Recently, paNOW reporter Alex Soloducha had a chance to sit down and get to know the federal election candidates running in the Prince Albert riding a little better.
Here is the final video, 5 Minutes with Conservative Party’s Randy Hoback.
Q: What’s your favourite part about living in Prince Albert?
A: Prince Albert is the gateway to the North. It has all the amenities of a city, yet it’s so close to the lakes and the wildlife of the North. Another feature of Prince Albert is the actual people of Prince Albert. We have lots of friends here, it’s just a great place to call home. I grew up just west of Prince Albert in Canwood we used to come into P.A. all of the time to movies and different events. It’s the hub of the region and I think that’s what makes it such a great city.
Q: Do you have a funny campaign story?
A: Yesterday I was up in Arborfield and they were revealing a sign of an old school. When the guy was introducing me he goes to speak a little about me and he goes, ‘Oh by the way, this is not a political event, but everyone here should vote for Randy Hoback.’ Just little plugs like that I find hilarious.
Q: Is it ever weird seeing your face on a sign?
A: Yes. I hate myself in pictures. I just absolutely hate it. But in the same breath it’s really effective. I have the picture on my truck and I have a lot of people now when I pull into a grocery store or an auction sale or anything like that, they come up to me and say, ‘I wanted to talk to you.’ If my picture wasn’t on the truck they wouldn’t necessarily know who I am, and so that’s been very effective.
Q: What’s one thing you think people should know about you?
A: What you see is what you get. I’m the type of guy that will talk to anybody, I like to visit with anybody. If you came up to me on the street and you needed some help or just wanted to visit, I’m the guy who likes to do that.
Q: In your opinion, what’s the most important topic this campaign?
A: I think it’s coming to leadership. It’s who do we want to lead this country into this turbulent time that seems to be coming ahead of us. Whether you look at the issues of ISIS or the Ukraine. When you look at the global economy, when you see what happened in the stock market. Who has the experience? Who has the judgement? Who has the thought process? Who has the team to best lead us through and that’s where Stephen Harper just leads the competition by miles. When you look at Canadian economy, when you look at here in Saskatchewan and what we’ve gone through since 2008. While our American friends are losing their houses and high unemployment rate, we’re no longer near that situation, in fact we’re looking for welders, we’re looking for plumbers and electricians. We’ve created an environment for our economy to grow and prosper and our kids to move back to Saskatchewan and I think we want to see that continue.
Q: When and why did you get into politics?
A: It goes back to my wheat-grower days. I was the chair of the West Canada Wheat Growers and we were working on the Canadian wheat board issue. We started to quickly realize that if we wanted to fix an issue, it wasn’t fixing it here in western Canada, it was actually fixing it in Ottawa. I got involved with international trade with the wheat growers when we decided no longer to farm, David Anderson asked me to come to Ottawa and work with him on the wheat board issue. I was flying back to Ottawa and I ended sitting beside the former MP Brian Fitzpatrick, and I didn’t really know him that well. He talked the whole way, it was an interesting flight from Saskatoon to Toronto. He talked the whole way and then from Toronto to Ottawa he just kept talking and talking. We deboard the plane in Ottawa and we’re just getting ready to grab our bags and stuff and he turns to me and says, ‘Randy, you should run. You’d be a great MP,’ and I said, ‘ Brian when you retire in seven years I’ll think about it,’ and just left it at that. A week later I got a phone call from Doug Finley’s office and she says, ‘Brian just informed us that he’s retiring and he strongly suggests we talk to you.’ I never really considered it until that point in time. I had a good talk with my wife and I thought that this was something I’d like to do. Something that I think would be very rewarding and at the same time something where I can serve back into the community.
Q: What would you say is your biggest success up until now?
A: The changes in the Wheat Board, to see the farmers have their right and their ability to sell their grain as they see fit. That definitely is a huge success getting that through. Being aggressive with the rail companies and grain companies on the lack of delivery and the lack performance last year and the year before. There’s still more work that needs to be done on both of those whether it’s the contract with farmers or how the grain is being shipped and how the rail companies are treating our shippers and how they’re taking them for granted instead of providing the service that they deserve.
Q: What’s something you know now that you wish you knew earlier?
A: I have no regrets. When I was younger I remember talking to some seniors and they said to live a life with no regrets. So take some risks once in a while, make your decisions and live with those decisions.
5 Minutes with Green Party’s Byron Tenkink
5 Minutes with New Democratic Party’s Lon Borgerson
5 Minutes with Liberal Party’s Gordon Kirkby
Videography by Khang Nguyen.
news@panow.com
On Twitter: @princealbertnow
