The Liberal campaign of Larry Ingram got some big-name assistance Nov. 26 in Battlefords-Lloydminster.
Minister of public safety Ralph Goodale was in North Battleford. He was at their campaign office near Frontier Centre where he met supporters and held meetings with various stakeholders in the community during the day.
Goodale said his main motivation for being in North Battleford was to support Ingram and his campaign in the riding.
“I got to know Larry two years ago in the federal campaign of 2015,” said Goodale. “We became good friends at that time and I was delighted to hear he was interested in running again in this constituency in the by-election.”
He said Larry “had the skill, but even more importantly, the real determination and dedication to be a wonderful Member of Parliament.”
The meetings Goodale was involved in particularly focused on housing and community-development issues facing North Battleford and the surrounding area. It included meetings with representatives of various First Nations in the area, as well as city officials.
Community safety coordinator Herb Sutton confirmed at Monday’s council meeting that he had met with Goodale; he added Goodale also met with members of the Battlefords Affordable Housing and Homelessness committee (BAHA).
Goodale said he was discussing “the opportunities we can envisage for co-operation and collaboration to make sure we are tackling the social issues that need to be addressed and grasping the economic opportunities.”
He noted the federal government is rolling out a new national housing strategy, something that the Battlefords and region could take advantage of.
Goodale said a number of people in the Battlefords and area had “very good ideas about the kinds of investments that both the government of Canada and the province of Saskatchewan can make jointly in and around the Battlefords to improve the quality of social housing and affordable housing, to improve the physical supply of social housing, and to create a much more satisfactory inventory of facilities here.”
He also pointed to the economic spinoffs in jobs and growth. “When you’re investing in housing, you’re also investing in economic development.”
A related issue for the region is crime, a topic that recently received national attention in an article in Maclean’s magazine.
In the wake of that article, Mayor Ryan Bater indicated in media reports that he wanted to see federal and provincial programs and policies aligned with the city’s needs on that issue.
“I’m anxious to pursue that with the mayor, because I think he’s got a point,” said Goodale.
As for how the federal government could assist, Goodale pointed to the government’s launch of a national strategy on gangs and community violence. The feds will be contributing $100 million a year to community-based approaches to dealing with gangs and violent crime, and that would be in addition to other efforts currently in place.
There have been efforts to address the gang issue before, but Goodale said there “needs to be much greater co-ordination and there needs to be more resources behind it.” He also indicated an approach that involved all levels of government was necessary.
“All levels of government and all programming within levels of government needs to work collaboratively together.”
Goodale had plenty to say on other initiatives the government is pursuing, such as their commitment to infrastructure investment as well as investment in agriculture.
He pointed to the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, announced recently by federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay at Regina’s Agribition. It amounts to a $1 billion federal investment in agriculture over the next five years.
On trade issues, Goodale noted the government’s agenda highlights ”every single one of the trade priorities from the province of Saskatchewan.”
He spoke of more access for beef and pork into Asia and Latin America, and he also welcomed the demise of Country of Origin labelling in the USA. Goodale also pointed to the feds’ recent fight with China on possible restrictions that were going to be imposed on Canadian canola last year.
“We won that fight with the Chinese,” said Goodale, adding “that’s a $2 billion per year market for Saskatchewan producers.”
The minister also noted new legislation was being finished up to prevent the kind of issues farmers faced from the rail-backlog situation of a few years ago. The changes ensure the rail companies are on the hook if they don’t honour their contracts with farmers to deliver grain to the ports in a timely manner.
“We’ve changed the law, so there are consequences – reciprocal penalties,” said Goodale.
In general, Goodale describes the Liberal by-election pitch to voters as coming down to “shared prosperity, growth, and fairness – those are the key things.”
However, the Liberals still have a steep hill to climb in Battlefords-Lloydminster, a riding the Conservatives have held over the last 20 years.
One policy the Liberals have struggled mightily to gain traction on in the region has been the carbon tax issue. Goodale explained there were benefits to a national carbon tax for the province of Saskatchewan, particularly when it came to getting pipelines approved across the country.
“The issue is how can you best put a price on pollution, so that we can integrate economic policy with environmental policy,” said Goodale.
“You need that to approve pipelines. And Western Canada needs pipelines,” said Goodale. “If your pipeline policy ignores or drives right by environmental policy, you’ll never get the approvals. The last 10 years have demonstrated that.”
Goodale also pointed out the province would have the first right to design the program, and that all the revenue comes to the province, not Ottawa.
That opens a range of options for the province, he said.
“They could decide to roll back all of the tax increases that were in last spring’s provincial budget,” Goodale said.
“It’s those tax increases that created the backlash in Saskatchewan that got the provincial government into such hot water! With a price on pollution, they could actually eliminate all of those tax increases, and still be money ahead for the province of Saskatchewan.”
For his part, Ingram welcomed Goodale’s involvement and particularly the fountain of information he provided.
“I’m thinking it is absolutely awesome that he took time out of his busy schedule to give me the support that he is giving me today,” said Ingram.
“He has a really good handle on the Indigenous situation and the Indigenous issues, and the housing issues. I think that his ideas and knowledge on agriculture far surpasses that of my own, and I’m thinking it’s just awesome that he comes and gives us this information today.”
As for his own campaign efforts, Ingram says they have continued to knock on doors and get their message out, and are now focusing on getting people out to vote during the advanced poll period Dec. 1-4 and on Election Day Dec. 11.
