Ken Chartier of the Battleford Fire Department is looking to change what hee feels is a sense of complacency at the Town Council. (Submitted Photo/Ken Chartier)

By Josh Ryan

Pushing for change

Candidate Chartier looks to bring new ideas to town council

Oct 19, 2020 | 5:00 PM

After years of feeling disappointed, Ken Chartier has decided to fully commit to the Battleford Town Council race.

The longtime volunteer firefighter with the Battleford Fire Department previously ran for a seat on council in 2016, an experience he said that was best described as “dipping my toes in.” In the past four years, Chartier said things haven’t changed and that’s made him far more motivated to enter municipal politics.

“They haven’t been getting better, so I guess I’m going to have to push a little more,” he said. “I plan on working hard and coming up with things from talking to people.”

Chartier said his desire for change comes from a feeling of complacency with the current council. He pointed to a lack of communication between the council’s representative for the fire department and local firefighters.

“The only time we do see council at the fire hall is during election time,” he said. “This isn’t good and it’s clear we need new energy and new ideas.”

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In approaching a potential debate, Chartier doesn’t think members of council can stand on record.

“I’d like to challenge all the incumbents to come up with something that they have brought forward that they are the most proud of in their years of service,” he said. “From what I’m hearing, I don’t think we’re going to get too many real answers as far as that’s concerned.”

Chartier said he’d like to find solutions to school drop off safety concerns. He’d like to see more community engagement, specifically with the town’s public service officer.

“I’d like to free him up to more, as far as safety and small crimes,” Chartier said. “And see more scrutiny of decisions made on crime.”

Chartier said the scrutiny extends to further examination on the budgets for expensive projects. He said the town could save taxpayers more money in the future if they made better decisions by exploring alternative options more carefully.

“We’ve fixed our skating rink five times in this community,” he said. “With the money [we spent], we could have built another one.”

“I want no regrets and to do that, we have to ask questions.”

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josh.ryan@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports