YORKTON – The New Democratic Party (NDP) announced Dec. 5 their Yorkton candidate for the upcoming provincial election.
Lenore Pinder has been working in the health sector since 2001, serving in various capacities within the East Central Health District, the Sunrise Health Region, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Currently, Pinder works for the SHA as a Strategy and Innovation Specialist, where she collaborates with other staff members to develop team-based connected care.
Pinder said one of the major concerns she has heard from people regarding the state of health care in the province is about access to it.
“I think what I’m hearing when I talk to people is there is a lot of concern about access to publicly funded — publicly delivered health care,” said Pinder, adding some of the concerns relayed to her are specific to difficulty in finding a physician, having to travel long distances to receive services that were once locally available and long wait times for different services.
In addition to health care, Pinder has also heard concerns about education and support services.
“I’m also hearing a lot about education and supports that aren’t available that have been in the past — changes that have been happening in those services that people rely on,” said Pinder.
Pinder’s journey to becoming the NDP candidate for Yorkton began in February when she attended an annual general meeting of the Constituency Association for the Yorkton NDP and was elected as President.
“I really spent several months rebuilding since the last election and strengthening that constituency association with a view to finding a candidate or somebody that would seek the nomination that was from Yorkton,” she said.
The desire for a local candidate was something she heard repeatedly from constituents.
“In the last election we had somebody that was from outside of the constituency ... who did a great job but I had been hearing from people that they would really like to have the option … to have somebody local as the candidate in Yorkton,” said Pinder.
After much consideration and encouragement from others, Pinder decided to step up.
“At a certain point as I was speaking to a group of people and got questions like, ‘why not you?’ I started thinking about it and here I am,” said Pinder.
Pinder said she is both excited and overwhelmed by the opportunity.
“I’m excited about an opportunity to talk to residents of Yorkton and constituents in this riding. Very excited about the potential to represent them in the legislature,” she said.
“I am so glad to have a proven community leader like Lenore as our candidate here in Yorkton,” said Sask NDP Leader Carla Beck in a release detailing Pinder's nomination.
“I know that her dedication to her community and her family, as well as her years of experience working in the health care system will make her an excellent MLA for the people of Yorkton,” added Beck.
Pinder said she also recognizes the gravity of the responsibility.
“I’m excited but I also recognize that it is a huge responsibility — more than anything — to listen and understand, to be collaborative, to be positive and carry on in that manner over the next several months or more depending on when the next provincial election occurs.”
Pinder is a long-time resident of Yorkton and has worked in the Saskatchewan health care system for over 20 years. She is an active volunteer in the community and has served on numerous Yorkton community boards. Pinder was also previously a School Board Trustee from 2009 to 2012, detailed the release.
As the campaign unfolds, Pinder looks forward to listening to the people in the constituency and potentially representing their interests in the legislature.
Pinder is the twenty-eighth candidate nominated for the Saskatchewan NDP. The next nominations will both be on Saturday, December 9th in the constituencies of Kelvington-Wadena and a contested nomination in the constituency of Last Mountain-Touchwood.
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