New candidate ready to paint the town Green

“I’ve spent most of my life commenting or having an opinion about the political process in Canada. I found out this past election over 50 per cent of my peers, 18 to 29 year olds, just didn’t vote,” said Tenkink. “That to me was shocking so I decided to actually put some skin in the game and get involved.”

“Over 50 per cent is a huge number for a democracy that relies on the majority and if the majority has voted by not voted, that’s a problem.”

According to Tenkink, the current administration has been making it even more difficult for people to vote by making stricter voter ID laws. This, he said, is a step in the wrong direction.

“Hopefully this will be the year that this all changes,” he said.

Tenkink is kicking off his campaign with door knocking. Up until recently, the party was still placing candidates in their ridings. Tenkink said he’s happy to be representing the Green Party in Prince Albert.

“As of the first of this month, that’s where I live so it worked out well,” said Tenkink.

As far as campaigning, he said the party’s platforms are listed quite specifically on their website.

“[We’re] really trying to focus on making the political process a win-win scenario rather than a zero-sum game. That’s kind of the ideology that drew me to the Green Party.”

Beyond that, Tenkink said they want to give Canadians a voice.

“It’s going to be a matter of asking the everyday Canadian voter what matters to them and being able to move on from there,” said Tenkink.

One issue that Tenkink said he’s passionate about is the current misconception that there has to be an adversarial relationship between the economy and the environment.

“There is definitely a way to foster both together,” said Tenkink. “That works on the federal scale and it works in the local area as well.”

He said the Prince Albert area has varying industries like mining and tourism because of our resources.

“It relies on the environment as well as the strong economy,” said Tenkink. “You can’t have one without the other.”

Tenkink said the long campaign might prove to be both a blessing and a curse. They’ll be able to cover more ground and spend time strategizing, but they’ll also be forced to spend more money on the campaign.

“At the same time it allows for every candidate, no matter how much reach they have, time to spread the message,” said Tenkink.

With files from Nigel Maxwell.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

by Alex Soloducha

New candidate ready to paint the town Green

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