Q: Tell us a bit about yourself?
A: I was born and raised in Saskatchewan. With my partner and our kids, we moved all over the country while he was serving in the Royal Canadian Navy. When he was finishing off his career, we decided that it was time to come home. We came home three years ago, and I started working at the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank.
In those years at the food bank, what I'm seeing is an affordability crisis that cannot be out-budgeted, and folks who had never envisioned themselves using a food bank needing to come in to feed their children, to feed themselves, to help make ends meet in their household.
There's only so long that you can sit and watch your community suffer before you decide that there are other steps that you need to take. I've been given a unique opportunity to run with Carla Beck and the Saskatchewan NDP in Moose Jaw North. As hard as I have worked for the folks that utilize the food bank, I will continue to work just as hard for the whole of Moose Jaw North and the whole province.
Q: What do you feel are some of the pressing issues for your constituents this election?
A: I'm hearing about affordability. Folks can't make ends meet, groceries are expensive, cost of fuel is rising, folks are struggling to keep their kids in activities outside of school.
Healthcare is a major one. Folks that are not receiving timely, adequate care in our community, being forced to go out of the city for healthcare, which is not feasible for most.
And education - we are in last place in education, and I hear day after day on the doors from teachers and parents and grandparents and concerned citizens that education is the backbone of our entire society. If we don't start getting ourselves out of last place, we're doing a major disservice to our children and to our future.
Q: How do you think that the NDP can improve housing in the province?
A: I would like to highlight the Rental Act that would be put in to support not only landlords but tenants, and making sure that everybody is receiving a fair deal for their rent as well as for the properties that they maintain. Introducing that is absolutely going to support communities like Moose Jaw, where we do have a big rental population, especially around [Saskatchewan] Polytech, where we have a lot of students. This will be a great way to ensure that tenants and landlords alike are having their needs met effectively.
Q: Is there anything that you wanted to highlight in the NDP's plan for healthcare?
A: Our plan for healthcare restores the respect and dignity to healthcare workers and patients alike. We cannot live without healthcare workers. The guidance that we receive from healthcare workers, and the request that we receive should not fall on deaf ears. Partnering with healthcare workers at every level to ensure that they are supported financially, training-wise, program-wise, services that they can offer their patients. [This] ensures that the rest of our community is healthy and taken care of. Cutting wait times, ensuring that we are bringing folks from our province into training programs and keeping them here, is what Carla Beck and the Saskatchewan NDP plan to do for healthcare
Q: What are your thoughts on the NDP's plan for policing and public safety?
A: Carla Beck’s plan for policing and public safety is spot on. We're hearing time and time again that folks all over the province and in this community are against the Marshall’s Service. We don't need a private police force. We need to adequately support the police forces that we have in this province.
The Moose Jaw Police Service is a fantastic service in this community. They're highly regarded by myself and everyone in this community, and they deserve that support.
Tying in with that, ensuring that some of the funding that's going into the nonexistent Marshall’s Service is being distributed to services that will reduce the root causes of crime, like mental health and addictions.
Q: How would an NDP government go about growing the economy?
A: As you know, here in Moose Jaw, we have a lot of incredible small businesses in our community. It makes our downtown vibrant and unique. The first step to supporting those folks is freezing that small business tax at 1 per cent for the entire length of the first mandate.
By hiring Saskatchewan workers first, we need to invest in the talent we already have here. Also offering a PST rebate on construction building costs, a PST rebate off of retrofitting your businesses and a $40,000 small business loan - that's just the tip of the iceberg for a very successful provincial economy. Right here at home, there's going to be a lot of benefits to our beautiful downtown with our economic strategy.