He's already been knocking on doors for weeks.
Gord Bedient, the NDP candidate in the Humboldt constituency in the upcoming provincial election, didn't wait for the election call before starting his campaign.
"I was out steady for three weeks before the writ was dropped," he told the Journal in an interview last week.
Bedient, an electrician with Agrium Potash Mine who lives on the edge of the Humboldt riding in Saskatoon, believes he's knocked on about three-quarters of all the doors in Humboldt already, on top of visiting other smaller communities in the constituency.
He's been telling people that the NDP is "for the people of Saskatchewan and the interests of the people of Saskatchewan," he said.
His party, he said, is the one to put the people's views first.
"We've stood up better for them than probably any other party ever has," he said.
In the Humboldt area, health care is a huge concern.
"I bet 98 per cent of the doors I've knocked on... health care is a major concern here," he said.
New primary healthcare clinics, significant investments in doctor recruitment and Community Access Hospitals for rural areas are part of the NDP's plan for health care.
NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter released that part of the party's platform on October 12.
In this platform, the NDP promises $24 million investment in physician recruitment, targeting communities with vacancies, a Community Access Hospitals model, where nurse practitioners and emergency medical staff operate rural hospitals to keep their doors open, and 100 new primary healthcare clinics over 10 years, with 30 clinics in the first term of government.
Bedient believes that instead of spending money recruiting doctors from overseas, more attention should be paid to keeping doctors trained in Saskatchewan in this province.
The workload doctors are facing in rural Saskatchewan is heavy, he noted.
"We have to make it easier... for them to set up practices in rural Saskatchewan," he said.
"The NDP will do that," he promised.
The NDP, he added, will make Saskatchewan health care first class again.
After health care, highways and streets are the second most popular concern.
Though infrastructure transfer payments are in place from province to municipality, they are not helping rural Saskatchewan, Bedient believes.
Clavet, for example, has no sewer and water service in some parts of the community. They can't get the money to upgrade, he claims.
In Humboldt's newer subdivisions, roads and streets are not in good shape, he indicated.
It's part of the provincial gvoernment's responsibility to ensure that communities are getting the revenue sharing they deserve, he noted.
We are seeing money spent fixing highways, he noted, but he believes those fixes are not lasting.
Years ago, he noted, once a road was fixed, you didn't have to go back again for 10 or 15 years.
Out of province licence plates on vehicles fixing our roads is also a concern out there, Bedient noted.
"Do we not have companies in this province to do this?" he asked.
Social issues are also at the fore for Bedient.
Saskatchewan is a have province, now, he noted. The government has a record amount of income.
Yet, Bedient said, every day essentials are not being taken care of for some.
"These are needs, not wants, that are not being taken care of," he said.
"Our party will put people first again," he promised.
The NDP is getting their message out to people now, he said, indicating that a budget will be included with all the promises being made.
"Once the whole platform is announcement, the whole costs will be there," he said.
"The biggest thing I believe is our party will put people first. We will put their needs ahead of anyone else," Bedient concluded. "And together, we'll build a brighter future."
