More of the same.
That's what Saskatchewan Party candidate Donna Harpauer is promising her constituents as she runs for re-election in the Humboldt constituency this fall.
2011 marks Harpauer's fourth election campaign. She was elected for the first time in the former Watrous riding, and twice more as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Humboldt.
A resident of Humboldt, in her past terms as MLA, Harpauer has served as an Opposition critic for highways, agriculture, Investment Saskatchewan, and the Crowns. In her time in government this past term, she has been both Minister of Social Services, and Minister of Education.
Now she's running for a fourth term as the local MLA in the provincial election.
The campaign she and the rest of the Saskatchewan Party are running on is "moving Saskatchewan forward," she told the Journal last week.
"It's an exciting time in Saskatchewan," she said. "We have population growth that hasn't been seen before, and more people working at full-time jobs than ever before."
The Saskatchewan Party is bringing down the debt, she said, and has lowered taxes during their four-year term as government.
And they want to continue in that direction, she claims.
They've invested record amounts in infrastructure, she indicated, which is something Humboldt has benefitted from, she claimed.
In the past four years, the new Humboldt hospital has gone from promise to reality, a new high school is being built, and major renovations are planned to one of the three elementary schools here.
"Our highways are even getting fixed before winter," she said, referring to recent work done to further repair the portion of Hwy. 5 west of Humboldt that was flooded last year.
Sask. Party leader and incumbent premier Brad Wall has said that his party won't have as many pricey promises in their platform this time around, Harpauer said, but they are plugging the fact that they have kept over 140 promises made from the last campaign, she noted.
"We hope people are left with the confidence that we did what we said we would do," she said.
They want to stay the course, she noted.
There have been some challenges for the province in the past four years, Harpauer noted.
"We've been faced with some very expensive years with the flooding," she said, in 2010 in this region and in 2011 in the south.
"We want to make sure we have available funds to help," she noted.
"We do not want to go back to being a have-not province," she stressed.
In those days, student enrolments were down, our population was lower and unemployment was up.
"And we just don't want to return to those days," she said.
Humboldt especially is one of those places that is growing, she said.
"The farmers even have beautiful crops this year," she said.
Her campaign, and that of the rest of the Sask. Party, is about moving forward, she said.
"It's about momentum... It's about staying the course."
Their three main focuses, if re-elected to government, will continue to be addressing infrastructure, debt reduction and growth, she said.
Growth, she feels, will benefit all citizens of the province.
"Without growth, it's hard to pay for social programs," she noted.
The most pressing issue Harpauer sees in the Humboldt region is lack of doctors.
"We have a beautiful new hospital," she commented, and doctors are needed to work in it.
The city, the local doctor recruitment committee, and the Saskatoon Health Region are working on getting more doctors here, Harpauer said.
As government, the Saskatchewan Party has expanded residency seats in the province, and training seats at the University of Saskatchewan.
"It takes time to realize the benefits of expanding the seats," Harpauer said.
In the meantime, she feels "we need from recruit doctors from elsewhere and streamline the process to get them approved," she said, in order to alleviate the pressure felt right now.
Out of the city of Humboldt, the main issue right now is highways, Harpauer said.
"Highways is always a really big issue when you have a rural constituency," she said.
"We have dedicated a lot of money through four years to the highways, and we're seeing some benefit," she said. "We do see there what needs continual support, when it's a rural area, just to sustain the economy," she said.
