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Darren Olson throws his hat in the ring for city council

Sep 17, 2016 | 4:00 PM

The plan is simple, to listen to what the community wants instead of telling them what they need.

Darren Olson, who grew up in North Battleford and has returned after 18 years in Saskatoon with his family, has entered his name for city council.

He’s new to politics but said he has to platform to do some good.

“I really love this community,” Olson said. “My goal isn’t to come in with a pocket full of ideas but be one of the people who is a good listener. I want to ask a lot of questions and get to the root of some of the issues we might have.”

One of the issues Olson specifically pointed out was the tension between First Nations and non-First Nations, especially regarding the Colton Boushie killing. He said more care needs to go into relieving those tensions to make a stronger community.

Olson said North Battleford has a lot to offer and will boom even more in the near future.

“”We have so many assets that we can enjoy here and there are even more assets on the horizon,” Olson said. “It really makes our community very attractive. We have some liabilities. It’s the combination of really championing our assets with trying to address those liabilities.”

Battlefords high crime rate is a liability he’d like to tackle. 

“We have the oh so joyous crime statistic that we’ve been chipping away at,” he said. “It gives us an impression of ourselves which I think would be good to alleviate.”

He said the time was right to run for city council since his children have moved away from home. Balancing personal, work and home life won’t be problem, because he said “(my wife) won’t let that happen.”

Olson is also a travelling deacon with Global Missions Inc., a Christian charity.  

Olson said running for council is a bit of a popularity contest and he isn’t sure how many people know him in the community. He added win or lose it will be a good experience for him.

 

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.