
Martensville city councillor Jamie Martens is hoping to win the nomination to become the Saskatchewan Party candidate in the newly-created riding of Martensville-Blairmore.
Martens officially announced her campaign for the party’s nomination at a locally-owned business in Martensville on Wednesday, August 23. A provincial election is slated to take place in the fall of 2024. A date for the Sask Party’s Martensville-Blairmore constituency nomination meeting has not yet been set.
“My values and beliefs definitely go along with the Saskatchewan Party, and I’m very happy to be seeking the nomination,” said Martens. “I have very strong ties to this area; I was born and raised here. It’s very near and dear to my heart.”
Martens, who is currently serving as Martensville Deputy Mayor, was first elected to city council in 2012. She said she was encouraged to run for the nomination by many people in the riding. She added that representing ratepayers at the city council table has been rewarding, and she’s committed to speaking up for her constituents at the provincial level.
“I believe that constituents – and all the people of our province – are our landlords, or our bosses, and every elected official in Saskatchewan is simply an entrusted tenant or servant,” said Martens. “If successful in securing this nomination, every day, I will work to earn and keep this trust.”
Martens has served three terms with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), where she held the post of Vice-Chair of the Canadian Rural Forum, and was a delegate to the FCM’s ongoing Canadian Women in Local Leadership Project.
She said her advocacy work with FCM at the federal level, and lobbying the provincial government on municipal issues on behalf of Martensville, has given her a wider perspective on the role of all three levels of government.
“There are many issues ranging from health care to homelessness and taxation, where everyone needs to collaborate and work together to find solutions,” she said. “I think it’s very important to have fresh perspectives and new ideas at the table; but I also understand that you need to have all the relevant information before making a decision. I believe my experience at the municipal level will help me make the right decisions at the provincial level.”
She pointed to the issue of provincial sales tax being charged on municipal infrastructure projects as a case in point.
“Right now, the PST that Martensville is paying on the new multipurpose recreation facility currently under construction is pretty significant,” she said. “I understand the reason why municipalities are lobbying the province to eliminate the PST on projects like that. It’s costing our ratepayers money.
“But at the same time, I want to understand why the province feels it necessary to have that tax in place. What benefits are accruing to the province as a whole? That’s the other side of the coin.”
Martens is a single mother of three teens. She served 16 years with the provincial Deputy Sheriff’s Office, and has experience in the construction trades and holds a Saskatchewan 1A Class vehicle license.
She takes pride in being a descendent of the Martens family for whom the municipality of Martensville is named. But, she adds, she’s no stranger to the other parts of the new riding, which stretches from the hamlet of Cathedral Bluffs on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River to northwest of Dalmeny and southwest to include the Blairmore neighbourhood on Saskatoon’s western edge.
“It’s actually a very nice mix of rural and urban,” she said. “In many ways it’s a microcosm of the province as a whole. We need both the rural and urban perspectives to see the big picture if we’re going to move forward and grow.”
She noted that both urban and rural communities are dealing with similar issues and have similar concerns,
“Saskatchewan is a unique province, and we need to get back to basics and draw on our strengths in order to come up with creative solutions,” she said.