Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

Sask. Party, NDP don’t see eye-to-eye over P.A.’s representation

Mar 2, 2015 | 5:24 AM

March is often tied in with the idea of new beginnings and a fresh start as temperatures start to warm.

The beginning of March also means the spring sitting of the legislative assembly starts in the province.

With announced upcoming resignation of MLA for Prince Albert Carlton Darryl Hickie, MLA for Prince Albert Northcote Victoria Jurgens will have a bit more on her plate this year.  

“We still have Darryl here for a little while yet, and we’ll continue to work right up to the end,” said Jurgens. “Darryl and I are working together to make sure that there’s a smooth transition.”

Jurgens said, looking forward to Monday’s meeting, the main focus as always will be producing a balanced budget, and Jurgens said she would like to see more money put towards infrastructure.

Aside from that Jurgens is focusing on being the voice of Prince Albert and bringing the concerns the people to legislature, she said.

“Please, people of Prince Albert continue to contact me and give me the voice and I will take it down to Regina,” said Jurgens. “I’ve been working in the community with the various events that are going on, with the various community organizations to understand what they do, to then put that into context when we do our work down in Regina.”

Jurgens said jiving professionally with the rest of the MLAs in the area is also helpful in representing this area.

“We work very well together and if there is an issue that needs to have more assistance in another skill set, I will just call another of my MLA neighbours,” said Jurgens. “The people have to come to me first and then we will make sure that the work is done.”

The opposition prepares

Speaking about the upcoming resignation of Hickie, opposition NDP leader Cam Broten said he feels the representation of Prince Albert has been lacking for a while.

“It’s a concern not to have the representation, it’s also a concern to not have had the representation over the past few years, because Darryl Hickie has been checked out for a long time and not speaking out for the city,” said Broten. “There’s not been a strong voice for the region, whether it’s in Northcote or the neighbouring constituencies.”

Broten said the NDP is more concerned with issues in Prince Albert like the need for a second bridge and the lack of jobs available.

“What we do as an opposition is to raise the concerns from Prince Albert, and to be that voice of P.A. in Regina, as opposed to just parroting the lines that come from this government back to the city,” said Broten.

Broten said he will be talking about a second bridge in Prince Albert as well as pushing for more dollars towards education, senior’s care and health care as part of his main focuses during the spring session.

“We’ve seen a government track record that really isn’t about the priorities that families have,” said Broten. “The things that matter the most about having proper hospital services, about having the best home care, about having classrooms that aren’t packed and that have the right resources, those aren’t being delivered on.”

He doesn’t agree with pushing Prince Albert to using a P3 model of funding to help build a second bridge in the city, he added.

“I don’t think this government should be handcuffing cities to using the P3 approach,” said Broten. “Instead of making a decision on what is the most cost effective, what brings the best result, what do municipalities want, this government is just forcing municipalities to go down this path.”

“We’ve been talking about the bridge a lot and will continue to do so in this spring sitting, as we will about the many other issues in Prince Albert.”

 Broten said there appears to be less of a focus on what communities are asking for and more about what the government believes the province needs.

“We show documents that show instead of focusing on things that matter, this government’s actually been planning a premier’s library in Regina based on a U.S. presidential library,” said Broten. “How is that a priority for people in Prince Albert in any way, shape or form?”

Finally Broten said they’ll be speaking about the issue of proper highway maintenance and response to damages in regards to the recent washout issues with Highway 302 and Highway 2.

“People need to get around this province and they need to do it safely and quickly,” said Broten. “We’ve had a big focus on highways and will continue to call for the right improvements.”

He added they will be looking at how the government has been rolling out the highway budgets.

“We need to make sure we’re getting the right value for the projects we’re spending on,” said Broten. “We need to cut the waste.”

Due to the drop in oil revenue Brad Wall had recently announced that there may be cuts in the upcoming budget, and that everything was on the table.

With files from paNOW reporter Thia James.

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @journalistjim