Recently, paNOW reporter Alex Soloducha had a chance to sit down and get to know the federal election candidates running in the Prince Albert riding a little better.
Here is the second video, 5 Minutes with the Green Party’s Byron Tenkink.
Q: What’s your favourite part about living in Prince Albert?
A: I really like being kind of at the gateway to everything the North has to offer without having to wrestle with all the isolation that the North tends to have. It’s nice to be just a short drive away from Waskesiu, from the Lakelands, from Candle Lake from being able to just go out and really enjoy everything the North has to offer and still be able to come back to a city with a Walmart and Wi-Fi and heating. To me it seems, as far as Prince Albert goes, its biggest strength it has is location, location, location, for sure.
Q: Do you have any funny campaign stories so far?
A: The most heartwarming or the funniest thing that’s happened so far has kind of been the response from my friends and family who were kind of shocked that I was actually getting involved. I inevitably have to answer the first question that comes up whenever I say I’m running with the Green Party, the, “Oh wow, P.A. has a Green Party?”, and the answer is yes, and also, they’re awesome.
Q: What’s one thing you think people should know about you?
A: One is difficult. My biggest strength, I feel, in coming into this, is being able to engage the political process with a complete new set of eyes. For the vast majority of my friends and family, the people I talk to, unless they’re complete political junkies, they don’t really want to get involved because politics is almost a culture in Canada.
Q: In your opinion, what’s the most important topic this campaign?
A: I think in Canada today, young people are not necessarily hit with voter apathy, there seems to be all this talk every election about why do young people not vote, and the numbers are there. Over 50 per cent (do not vote). In a democracy where majority rules, the majority of voters under 30, decided not to vote. That’s an abstention, that’s not just, “Oh, I can’t be bothered.” That’s, “I see the political process as it is now and it’s not for me.” As a Canadian saying, “How we elect our leaders is not for me,” is a huge condemnation. So that is issue to me, that’s what got me into politics in the first place is the idea that more than half of my peers can’t be engaged by this process. So what is wrong with this process that we can’t reach half, over half, of this block. I really think student debt is something that should be addressed. I really think first-time home ownership is something that should be really addressed. I really think there are a lot of issues in Canada, C-51, online privacy, there are so many issues that are non-issues because they’re a big deal to younger voters and younger voters don’t vote.
Q: What would you say is your biggest success up until now?
A: Well my brother and I have a paving company where we use up-cycled rubber, literally from the landfill. We’re rescuing what would otherwise be a bio hazard and turning it into a perfectly engineered product for this area. It topping for driveways and sidewalks. It’s salt proof, its weather proof. I would say, in retrospect, my biggest accomplishment thus far is being able to get a company off the ground, get it running, get it sustainable and let it have a positive impact in my town.
5 Minutes with New Democratic Party’s Lon Borgerson
5 Minutes with Liberal Party’s Gordon Kirkby
5 Minutes with Conservative Party’s Randy Hoback
Videography by Khang Nguyen.
news@panow.com
On Twitter: @princealbertnow
