Sign up for the battlefordsNOW newsletter

The Battlefords weigh in on provincial issues during TransformSK meet up

Dec 14, 2016 | 4:35 PM

As part of a new way to tackle the issues facing the province, citizens of the Battlefords and surrounding areas gathered at the Western Development Museum to voice their opinions and concerns on the current state of Saskatchewan.

The recent pan-industry consultation project, TransformSK, has been travelling around the province gathering public feedback on four main issues: the government, the economy, infrastructure and education.

TransformSK recently visited North Battleford on Dec. 14 with two meetings, one at 1 p.m. and again at 7 p.m.

There were nearly 20 residents present at the afternoon meeting, including retired farmers, members of school boards, municipal councillors, and business owners.

The President of the Saskatchewan Construction Association, Mark Cooper, and Curtis Hemming from the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce were present, listening to local concerns.

Some of the concerns brought up over the two-hour consultation included better engagement with First Nations groups and immigrants, welfare reform, outdated curriculums in education, and the government’s focus on short-term goals.

Cooper said that some of these points brought up in North Battleford have also been brought up in other areas in the province.

“Well each [consultation] is unique and different and so we probably haven’t heard the same thing in every one, but some common themes have absolutely emerged,” Cooper said. “Most commonly the need for economic diversification, so relying a little less on our commodities, the things we pull out of the ground, and more on adding value to those things and capturing that value and keeping it here in Saskatchewan.”

Other common themes across the province were the engagement with First Nations, investment into education and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, Cooper said.

At the end of the 14 city consultation, the businesses behind TransformSK, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, the Saskatchewan Construction Association, the Saskatchewan Mining Association, the Saskatchewan Manufacturing Council and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, will present the findings of the consultations to the provincial government with recommendations. That report is supposed to be completed in the next few months.

Regina and Lloydminster are the last cities on the TransformSK tour, with two meetings in each city on Dec. 15, however members of the province can also voice their opinions anonymously online on the project’s website in the coming days.

 

katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.com

@ksvenkeson