Harmonie King wants to be the next federal representative for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

upcoming election

Federal NDP candidate wants to be a voice for Northern Saskatchewan

Aug 13, 2021 | 2:46 PM

Harmonie King wants to be a voice for the people as the new federal candidate for the NDP.

She was in La Ronge on Thursday knocking on doors and meeting residents of the tri-communities. King is confident an election will be called on Sunday and she wants people to know she can be a strong voice in Ottawa for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.

“I feel Northern Saskatchewan has kind of been left out,” she said. “I have seen what’s been happening before the pandemic, I’ve seen what’s been happening during the pandemic and, quite frankly, we need a lot of support out this way. We live in an area where we lack services in a lot of different areas.”

King, who is from Meadow Lake, explained northerners live in an area with high suicide rates and poor access to mental health services. She noted other key issues include housing, access to medical care and the opioid crisis. King is a supporter of pharmacare and dental care.

In the upcoming election, King will run against current Conservative MP Gary Vidal. Athabasca NDP MLA Buckley Belanger has already announced his intention to seek the Liberal nomination and it’s unknown at this time if any other parties will be running a candidate in the riding.

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“I have been a social worker for quite some time now and I’ve worked in the areas of human services, whether it’s been helping people with their kids or mental health and working together in crisis situations. When you really work in those types of environments, you really learn what the structures are and how the structures are not working and what needs to work and what needs to change.”

King hold a Youth Care Worker diploma, a Bachelor of Social Work and several certificates in trauma-informed practices and approaches.

In 2020, King was the provincial NDP candidate for Meadow Lake in the Saskatchewan general election and lost to Sask. Party MLA Jeremy Harrison. Earlier this year, she unsuccessfully ran for the position of treasurer with Métis Nation-Saskatchewan.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno