By Sarah Rae

School board candidates want you to get involved

Sep 29, 2016 | 10:00 AM

Democracy is at risk when community members are apathetic about local politics say local school board candidates.

Margaret-Rose Uvery is campaigning against three incumbent board members for one of three seats representing North Battleford in the Living Sky School Division. North Battleford and the Luseland and Kerrobert area are the only two subdivisions heading for a vote on Oct. 26 out of eight. All other candidates won by acclamation.

Uvery said she would like to see more people involved in politics.

“There is too much corruption, too many things that go wrong when people aren’t involved. I always try to encourage people to get involved,” she said. “If you have any concerns and questions or you’re not sure how things work, then you should be talking to the people who are representing you and who you’re paying for.”

Uvery will be running against David Garth Link, Glenn Wouters and Richard Hiebert. In the Luseland and Kerrobert subdivision, Renee Jedlicka and Tracie Heintz are vying for the seat left by Jack Snell.

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Uvery, who got involved in politics after leaving the military in the 90s, lives between Hafford and North Battleford and has also served as a town councillor in Hafford. She said one of her major problems with the education system is a lack of political instruction, because people should be aware of and involved in how their tax money is spent.

“If people aren’t educated about how the system works and why your vote is so important, then they tend to be fairly apathetic and that’s so unfortunate, because one of the most valuable tools you have as a citizen is your vote; plain and simple,” she said.

Glenn Wouters said wants to remain on the school board because there are several initiatives he was involved in which he wants to see through, including a program emphasising reading, writing and programming to help First Nations students succeed.

He said the school board plays a major role in the lives of community members, especially families with children, so people should get involved and talk to their candidates. He previously served on a health board and said because of low voter turnout, the government decided to just appoint board members instead.

“I like it when board members are elected and I think we need a good turnout to show that people are interested,” he said. “It’s important that we do get people to come out and vote.”

The acclaimed board members as of Sept. 21 are Ken Arsenault representing Spiritwood, Ron Kowalchuk representing Hafford, Todd Miller representing Wilkie, Ronna Pethick representing Unity and Cut Knife, Kim Gartner representing Macklin and Glen Leask representing the town of Battleford.

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.