Jeremy Cockrill, Glenda Rye and Tom Kroczynski (Julia Lovett-Squires/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Chamber forum

Highlights of candidates forum hosted by local chamber

Oct 18, 2024 | 6:05 PM

In a relaxed atmosphere at the Blend Kitchen and Bar Riverside, two of the four provincial candidates for the Battlefords spoke to members of the business community about their visions for the area.

Standing at their respective pulpits and taking questions from the audience during the forum hosted by the Battlefords and District Chamber of Commerce, Sask Party candidate Jeremy Cockrill and NDP candidate Tom Kroczynski sparred back and forth on topics that ran the gambit from education to healthcare, affordable housing and public safety. The Buffalo Party’s Dale Richardson and the candidate for the Saskatchewan Green Party, Sara Paitrofsky, were invited to participate, but they did not attend.

The format of the evening featured a question and timed answer period.

On the topic of affordable housing, Cockrill spoke about the Sask Party government working to take rental stock from Sask Housing and doing renovations that then become homes for people on a rent-to-own program.

“I think it could be an opportunity,” he said of the potential to do something similar in the Battlefords.

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According to Kroczynski and the NDP, there are 3,000 unused housing authority rental spaces across the province. He explained the party is committed to change that.

“It’s negligent not to consider opening…these properties up,” he said, noting the housing crisis is connected to other societal issues.

As moderators turned to asking questions from the audience, two of those questions stood out. They both addressed a vehicle driving around town, that is paid for by the NDP, and features ads attacking Cockrill for the two ethics investigations he’s currently the topic of.

“OK, so here we are in a democracy,” Kroczynski explained, adding people get to make a choice based off information given.

He said while he has seen the van, he didn’t remember what’s on it. Turning the question to Cockrill, Kroczynski said he had read the candidate’s quotes in the local media about the investigations.

“My question would be ‘How did this happen?’”

Cockrill countered and said he has been cooperating with the conflict of interest commissioner and he had filed all his financial and trust disclosed properly.

“Stuff comes up, the NDP are looking for an opportunity…to bury me.”

Cockrill said the attack ad campaign was “very unfortunate.”

“Mostly just because the business that they’re maligning has been doing business in this community for 30 plus years.”

Another question invoked the Republican candidate to the South and his election promise to dismantle the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Cockrill said any change to the agreement would be significant to the provincial economy.

“We need to up our game in terms of international engagement,” he said.

Kroczynski said he couldn’t speak directly about NAFTA but the NDP has committed to building a strong economy.

“I’m really excited about things like infrastructure,” he said, referencing a project in Tisdale that will revitalize a railway that runs into Northern Manitoba.

Public Record

Prior to the event starting, invited local media were informed they were not allowed to record the forum and they would only be allowed to ask a single question. battlefordsNOW asked why the candidates answers couldn’t be recorded. Only one of them answered.

“This election is about a much…broader set of questions,” said Kroczynski. He suggested the event, which was set up for only members of the chamber and the wider business community, excluded the rest of the general public from getting to be a part of the question and answer process of the election.

When asked her opinion about the closed nature of the North Battleford forum, Sask NDP leader Carla Beck said candidates welcome the opportunity to talk even when faced with hard questions.

“This is a basic tenet of democracy,” she said. “You know there are hard conversations, there are hard questions out there. We know that. We’ve always made our candidates, our MLAs available to answer questions.”

Following the forum, Cockrill said it went as expected.

“These events are just a good opportunity for Chamber members to be out and engaging with candidates and talking about the issues facing our community and facing our businesses.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattiosonmedia.com

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