Although they have different ways of looking at the issues, all three Humboldt candidates in the upcoming November 7 provincial election agree on what are the important issues.
During an election forum, hosted by the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce on October 27, the three candidates - Donna Harpauer from the Saskatchewan Party, Gordon Bedient from the NDP and Lynn Oliphant from the Green Party - voiced their viewpoints on topics such as health care, infrastructure and what to do with the royalties from Saskatchewan resources.
When asked what the main concern in the constituency was, all three candidates agreed that health care was a major issue, although they all had different ideas on how to fix some of the problems in the area.
Harpauer stated the most important issue facing the community is the doctor shortage. She explained the Sask. Party platform has increased the number of seats in the program at the University of Saskatchewan and are forgiving student loans.
She said the Sask. Party has also made other plans for helping doctors in rural Saskatchewan, such as increasing the number if nurse practitioners so rural doctoring is not a 24-hour job.
Although Bedient agreed that health care is one of the major issues facing people in the community, he had a few other ideas.
"For doctors coming to rural Saskatchewan there were two (issues) - the workload and the cost of business," said Bedient.
He explained the NDP will ensure to use nurse practitioners to help alleviate the doctor's workload and will help doctors fund their practices in the area.
Oliphant, the third candidate, had a unique viewpoint, saying that in order to have better health, we should do a better job of funding the health services.
"Let's tax tobacco and alcohol, two substances that create tremendous health problems," said Oliphant.
Once they receive the extra money from those taxes, they could put it towards health care funding.
The candidates were also asked how they would bring more doctors into the community.
Both Oliphant and Harpauer agreed that in order to bring more doctors to the community it must be a vibrant , attractive community in which to live.
"If you make your community attractive, they will come," said Oliphant.
"I think I have to rely on my track record of bringing (services) to Humboldt," said Harpauer. "We have a brand new hospital through the Saskatchewan Party government because of their support of Humboldt and this area."
Harpauer said she prides herself in making sure Humboldt issues are heard in Regina and pushes to make her constituents heard.
Bedient agreed that the community should be attractive to doctors and had a few ideas from the NDP to share.
"Anyone who knows me ...knows that I very rarely take no for an answer," said Bedient. "I will do everything possible to ensure that not only to maintain what we have in Humboldt, but to increase it and to try to make sure Humboldt is one of the new rural surgical centres that the NDP is proposing."
Although health care was a hot topic at the forum, there were other issues discussed as well, including how to keep the younger generation living and working in Saskatchewan.
The answer from all three candidates was again about making the community attractive to people.
The NDP is looking at some programming, such as childcare, helping students going to university, benefits for first time homeowners and rent control.
"All these things are things that many young people are looking forward to," said Bendient. "As long as they can see an NDP government put that forward, they will stay in Saskatchewan."
Harpauer explained the Sask. Party has already started to take steps to make Saskatchewan a more attractive place for young people to live, including tax credits for university students to recoup some tuition costs.
The other problem Harpauer said she has seen in the past is lack of jobs for people. She believes the Sask. Party government is helping move the province forward and create more jobs.
"Young people need jobs and if they don't find them here, they are going to go elsewhere," said Harpauer. "We have the largest population this province has ever seen. We are no longer bleeding our population (to other provinces)."
Bedient and Harpauer disagreed on whether or not a lack of jobs was the reason so many young people moved out of the province. Bedient said all parties do an excellent job in creating jobs for people, but that was not the problem.
"One thing that is not happening is the affordability of these same people to live in Saskatchewan," said Bedient.
He said the NDP would give tax credits on PST for their first home and put in a rent control policy to help with living expenses.
Oliphant agreed with both the NDP and Sask. Party candidates that in order to keep people in the province, there needs to be healthy and vibrant communities.
"I think another way to ensure the young people stay in Saskatchewan is to get them a good education," said Oliphant.
He suggested he would like to see university free for students, as it is for elementary and high school students.
Candidates were also questioned about the essential services act and how they would balance a person's right to strike with the right to service.
"I really don't think it is that hard to do," said Bedient. "We will talk with unions and leaders and the people delivering the service - those are the ones who know what is essential."
He explained dealing with the people who are delivering the service and not an outside consultant which will make it easier to understand unions' concerns.
The Green Party candidate explained that we should maybe look at what is considered essential
"It's a balancing act," said Oliphant. "I would hate to see our health care services being withdrawn from those people who need them but I don't think we've ever been in that situation."
Harpauer said that is not something her party is considering.
"We feel that the government would not be willing to risk the safety of our citizens," said Harpauer.
The other topic that made the Sask. Party and NDP candidates hot under the collar was royalties of natural resources, including potash.
Harpauer said 40 per cent of the potash in the world is in Saskatchewan, so producers can find a different place to buy their potash if they want to.
"We have the highest amount of potash royal tax in the world," said Harpauer. "The second highest is the Kingdom of Jordan."
She believes raising taxes on the royalties would frighten away companies, which would then take their business elsewhere.
The NDP stance on the issue is to raise the royalties on the potash.
Bedient explained the NDP does not want to raise taxes on the product, but rather raise the royalties the province receives.
"We only get five cents on the dollar (for potash) from PotashCorp," said Bedient. "It should be reviewed... All we are asking is a five cent increase."
We have the lowest royalty rate in the world, said Bedient, and including the taxes with the royalty rate is wrong.
Oliphant agreed with the NDP candidate on this issue, explaining he believes the province should not be giving away our natural resources.
"They belong to the people of the province," said Oliphant.
He said if they are being sold, the profits should go back to the people, but thinks the government should not be so quick to pull them out of the ground.
In the end, although the parties may disagree on how to deal with the concerns in the constituency, they all agreed that there are concerns that need to be dealt with, although they have different ideas of how to fix the problems.
