Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party leader Rick Swenson was in full campaign mode when be paid a visit to Estevan on June 4. Swenson was in the Energy City to speak at the nomination meeting that saw Bienfait’s Paul Carroll accept the candidacy to represent the party in the next provincial election expected next spring.
“There have been too many Sask Party members kicking around too long, taking advantage of the situation. We need a voice here. The NDP is done in rural Saskatchewan. There is an opportunity for our party to be heard,” said Swenson just prior to the nomination meeting held in the small Legion Hall in Estevan which attracted about 20 people for the uncontested candidate nomination.
“I know I’m not going to be premier. That’s not the objective at this stage. This corner of Saskatchewan has paid for the rest of the province for years, yet you have some of the worst roads, and that’s just the start,” said Swenson, who served as Energy and Resources Minister in the Grant Devine-led Conservative government in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Swenson said Carroll was the third official candidate nominated by the party. There should be 10 to 12 candidates lined up by the end of summer, he predicted, with the ideal target being a full-slate of 61 candidates once the official campaign begins in early 2016.
“The Sask Party is doing a lot of dumb stuff in the interest of their friends, like peddling off the farmland to someone who doesn’t pay taxes. They’re building a $1.2 billion bypass in Regina to accommodate trucks travelling between Montreal and Vancouver and they’re getting someone from France to build it. In the meantime, I’m trying to drive to Estevan from Regina on Highways 6 and 39, one of the scariest stretches of highway in the province.”
Swenson said he realizes there still might be a stigma attached to the “old PCs,” but the political engagement scene is vastly different now. It was time to move along with a clean slate and fresh ideas.
“Tonight is the first step of many. And, by steps, I mean the ones I will make going door-to-door to create some meaningful dialogue with the constituents in Estevan,” said Carroll in accepting the nomination. “I believe we can make this journey significant.”
He went on to say “It has been the work and vision of a small group of people who have kept the PC Party of Saskatchewan alive, for that, we thank you. I accept the responsibility to continue the battle for people of the Estevan constituency.”
Carroll was referring to the fact the PC’s are just now emerging from an 11-year self-imposed hiatus, armed with about $2 million which was left in the coffers and placed in a trust fund that the party has just recently, gained access to.
Curt Schmidt, the party’s constituency president, conducted the formal part of the meeting, and noted Carroll will have a team of supporters as he begins the unofficial part of the campaign which is, in essence, already underway.
Carroll will be up against the Sask Party’s newly nominated candidate Lori Carr, who won the nomination against Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig earlier this spring. Carr is replacing incumbent MLA Doreen Eagles who will be retiring. The NDP nomination was won by Cameron Robock, who was selected in an uncontested nomination meeting this spring.
Swenson, a Moose Jaw area farmer, who has been the PC’s official leader since 2006, said all candidates are reminded that it is a privilege to run.
“Once elected, you have a four-year window in which to make this province better than how you found it and if you can do that, you may get the privilege of extending that window. In this corner of the province, you effected fundamental change before, and it was good. There were a lot of good things the former PC Party did here. More good can be done again,” Swenson added.
“By the way, the PC Party doesn’t pay me to be here. It pays for my mileage and a few meals,” he said with a smile.
The good that was done by the PC’s before, included the building of Rafferty and Alameda Dams and Shand Power Station. There now needs to be further development, and Carroll would be speaking to those issues, Swenson said.
“There are lots of questions, too, about health care and long-term care we’re not getting into tonight. Let’s just say, I would have given anything as a cabinet minister to have the resources these guys have had.”
Going back to the highway file, Swenson said, “Portal to Regina is our economic lifeline, not Montreal to Vancouver. We need to build that highway first. But it seems the Regina bypass will come first and we’ll be paying a French company for 30 years. I wonder how many Saskatchewan hockey teams they’ll support and sponsor?”
Selling farmland to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was another error, he suggested since the CPPIB aren’t taxpayers and they will be in direct competition with provincial farmers.
“I have contributed to CPP all my working life and be damned if I want to compete against my own pension plan when I farm. Land is a fundamental thing around here, it involves family dreams. We must say to government they need to consult and listen and Paul Carroll will take the message to Regina.”
Swenson finished his address by suggesting more needs to be done with local resources in terms of upgrading and value-added industries and that could include refining diesel fuel, to stem the outward flow of these resources.
“Bakken crude is easy to turn into diesel, but we’re shipping it all out. We need to explore opportunities instead of building pipelines out of here. If we get a half-dozen or more MLAs into Regina, we can start asking the questions and raising some challenges that this government hasn’t been getting. You have the opportunity to change the discussion. The Sask Party is loaded with money and they’ll be ready to go to war. You have good people here and strong neighbours. If you think Paul Carroll is worth a chance, then you can step up, and as a local population, you can put him in there to speak for you. In the meantime, I want to be in the upcoming leadership debate, to get the PC voice heard. But be skeptical, because I’m the first PC party leader you’ve seen in awhile, so ask us the questions, too.”
