NORTHEAST — The two MLAs serving the Tisdale area have been tasked with new assignments as legislative secretaries.
Hugh Nerlien, the MLA for Kelvington-Wadena, the constituency south of Highway #3, is now serving as the legislative secretary to the minister responsible for SaskTel. Before, his role was focused on public sector bargaining.
“We’re going to be looking at the existing infrastructure across the province for cell service and high speed internet fusion network,” he said, “and tying into that and expanding that for much better internet services and cellular services to rural communities and rural businesses as we possibly can.”
Nerlien said he’s pleased he’s received the assignment from the premier, calling it a good fit.
“I actually had done some work with the previous legislative secretary that had responsibility on this file last fall and early winter, so I’m just going to continue that work we had already started,” he said when asked why he thought he got the role.
The MLA also believes that he also got it because he has a vested interest in it as a rural MLA. He said having good cellular and internet connections are key for small and agricultural businesses, for residents’ health and safety, and to help deal with crime issues.
“We’re trying to build a rural economy around the availability of technology,” he said.
“We’re working hard to get the available technology into rural Saskatchewan and to create the connectivity that people expect today.”
Fred Bradshaw, the MLA for Carrot River Valley, remains as legislative secretary for the environment, but instead of having a focus on forestry and wildfires, he’ll now deal with the entirety of the ministry. He said he’s pleased with the expansion of his role.
The MLA said one of the key assignments the premier has him working on is to be on a committee that’s determining what will happen with rural landfills.
“They want to set up a committee on how we’re going to work on our landfills within the province, so we can have regional landfills and, of course, there’s this thing about decommissioning landfills that are not regional,” he said.
Bradshaw – like most of the other members of the Saskatchewan Party government – will also fight against a federally-imposed carbon tax.
“What really bothers me is we don’t get credit for the things that we are doing and have been doing,” he said. “Our agriculture and boreal forest is a huge carbon sink.”
Bradshaw is also the chair of the legislature’s intergovernmental affairs and justice committee. It’s there that many new laws are examined in detail before they are passed in a third and final reading.
Nerlien also serves on that committee, as well as a cabinet committee for the economy and a municipal co-operation committee.
