Until recently, it looked like Saskatchewan Party candidate Terry Jenson might be the only name on the ballot for voters in the Martensville-Warman constituency.
But with the October 26 provincial election just a little over a week away, the race has become a bit more crowded.
In addition to NDP candidate Carla Streeton, two other candidates: Wade Sira of the Buffalo Party and Melvin Pylypchuk of the Green Party have officially thrown their hats in the ring.
Sira released the Buffalo Party’s platform in early October. The Buffalo Party was formerly known as the Wexit Party. It advocates a greater degree of independence for Saskatchewan and the other western provinces.
In its platform, available at the party’s website online, it calls for legislation for Saskatchewan to manage its own taxes. It also advocates replacing the RCMP with a combination of provincial and municipal police services; increase control over immigration and trade; and its own provincial Firearms Commissioner.
The Buffalo Party also advocates elections so residents can elect senators, the provincial Lieutenant Governor, and provincial judges.
The Buffalo Party advocates changes to marketing and regulatory systems to allow consumers to buy commodities, including meat and dairy products, directly from farmers. It also wants changes to the education system to put less emphasis on “social programming” and more on basic reading, writing, history , math and sciences. The party is calling for more resources for rural health care.
The Green Party platform, available online at the party’s website, advocates “ecological wisdom” as practiced by “the indigenous peoples of the world, as custodians of the land and its resources.”
The Green Party also wants “equitable distribution of social and natural resources” to ensure “social and environmental justice”; as well as “participatory democracy,” sustainability, diversity and “communiuty-based economics.”