In the days leading up to the provincial election on Monday, April 4th, we will be publishing the answers to questions posed by 106-1 The Goat to the candidates running in the Lloydminster riding. The responses are listed in alphabetical order and are unedited. They have not been fact-checked and The Goat is not responsible for any errors or inaccuracies.
Q: How will your party promote job creation in the province, and in this constituency?
Lisa Grant, Saskatchewan Green Party
Candidate did not provide responses.
Michelle Oleksyn, New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan
A: The Saskatchewan Party have not been good stewards of the public purse. They have wasted millions on consultants, the privatization ministry and P3s, with little to show for it. We would cut all of that, and make sure that money is used to build much needed infrastructure and hire front line workers in our public services like healthcare and education. We would also update our government procurement regulations to ensure more Saskatchewan companies and contractors are awarded contracts.
Perhaps the most important commitment on this issue is to diversify our economy, while continuing to support our important industries like oil and agriculture. Lloydminster benefits from having robust oil and agricultural sectors, but both are subject to boom and bust as a result of outside factors. We can support these by investing in value added opportunities in the oil, gas, forestry and agricultural sectors.
An NDP government would also invest in economic diversification, creating jobs in green energy, manufacturing, technology and revitalizing the film industry. We would achieve this through establishing a Co-operative Development Office, tax credits for research and development, and using our Crowns like SaskPower. I would work hard to bring some of these investment dollars to the Lloydminster constituency, where there are so many talented and innovative entrepreneurs that could benefit from this.
Dolores Patayken, Saskatchewan Liberals
Candidate did not provide responses.
Colleen Young, Saskatchewan Party
A: Premier Wall has requested assistance from the Federal government to support an accelerated oil well reclamation program. There are approximately 1000 old wells in the province where work could be done by idle oil companies and workers to seal off these old and deserted wells giving people work.