Amber Stewart will represent the NDP in the provincial election for the Battlefords in the fall of 2020. (Tyler Marr/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Tyler Marr

READY TO GO

NDP nominate Amber Stewart provincially, Marcella Pedersen for federal election

Sep 7, 2019 | 10:10 PM

Amber Stewart is tired of North Battleford being known as Crimetown and a government that opts for reactive over proactive solutions.

The North Battleford social worker will have an opportunity to change that as she will represent the Saskatchewan NDP in the November 2020 election for the riding of The Battlefords. She was nominated by the provincial party Saturday evening and was the lone declared nominee.

Stewart works as the executive director of the Battlefords & Area Sexual Assault Centre. Married with four children, Stewart said she didn’t set out to be an activist or a politician, but cites life experience as the motivating factor behind her desire to seek public office. She points to overflowing classrooms operating on shoestring budgets and mental health and addiction issues that go unaddressed as spurring her decision to step forward.

“I would like to see some proactive solutions over reacting all the time … I see the issues and I want to look at the root of it to fix it,” she said on her role as a social worker and how it plays into her motivations.

Too often, she said, people put on blinders and ignore the issues around them and she said it is time to take those off and tackle problems head-on.

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As to why the New Democrats, Stewart said it allows her to go to sleep at night and feel good about the party she supports.

“The NDP, we are supportive and supporting everybody and support change and are looking for those solutions and are not excluding people and that is something important to me,” she said.

In July, Saskatchewan Party MLA Herb Cox announced he will not seek reelection in 2020. It is not yet known who will stand for the Saskatchewan Party next fall.

Stewart views this as a slight advantage as while she said Cox is a “wonderful guy,” believes many people voted for Cox simply because they knew him. She said the riding requires change and said prior MLAs have not fought hard enough for those they represent.

With her nomination, the NDP has a slate of 22 candidates ready just over a year out from the provincial vote.

NDP leader Ryan Meili spoke to party faithful with his son Gus on his shoulders during the nomination in North Battleford. (Tyler Marr/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Leader Ryan Meili was in attendance for the nomination as the party hosts a caucus retreat and provincial council in the area.

Meili met Stewart a few years ago and was impressed by her advocacy and connection to the community. He believes having a candidate who contends with social issues day-in and day-out is a boon.

“That is someone who really understands what is happening on the front line and understands the way the challenges faced by people living in poverty, the challenges in mental health and addiction, the challenges in crime, how that affects everyone at every level of society in North Battleford,” he said.

With Cox not seeking reelection, Meili believes the seat is open and said the people of the region are ready for change. He said there is a growing dissatisfaction with the way the Sask. Party has run the province and how it has impacted the local economy, which in turn has driven up crime. The opposition leader said government cuts to services for the most venerable, cancelling STC, adding PST on construction projects and not focusing on building things in Saskatchewan with Saskatchewan based companies has left a sour taste with voters.

“There are lots for people to be frustrated with, and with Amber and the plan we are going to be putting forward as New Democrats, there will be lots for them to be drawn towards as a change,” he said. “We are able to offer a different vision. A vision that instead of letting people down, builds people up with an economy that works for us.”

The federal NDP nominated Marcella Pedersen to stand for the party in the Oct. 21 election. (Tyler Marr/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The federal NDP nominated Marcella Pedersen to stand for the party in the Oct. 21 election, for which the writ could drop any day.

Pedersen was born in Unity and resides in Cut Knife. She has a background in grain and sheep farming and was a beekeeper. She is an ally of the farmers union and fights for food sovereignty. She is a reflexologist farmer and is concerned about climate change, farming, food and health and how it relates.

Speaking after her nomination, Pedersen said she fights for social justice issues globally and locally.

“I am very passionate for many issues [of the party] so I consider myself as a perfect fit for the party,” she said.

Her main focus is putting people before profit as she said many problems are caused by multinational corporations and said government have very little influence to counteract these influences.

“There is a lot of poverty and health issues and farming issues that need to be dealt with. We have oil people who have issues that need to be dealt with,” she said. “I want to represent all of them and be fair and just about it.”

While the NDP ride low in the polls and are well behind the Liberals and Conservatives heading into the election, Pedersen belies once leader Jagmeet Singh has his time in the spotlight, the tides will turn.

“Jagmeet is very qualified in his position and speaks out for people and that is where I am coming from,” she said.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr