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David, just tell us a little bit about yourself and why you decided to run for reelection.
Well, obviously, I just felt it was important to continue to represent the Wood River constituency. I've been honored and privileged to serve this constituency for the last two elections, and I felt my health was good and I felt there were still some things I wanted to do on behalf of my constituents.
I felt it was important for me to put my name forward, and I've been blessed by the members here that I'm allowed to represent the Sask Party in the Wood River constituency.
What do you feel are some of the pressing issues in your constituency this election?
Well, obviously the concerns around healthcare and the delivery of it, and that's what I'm hearing on the doorsteps. I mean, agriculture is probably the biggest industry in my constituency and making sure we have the right programs in place to deliver on behalf of the ag sector here in the province is important to the people I've been talking to.
And I think our party obviously has the most aggressive health retention and recruitment plan in all of Canada, and we're starting to see some of that benefit in my constituency. I know there's some communities that have seen some hiring of nurses and other healthcare professionals. So, you know, I hope we can alleviate some of those concerns and that's why I felt it was important for me to run again. Hopefully we can meet the challenges that come about in the whole province.
Continuing along those lines, what's your feelings or what's your stance on healthcare issues?
Well, you know, I think as I said, we've got the most aggressive healthcare retention plan in all of Canada. We'll continue down that path and hopefully we'll continue to see more recruitment and see more healthcare professionals coming in.
When I look in my constituency, obviously there's nursing practitioners that have come into the constituency, which is something I’ve always advocated for. I think there's a very significant role for them. We're seeing doctors come into our major centres here as well, which is also good to see and hopefully we have the opportunity to retain them and keep them in the communities and continue to grow the healthcare professional field. And as I say, our government has, I feel, done a fantastic plan on the recruitment into rural communities and the retention side. So, we'll continue down that path.
And what's your thoughts on the housing situation in the province?
In my constituency, I mean, the largest community is Assiniboia at around 2600 people. There's housing, you know. In a lot of the rural, urban communities, there's available housing and a lot of it. And we're seeing people move into those. Obviously, we want to see the challenges around that addressed, and I think we have a very good program and a plan on the housing.
And what's your thoughts on when it comes to policing and public safety?
I think that's a good discussion we have had. I mean, obviously our government has been very aggressive on policing and making sure that our communities are safe. We have on the table right now an offer to the federal government for a significant number more of RCMP officers. We have put our money on the table. We're still waiting for the federal government to come to the table with theirs to get more RCMP into rural.
Our Marshal Service that we are implementing will just be a complement to all the police services that we have here in the province of Saskatchewan, whether it's the RCMP or whether it's community police services, whether it's, you know, municipal police forces and things like that. It's really a way to address crime and make sure that all the communities in this province are safe so that people can enjoy life in this province the way we have for decades.
Finally, in your opinion, what would a re-elected Saskatchewan Party government mean for the economy?
Well, obviously it would be important for the economy. I just look at the ag sector alone, and I look at the value-added side to what this province has done and what it has brought to this province on the value-added side, and we continue to see that. I think we have a very good plan on the value-added side for agriculture.
We continue to see expansions in the mining industry. Look at BHP, the world's largest mining company, and the investment they're making into this province, along with the other companies — we're seeing K+S making big expansions at their plant as well.
That's the kind of thing we want to do, is to attract that type of investment because that investment attraction allows those companies to expand and employ people, and they're all good paying jobs, and those people that are getting those salaries are buying homes, they’re buying vehicles, they're raising their families here in the province of Saskatchewan. We want to continue to see that growth. And I think our economic plan is second to nobody in this country in investment attraction and we will continue down that path and that investment gives us all the opportunities we need to build schools, to build hospitals, and to build highways. And that's the only thing that does it, is a growing economy.