David Kim-Cragg says while campaigning he’s met several people in the riding, including many Conservative voters, who are concerned about the environment and climate change.
“They don’t want big government and just want people to be responsible with funds and I think the Green Party offers an approach that they would resonate with,” Kim-Cragg says. “If we are thinking of ways to be greener, so to speak, we’re also seeking ways to develop a fair and equitable economy that includes more people and ultimately lead to better prosperity and quality of life.”
Kim-Cragg is the Green Party candidate in the Battlefords-Lloydminster riding. He has been a member of the Green Party for eight years and has served as a minister for the United Church of Canada for five years. He is also the CEO of the Saskatoon-University riding association.
Kim-Cragg sees social and environmental issues as connected and joined the Green Party after feeling that other political parties weren’t taking the issue of climate change seriously.
“All the main parties except for the People’s Party are responding to that concern but the problem is that it appears to be window dressing and then taking things seriously.”
Kim-Cragg says the Green Party’s main policy concerns energy but it will take a shift in people’s thinking to move away from the current energy sector that fuels the economy.
“The energy that’s available to us daily is energy that far exceeds what we find in the ground and would do far less damage to our environment.”
Kim-Cragg believes Lloydminster and the Battlefords are well-positioned to take advantage of major investments in the construction of infrastructure for wind and solar energy.
“It would generate a lot of jobs, jobs for the future. We see what’s going on with the energy sector and it, inevitably, is not going to get any easier to drill for oil and export it to market and consume it the way we have been,” Kim-Cragg says. “Instead of a crash in the economy because things are shifting away from oil we’re looking at a boom if we take advantage of the resources that are all around us.”
Kim-Cragg says the Green Party wants to make it easier for farmers and give them choices that are good for the farms in the long run.
“Folks with their hands in the soil would be more naturally inclined to understand some of the potential costs of climate change. We also know that the agricultural industry does a lot in carbon sequestration. Things that farmers grow actually trap carbon and so we want to promote the agricultural industry as much as possible and do so in a way that’s as green as possible in our transition to a green economy.”
Kim-Cragg says he will take every opportunity to get out and meet with people to discuss the Green Party’s platform during his campaign. Voters will head to the polls on October 21.