Carolyn Brost Strom, left, is the NDP candidate for Prince Albert-Carlton after defeating Troy Parenteau in a contested nomination. (Submitted Photo/Carolyn Brost Strom)

By Susan McNeil

Politics

Long-time P.A. nurse backed by NDP to take on Sask. Party in next election

Sep 30, 2023 | 12:00 PM

Carolyn Brost Strom, a nurse of almost 20 years in Prince Albert, has won the NDP nomination for Prince Albert-Carlton.

She told paNOW the nomination meeting was exciting as she defeated Troy Parenteau to be chosen as the candidate.

“I wanted to run just to have more say in what occurs in the city with respect to health care (and) education,” she said.

Brost Strom has been out knocking on doors campaigning since May and heard a lot about affordability and concerns over the homelessness crisis.

“People are concerned about the amount of people that are houseless and how do we manage that in our city and our province,” she said.

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They are both complex issues so Brost Strom said there needs to be a government that will look at them and find ways to work on the issues.

When asked about her take on the current public debate regarding the rights of students to choose whether to tell their parents about gender identity preferences and pronoun usage, she said it’s a distraction by the Sask. Party.

“This is not something that the majority of Saskatchewan residents, teachers, parents, and students asked for,” she said. “I believe it’s something to distract from the record that the governments have with schools.”

She explained Saskatchewan has the second lowest funding for schools of all the provinces, class sizes are too big, and there are not enough supports in the classroom.

“Those are issues that if you ask teachers, those are the things that need to be addressed,” said Brost Strom.

Brost Strom grew up on a farm near Macklin but accepted a nursing job in Prince Albert right after her university training was completed and has been here ever since in several roles. She spent most of her time as a public health nurse.

“What I found during this campaign is that people want to talk to you in person,” she said. “Asking them what concerns you, what would you like to see changed, what are some things you want to talk about.”

Making personal connections is how she plans to run her campaign in the next provincial election in 2024.

Brost Strom is the 20^th candidate to be nominated for the next provincial election with the next two nomination meetings set for Oct. 11 in Regina.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com