Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh pledged to create a national automotive strategy during a campaign stop in Oshawa on Sept. 14. Jason Liebregts/Torstar

Jagmeet Singh says a government led by the NDP would establish a national “climate bank” to help provinces interconnect power grids to better distribute clean electricity, namely hydro, across Canada.

Speaking in Winnipeg on Tuesday, the NDP leader said his party’s plan would help a hydro-rich province like Manitoba better distribute their power to other regions of the country, helping to create good-paying sustainable jobs.

“This is a bold way forward for us to electrify our country,” Singh said, while slamming both Liberal leader Justin Trudeau for leading a government that purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer for barely considering climate change as a real problem.

He also noted the NDP is advocating for the end of all fossil fuel subsidies.

Singh says the climate bank would help create an “energy corridor” in the country to help improve access to non-fossil fuel power sources.

READ MORE: NDP’s Singh to New Brunswickers: ‘I’m sorry’

The proposal is part of the NDP’s “new deal for climate action and good jobs” which the party says will also ensure that Indigenous communities will benefit from job creation for clean energy investments, including better access to employment training and federal infrastructure spending.

The Liberal government this spring approved construction of a $453-million transmission line that would run from Manitoba to Minnesota, allowing the province to sell surplus hydro to the neighbouring U.S. state.

As the Canadian Press reported, construction of the line started in August and is expected to be completed by June 2020. To win approval for an accelerated construction schedule for the project, provincial Crown corporation Manitoba Hydro had to meet certain conditions laid out by the federal Liberal government, including consultations with affected groups and Indigenous communities.

Earlier in the day, the Liberals matched the target of net-zero emissions by 2050 announced by 65 other countries and the European Union at the United Nations on Monday.

The promise brings the Liberals in line with a vow made previously by the federal Green Party, though the Greens have also promised a target of reducing Canada’s 2005 greenhouse gas levels 60 per cent by 2030. The Liberals’ target throughout their last mandate was a 30 per cent reduction by 2030, though the party is now announcing an intention to exceed that goal, but they have not publicly identified a new target to reach by 2030.

READ MORE: Liberals promise net-zero emissions by 2050

Asked about the Liberals pledge, Singh didn’t say whether an NDP government would follow suit and raised doubts about the Liberals’ new climate commitment, citing past broken election promises. The NDP, he said, would work to meet the emission reduction targets laid out in the 2015 Paris agreement.

Singh was also asked about recent comments that some in the media interpreted as suggesting he would give the provinces a veto over pipeline projects. He clarified Tuesday that he wouldn’t give out any veto but that the federal government shouldn’t impose a pipeline in any jurisdiction, adding that he would give special consideration to Quebec.

*This story has been updated with further comment from Jagmeet Singh.

Follow @Marco_Vigliotti