CJ Binkley, NDP Candidate for Carrot River Valley (Photo courtesy/NDP)

By Ben Tompkins

Carrot RIver Valley

New NDP candidate hoping to be the voice for the northeast

Oct 9, 2024 | 12:16 PM

The New Democratic Party (NDP) has a brand new candidate in their Carrot River Valley constituency.

CJ Binkley is running in this year’s provincial election for the first time in her life.

According to Binkley, not being a politician is exactly why people should vote for her.

“I’m very much not a politician, I’m your average citizen… I think our province is special, and I don’t think that our current government is listening to our voices. I think our voices have been lost and I’m definitely not a shy person, so I figured that if I’m going to complain about how things are, then I might as well try and do something about it,” she told northeastNOW.

“I want to talk to people and listen to their concerns, so I can get those concerns to the people who can do the changing because that’s the whole point of an MLA. We are the liaison to the higher-ups in the political parties and if they’re not being told what people need than nothing will ever get better.”

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Binkley, who is originally from Edmonton, Alta. moved to Hudson Bay 12 years ago and has enjoyed living in Saskatchewan ever since.

She has over 20 years of retail experience and for the last four years has been an education associate at Porcupine Plain Comprehensive School.

Binkley is also a union rep for the Hudson Bay and Porcupine Plain schools and explained her main concern for the province is education.

“We definitely don’t have enough funding for our education system. We don’t have enough staff, or tools for kids with special needs or anything like that. Even for things as simple as a snack program, because the cost of living is so high. It’s at the point where people are having to choose whether to pay their rent or feed their kids, and that should never be the case,” she added.

“The biggest problem in our government right now is that the funds that we have are not being allocated to the right programs or the right areas. We pay taxes for a reason, and our tax dollars are not being used where they’re needed most.”

Binkley also mentioned that she has been a conservative most of her life, however, NDP leader Carla Beck converted her point of view.

She concluded with the hope that other people are also able to have an open mind and realize the message.

“She (Carla Beck) knows people are hurting and that they can’t afford to live. What’s the point of working as hard as everybody in Saskatchewan does, if you’re not getting anywhere… we shouldn’t be struggling like we are.”

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