Cherese Reemaul of the Green Party (Facebook/Cherese Reemaul)

By Glenn Hicks

Green hopes

‘Pro-Green isn’t anti-West’: local candidate hopes to spark dialogue

Sep 8, 2021 | 12:00 PM

The Green Party candidate for the Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek riding – which includes a large area to the northwest, north, and northeast of Saskatoon – is entering politics for the first time.

Cherese Reemaul, 32, has worked in non-profit social services most of her life and has an education and business background with degrees in both. She’s involved in community-building and organization at a grassroots level.

Reemaul is campaigning on a Western Canadian agenda and had looked at getting involved in other political parties. However, the Greens appealed to her because of their stance on allowing candidates freedom of choice on key votes.

“They [Greens] allow members to vote on issues the way they want to. Members can have their own opinions and political positions and can vote on matters as they see fit,” she told paNOW.

Reemaul said she wasn’t attracted to the socially conservative values of the parties on the political right although she shares the strong pro-Western focus of the Maverick Party.

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That pro-West push comes from an acknowledgment of the energy sector leadership that Alberta and Saskatchewan have already shown.

“For some reason there’s a narrative that’s becoming more and more popular that being pro-green is being anti-West. The West and the Prairies have always been the energy capital of Canada. We will always need energy, and more and more of it,” she explained.

She insists the West has the capacity, skills, and resources to produce energy and while there will be a need to change the way oil and gas are used and technology must evolve, there will be no sudden demise of the workforce.

“There’s this narrative that oil and gas workers are going to have to stop completely, and green energy workers will fill the vacuum. That’s not going to happen,” she said, highlighting what she said was the West’s love of their beauty and environment.

“In Saskatchewan, we love our Land of the Living Skies and no one wants to intentionally pollute the environment. We just need to diversify our options.”

Reemaul said she hoped to win the riding in the Sept. 20 election but if not: “I hope to spark a conversation about the West’s role in the green transition.”

In the last election incumbent Kelly Block of the Conservative Party won by a landslide with 78.6 per cent of the vote. The Green Party candidate came third with 1.9 per cent.

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glenn.hicks@pattisonmedia.com