Kelvington-Wadena candidates touch on campaigning during a pandemic

Hugh Nerlien – Saskatchewan Party

Nerlien told northeastNOW he’s enjoyed every minute of his first four-year term as Kelvington-Wadena MLA but wanted to run a second time because he’s excited about the opportunities rural Saskatchewan provides.

“I find the rural incredibly challenging, interesting, diverse, and there are many different aspects to it,” Nerlien said. “I’d like to make more progress on internet connectivity. We’re making good progress there, but internet connectivity is a big challenge. There are always issues around highways too.”

SaskTel announced in September it will spend $72 million on new cell towers in remote and rural areas across the province.

On the campaign trail, Nerlien said he’s still meeting constituents in-person amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s more socially distant compared to 2016.

“You tend to stand back a little bit further and we’re not shaking hands. That’s really unfortunate, because shaking hands is a big part of relationship building and I feel we’re missing something when we can’t do that,” he said. “The next three weeks, we’ll be very intensively in the communities and rural areas talking to people. We’re going to do some things a little differently, but I’m looking forward to seeing how that all plays out.”

Nerlien’s said the reason Kelvington-Wadena residents should vote for him is the Sask. Party is a stable government that will build Saskatchewan for the future, while the NDP “will continue to negatively deal with success and business opportunities.”

“If you look at the first announcements from the first two parties this week, ours was giving a break on bills to every citizen in Saskatchewan, and they have a new tax on successful people. I think that speaks volumes,” he said.

Linda Patenaude – NDP

Patenaude, a long-time resident in the Kelvington area, said she’s not happy with the direction the Government of Saskatchewan is heading under the Sask. Party’s direction. She said if she didn’t get involved, she couldn’t make a change.

“I see [Saskatchewan] heading for privatization,” Patenaude said. “Sale of all our crowns, a lot of our contracts are going out of province… [the Sask. Party’s] regard for the common person doesn’t seem to be there. They’d rather support big business and not the people. I think it’s time to get it back to where the people are most important.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Patenaude said the shortcomings in Saskatchewan’s long-term care facilities have been exposed. She added the shutdown of the Saskatchewan Transportation Corporation, poorer internet connection, a lack of a suicide prevention program, and underfunded public schools have hurt essential services for residents to safely live and work in rural Saskatchewan.

Patenaude wants Kelvington-Wadena voters to look at the issues and ensure they participate in the election.

“The Sask. Party governed our province when times were good and oil was $100 a barrel, and they still tripled our debt, cut services, and increased taxes,” she said. “It’s time to have a change.”

Patenaude said her campaign started with phone calls, but have since begun door knocking and keeping social distance while meeting residents. Along with updating social media, she intends to keep this going until the election date of Monday, Oct. 26.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

by Aaron Schulze

Kelvington-Wadena candidates touch on campaigning during a pandemic

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