Daily Herald Contributor
Prince Albert Northcote NDP candidate Nicole Rancourt said her top priorities will be wiping away crime and improving affordability, two issues she has heard about while knocking on doors in the community.
Rancourt said she’s focused on listening as the 2024 provincial election campaign begins, and public safety and cost of living are two issues she’s constantly hearing about. She’s confident the NDP platform will address voters’ concerns.
“They (voters) want to see individuals being supported and are tired of the Sask. Party,” Rancourt said. “(Voters) are now looking to our NDP as the party to bring the needed change.”
Rancourt joined Prince Albert Carlton NDP nominee Carolyn Brost Strom, and NDP leader Carla Beck for the opening of the new NDP campaign office in Prince Albert on Wednesday.
Beck opened the first full day of the campaign blasting Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party for the way they’ve managed the province’s finances. She said Saskatchewan has a management problem, not a revenue problem, and said her party would improve addictions services, reduce crime, and reduce the cost of living if elected.
Beck said voters need to ask themselves if they are better off after six years under Scott Moe’s leadership.
“It’s time for a change, and we’re going to deliver that change,” Beck told supporters.
“Saskatchewan has so much potential. We see it in every corner of this province, and nowhere is that more apparent than here in Prince Albert, but under Scott Moe and the Sask. Party, Sask. Party MLAs have ignored the people of this city.”
Beck said they’re hearing public safety, and the costs of living are two major concerns in Prince Albert. She said too many people don’t feel safe letting their children walk home from school, while others are struggling to pay all their bills.
In September, the NDP announced they would suspend the Gas Tax on Day One, if elected. On Wednesday, Beck said eliminating the 15 cent/litre gas tax would save families around $350. She also reiterated plans to remove the PST on children’s clothing and groceries, a move the NDP says would save families hundreds.
On homelessness, Beck said changes to the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program have made the challenge even more difficult. The province’s SIS program saw direct payments sent to clients instead of landlords, a move landlords said would make evictions more likely. The province originally said the change would help promote independence, but in November 2021 resumed sending payments to landlords for “high needs clients with complex challenges.”
“We’ve lost rental housing,” Beck said. “I can forgive when people make mistakes. When we see a government actively going against advice, being told that this change is going to make homelessness (and) is going to make mental health and addictions worse in our communities, and they stubbornly plow ahead with it—refuse to listen—only to see people and communities suffer, I think that’s unforgiveable.”
Prince Albert Northcote NDP candidate, Nicole Rancourt has announced that top of her priorities is wipe away crime and improved affordability in the community which she has heard residents talking about while campaigning.
On crime, Beck reaffirmed the NDP’s plan to scrap the Marshals Service, and touted the NDP’s four point plan to reduce crime. The Saskatchewan Party proposal would see the Saskatchewan Marshal’s Service (SMS) headquartered in Prince Albert at an annual cost of around $20 million.
Instead, Beck said she would take that money and hire more local police officers. She also said the NDP would create a task force to target organized crime and drug traffickers, as well as a rebate program for security upgrades.
Meanwhile, Premier Scott Moe announced on in Saskatoon on Wednesday that a Saskatchewan Party government would increase the Graduate Retention Program to try and keep young people from leaving Saskatchewan.
“Today, young people are facing cost of living pressures just like everyone else, so we will increase the benefit by 20 per cent to reflect those pressures and make life more affordable for young people working in Saskatchewan,” Moe said in a press release.
Four-year university graduates can now receive a maximum of $24,000 instead of $20,000. Students from three-year undergraduate programs will now receive a maximum of $18,000 instead of $15,000. Graduates from two-to-three-year certificate and diploma programs will receive a maximum of $7,680 compared to $6,400 before, while graduates with a one-year certificate, diploma, or journeyperson program will see the benefit increase from $3,000 to $3,600.
