Saskatchewan Party leadership candidate Tina Beaudry-Mellor says she wants a different approach to issues like suicide, poverty and domestic violence that plague northern Saskatchewan.

The former Minister of Social Services made the comments after speaking with community leaders during a recent trip to the northern village of Pinehouse. On Thursday, she released her platform for engaging northern Saskatchewan. The platform calls for strategic investments, including training in trades and vocational skills, and exploring certification for personal care aides helping community elders and for early learning educators.

However, Beaudry-Mellor says there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to current challenges. Instead, she wants to look at what individual communities need instead of evaluating the region as a whole.

“I think we can probably achieve something if we work with one community at a time and see what works and what doesn’t work, and try to build some success that can be modeled and emulated and then go from there,” she said.

Although she acknowledges the approach will take more time, Beaudry-Mellor said it’s worth it to make sure the job is done right.

For the rest of this story, please see the Oct. 6 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.