ELECTIONS 2016: Meet candidate Victoria Jurgens

VJ: Well one of the things that Stats Canada also presented to us was that the employment rate in Prince Albert in January 2016 was 1,600 more people working than in January of 2015. So the unemployment rate can go up but we can still have a high employment rate here, right here in Prince Albert. So some of the policies that have helped our employment sector is for businesses to come in and invest because businesses are what create the jobs. And our government has already invested in, say the corrections workers, we’ve increased it by 200 new corrections workers we’ve expanded the jails. By the way, that’s something that the people of Prince Albert asked me to do in 2011 when I was campaigning then. They said take our voice down to Regina we’re concerned about crime and safety. So the result of that voice is that our government took action and we now have an expanded jail and an expanded women’s correctional centre with the 200 corrections jobs. We have 19 new police officers, so that’s enforcement, that’s incarceration. But we didn’t stop there. We’ve invested in what we like to call the HUB and CORE up here in Prince Albert. It’s a world-renowned program called mobile community partnership so that we can help prevent people from taking that step down the path of crime. So we in Prince Albert should be very happy to see, and maybe even a tiny bit proud that we’re the ones that started it. That program started right here in Prince Albert.

DR: What can you do specifically to get more people working in Prince Albert?

VJ: Well specifically in Prince Albert what we can do is continue to work with our businesses, with our ‘city fathers and mothers,’ if you want to call them that, with our city council to continue to encourage them to invest in our city to create those jobs. So government has done their part in creating more jobs, we’ve hired more teachers, we’ve hired more health care professionals, we’ve hired more corrections workers. Now the businesses are also expanding in our city and we see that with the result of more jobs. 1,600 people more working in Prince Albert in January of 2016, versus January of 2015. I think that shows some of the results of the policies.

DR: Does Prince Albert and region need a second bridge? If so, how should this be accomplished and how should the project be funded?

VJ: What the people of Prince Albert told me, is please get us a second bridge. And the premier announced in August of 2014, right in P.A., that we are committed to that second bridge.

DR: And how will that be funded?

VJ: Well at the time, the federal government at that time had money that was available under the building Canada fund. And it was a partnership between the federal government, provincial government and the municipal government.

DR: Do you know where we are right now with the new government, where that model is?

VJ: No, the new government hasn’t finalized what they are going to be presenting to the provinces for infrastructure projects.

DR: Given the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings, does our education system adequately teach students about residential schools and First Nations issues in general?

VJ: Well I know under our education system, our provincial government has worked hard to ensure that the information about First Nations and treaty is available to be taught. To what level it’s being taught, I’d have to discuss it some more. But I know many of the teachers I’ve talked to, they do have an available curriculum. They do have available a curriculum to teach that. I know many of our non-profits work really hard at extra cultural activities similar to what the Ukrainians do with the Ukrainian heritage. I know some First Nations have different heritage, cultural teachings that they use. So together, we’ll get it.

DR: Would you support a community drug strategy, similar to the alcohol one?

VJ: That’s a wide open question. I’m not sure what you mean by that. I know with the HUB, the community mobilization partnership that the whole system has been working together to help with alcohol and additions strategy. What we did as a government, right early when I was elected, is we helped to build three additions treatment centres specifically dedicated for families and youth. So those are some of the things we’ve done and we continue to work with our partners to keep moving forward.

DR: Does Prince Albert and region need a new or additional hospital? If so, how should this be accomplished? And how should the project be funded?

VJ: Well what I can tell you is that it’s definitely a yes. Once again, the people said take our voice down to Regina, so I did but we didn’t stop there. We took action, we put money towards planning the renewal of the Victoria Hospital. So we have $2 million dollars towards planning the renewal of the Victoria Hospital. That planning is in its final stages and we’ll see what will happen after that. So we are definitely committed to getting a brand new hospital or renewal – whatever renewal means.

DR: What are the pros and cons of a private liquor vendor in Prince Albert? Does the fact that the city have a higher level of consumption than the national average, is that a pro or a con in this case?

VJ: Well there is an alcohol and addictions strategy being formulated by our city. When you look around at the different stats it’s not whether there’s a store available or not that creates the addictions there’s a whole lot of other issues around. We do have private liquor vendors in our city, we’ve had them for years. They’ve been there under all stripes of government. So whether there’s more or less doesn’t necessarily mean that the alcohol consumption will go up or down. What we need to do is focus on many of the things our government has already been focusing on. In terms of mental health and addictions treatment centres, we have that. We’ve added more health care workers into our health care system. So those are two clear, concrete examples of what we’ve been doing. And I know I’ve worked with many of the non-profits, what we call the CBOs – the community based organizations, both in my previous life as a registered dietician and now as a politician. I continue to work with them to work out things we can do as a government, things they can do as an organization and together we’ll work on reducing our alcohol addictions right here.

DR: What about 24 hour liquor vendors, I know that was a thing that had come up before.

VJ: Well once again, our government says ‘whatever the community decides is best for them, is what we will implement.’ We’re not about saying ‘okay, you have to or you don’t.’ The city has decided that is something they do not want and we honour that.

DR: Using the 2013 Stats Canada data, the Parkland Health Region was named one of the unhealthiest regions in Canada. What factors do you think contribute to this and is it possible for you to improve upon these?

VJ: It’s interesting you ask that Dana, because I was working in the health region at the time and we do have a large number of people that access our health region that would be classed as being in the lower socio-economic levels. So what we have done as a government, and our stats show since then, is we have the second lowest poverty rate in Canada. So it shows that the housing that we’ve implemented has helped. For example, in eight years we have approximately eight square city blocks that our government has either built, renovated or repaired. When you think about it, that’s one city block a year of housing. So we know that has an aspect on poverty levels. We know that employment has an aspect on poverty levels, which we’ve already discussed. And we see a higher rate of employment. So more jobs is very important. We see the level of taxes has an impact on your poverty level. All of these have an impact on levels of poverty and, in turn, impacts the health of our population. So as a government, we’ve been working very diligently to help turn that path around and there’s lots more work to do, but we feel we’re on the right path and we have now implemented a poverty reduction strategy which we didn’t do just as government. We took all our stakeholders gathered them together under one roof and started talking. So for example, one of the runners for the NDP for leadership, Dr. Ryan Meili, was one of the people that had his input into the poverty reduction strategy. We have people that experience poverty, we have people that are working in the sector that helps those with poverty. All of those together are what if the people of this province decide they want our government back in, then that strategy will continue to move forward and we’ll continue to do the work we need to do to make Saskatchewan strong.

DR: Recently, Premier Wall is against a federal tax on carbon emissions. He told Trudeau that it’s far too costly for the Saskatchewan economy. If not a carbon tax, what do this the province can do to combat emissions especially from two of its biggest emitters, crown corporations SaskPower and SaskEnergy?

VJ: Well Dana, what our Premier also said was that he will work with together with the other provinces to be collaborative, and that maybe hasn’t been spelled out very clearly, but he has been working collaboratively. The first thing our premier does is fight for the rights of Saskatchewan. The other thing that we’ve been doing, maybe quietly, maybe not so quietly behind the scenes, is we’ve been working on technology to reduce carbon emissions, such as our boundary dam coal carbon sequestration project. This is working; we know it’s working. There were a few little kinks to iron out at the beginning, which any technology has – lots of kinks. So we’ve been sequestering the carbon in that value, in that way. We’ve also been encouraging people to do things such as turn off lights when they leave the room. So each of us as an individual can work together towards a lower carbon foot print. Maybe carpooling a little more often, those kind of things. So together we can make a difference.

DR: Is there a point that you would disagree with your party, to the point where you would resign? Per say if there was any one topic?

VJ: That’s a very good question. I’ve had very good working relationships with all my colleagues. For example, I’m on the legislation regulation review committee. So when the policies come down the pipe, I take the voices of the people I’ve been discussing different aspects with and I bring that to the table and say ‘have we done this, have we done that. What about this, what about that. I like that, the people are not going to appreciate that.’ And my colleagues have been very receptive. We discuss aspects, we don’t always agree on them but we come to some common understanding of what we can do. The Premier has said on issues of conscience we can vote whichever way we wish.

dreynolds@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @dnitska

by Dana Reynolds

ELECTIONS 2016: Meet candidate Victoria Jurgens

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