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(Ian Gustafson/paNOW staff)
Political Wish List

Mayor and Chamber talk election aspirations

Oct 19, 2019 | 2:00 PM

With two days to go until the election, the P.A. mayor is hoping infrastructure spending will be a priority for the next federal government, while the local chamber of commerce wants to see investment in training programs, and low taxes.

“All the parties know how important infrastructure is and that’s the number one concern of Canadian municipalities.” Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW. “So, I’m quite sure no matter what government’s in, they’re going to continue with the existing programs.”

While the Liberals promised big money for building and repair projects across the country in the 2015, municipalities were frustrated when that funding was slow to flow.

“We had four construction years and we only got to work on two of them because it took so long to get the money,” Dionne said speaking about the time period since the last election.

The mayor, who has served during both Liberal and Conservative governments, said he has found no fundamental difference in either’s dealing with the municipality.

P.A. is looking for federal and provincial infrastructure investment for major water and sewage projects in the city.

Taking a similarly non-partisan stance, CEO of the Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce, Elise Hildebrandt, told paNOW that every party’s platform that she had seen included things that appealed to her as a small business owner.

She said she hopes the next government creates more training programs like the Canada-Saskatchewan Jobs Grant, and keeps taxes low.

“Keep those taxes affordable at all levels of government so we can continue to do what we do well in this country, which is small business,” she said.

In Saskatchewan the polls on Election Day on Monday are open 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. We will have a live election special on 900 CKBI radio from 8 p.m.

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom

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