The Clark’s Crossing Gazette interviewed Terry Jenson, Saskatchewan Party candidate for the Martensville-Warman constituency earlier this month as the provincial election got underway in earnest. The following is the text of that interview.
Gazette: What is the importance of this election – is this a critical time for the province and if so, why?
Terry Jenson: This is a very important time for our province as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. The question we are asking voters is who do you trust to lead our province’s economic recovery. With the dedicated help of our residents in keeping the Covid-19 virus largely in check, our government has been able to safely re-open much of our economy. In September, our province recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 6.8 per cent and there were 8,700 more jobs versus the previous month. All of these are indicators that a re-elected Saskatchewan Party government is in the best position to lead our province’s economic recovery from the pandemic and continue to build on our 10-year growth plan to 2030.
Gazette: Premier Scott Moe has indicated the Sask Party is running on its record of the past 13 years. The implication of that is that the province, its economy, and its residents are better off now than they were 13 years ago. What evidence is there to support this assertion?
Jenson: Our province has become the place to be rather than the place to be from. Since 2007, our government’s policies have enabled our population to grow by more than 170,000 people and we’ve had the third best job creation record in Canada. But our accomplishments don’t end there. We’ve increased revenue sharing to municipalities by 120 per cent and have made total investments in our towns, cities, villages, and RMs of over $2.88 billion, compared to only $928 million in the last 11 years of the previous NDP government.
Gazette: The opposition is suggesting that education and health care have been underfunded. What’s your response to this, and what will the Sask Party do to maintain and strengthen these areas over the next four years?
Jenson: Since 2007 our government has moved forward with 57 brand new or replacement schools and 28 major school renovations. We have also hired over 1,300 more teachers and increased K-12 operating funding by 37 per cent compared to enrolment growth of 15 per cent. Of the 57 new schools, we’ve built three in Warman, two in Martensville, and substantially upgraded a third in Martensville.
With health care we’ve doubled investments in hospital projects including the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon, and new hospitals in Moose Jaw and North Battleford, plus our recently announced hospital project in Prince Albert. In our 13 years as government, we have nearly 900 more doctors and over 4,000 more nurses caring for the people of our province.
Our Saskatchewan Party government will continue to support families across the province by investing into health care and education.
Gazette: What are the main issues or concerns that you’re hearing on the doorstep as you campaign? Are voters satisfied with the representation of the retiring MLA, and are they confident you can fill her shoes?
Jenson: On the doorsteps I’m hearing from people who are very satisfied and confident with how our government has handled the Covid-19 pandemic, both economically and from a public health perspective. People are also upbeat and positive knowing that we have a 10-year growth plan that will chart a course for our province in the years to come. It’s an exciting plan that includes growing our province’s population to 1.4 million people, creating 100,000 new jobs, investing $30 billion in infrastructure over the next decade, and building and upgrading over 10,000 kilometres of highways while returning our budget to balance by 2024 and maintaining balanced budgets through 2030.