By Alice McFarlane

Farm group sets priorities for Saskatchewan election

Sep 29, 2020 | 3:06 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The group that speaks for rural Saskatchewan have created a list of concerns to discuss with the candidates during the provincial election campaign.

Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) president Ray Orb said it is important to find out each party’s position on key issues.

Orb said farmers are always concerned about getting their products to export markets. It starts with reliable rail service.

“Once we get this crop off we need to be able to move that crop,” Orb said. “Grain movement has always been an issue for Saskatchewan farmers.”

Rural crime and policing is a high priority item, according to Orb.

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“We have some places in the province were it is not subsiding. Stats seem to show rural crime is going away a bit but we still have a lot of work to do on that file,” he said.

Orb said the pandemic has shown the problems with rural connectivity have created problems for farmers and students working from home.

“We don’t have good enough cell phone coverage in a lot of areas of the province. We don’t have good internet service either and that’s something we’ve been pushing the province to try and rectify. It’s simply not good enough,” he said.

Orb said RMs need continued, predictable municipal support with the same revenue sharing grant that was provided in 2020.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@AliceMcF