent reduction in exploitation rates.

Singh said there needs to be a plan in place that works towards bringing salmon stocks back up to where they used to be, something that he says is lacking in the DFO鈥檚 current approach.

鈥淭hese rivers can sustain significant abundance and it鈥檚 not enough to just divvy up an ever decreasing pie, that鈥檚 not going to get us back to the position where we need to be.鈥�

He said he would like to see more of a focus on smaller, local fishing communities to create opportunities instead of looking to commercial and mass industry fishing, particularly when it comes to off-shore foreign fisheries.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 where we aren鈥檛 doing enough to clamp down and measure what those sectors are taking. The focus has only been on small community fishing, which in comparison [has] very small numbers compared to what the off-shore commercial mass industry fishing is doing. I think that鈥檚 where we need to start focusing our attention.鈥�

On healthcare

Speaking to an audience at a Terrace fundraiser last night in Terrace, Singh said he is committed to investing in Canada鈥檚 public health system and believes more work needs to be done to expand its services.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why I believe in universal pharmacare, that鈥檚 the next step,鈥� he said to an applause from the crowd. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the only country in the world that has universal public healthcare but doesn鈥檛 have a form of universal pharmacare. We know that it鈥檚 a cost, but it鈥檚 an investment. There are millions of Canadians who can鈥檛 access medication when they need it.鈥�

Singh pointed to a from the University of B.C. that said millions of Canadians are opting to skip dosages or not take their medication as prescribed because they can鈥檛 afford it.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why its so important for us to defend it, to make sure that we invest in it to make sure that its there for us when we need it, and that鈥檚 not the case right now.鈥�

On Greyhound

Earlier this week Greyhound Canada announced it would be ending its passenger bus and freight routes in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, cancelling all but one route in B.C.

Singh told reporters he sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the morning of July 11 requesting that the federal government provide funding to keep transportation between communities accessible.

鈥淔or some people, it鈥檚 the only way to get around. We鈥檝e already seen the impacts of the Highway of Tears, the problems around hitchhiking and not having access to ways to get around the community鈥� it鈥檚 a safety issue. It鈥檚 a public safety issue,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檝e called on the Prime Minister to step in and provide federal funding to keep this transportation going because it鈥檚 so important for people.鈥�

On the national inquiry extension

Last month, the federal government announced the national inquiry for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls would get a six-month extension to complete their work, instead of an the two years requested by inquiry officials.

Singh said he believes the government needs to start taking active steps forward in the interest of reconciliation.

鈥淲hether its to ensure that we鈥檝e got an inquiry that actually does justice, the fact that there are so many missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls, the fact that there is still a stark difference in terms of access to resources like clean drinking water, education and childcare services鈥� there鈥檚 so much more that needs to be done,鈥� he said.

鈥漌e鈥檙e not seeing concrete actions from this government, we鈥檙e seeing some words that are reassuring but that鈥檚 not enough. We need to see some concrete steps.鈥�

On steel and aluminum tariffs

The federal government announced last month a list of retaliatory tariffs placed on American goods in response to U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 imposed 25 per cent and 10 per cent tariffs placed on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Singh said he told the Prime Minister a month ago that the NDP is supportive of the federal government鈥檚 push-back response, but believes more work needs to be done to support workers affected by the U.S. tariffs. As an example, he cited Quebec鈥檚 decision to offer $100 million in loan guarantees to support the aluminum industry based in that province.

鈥淲e need to have the federal government sit down with those impacted industry workers to make sure we have a package in place to make sure workers are protected if there is an impact to their jobs.鈥�

Over the long term, Singh recognized that tariffs are a 鈥渞eal problem鈥� that will potentially have some serious impacts on both sides of the border.