It’s been a different campaign than expected for the Saskatchewan Party nominee in the Battlefords, Jeremy Cockrill.
He won a contested nomination in late February and expected to hit the campaign running by knocking on doors and meeting people.
“Nomination night, I said to all the Sask. Party members I’m going to knock on every door in the riding this summer,” Cockrill said.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He said that once the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan came out and guidelines for door to door canvassing were brought in, as a party they agreed to get back onto the doorsteps.
“It’s been really nice to be back out there meeting people”, said Cockrill, who said he was able to get some door-to-door canvassing in before the writ drop.
He admits door knocking in the era of COVID-19 has been different. It’s a “lot of talking through glass doors and a lot of screen doors — people are not necessarily coming out and shaking hands. That’s what I’ve been used to in the past when I’ve been doing door-to-door canvassing is a firm handshake, and you start to feel a connection with the homeowner.”
He admits canvassing in a pandemic is “a little bit odd, but it’s been received even better than I thought it would be received. Before we started door knocking, again I thought ‘I think people are a little bit lonely at home. They’ve been stuck at home and they’re looking for some interaction’... I think a lot of people were just excited to have someone at their door asking them questions, asking them what they think of our province and our community.”
Cockrill says the response to the Sask. Party in the Battlefords has been positive.
“Now that we’re back to school, people are really excited to have their kids back in school and find some sense of normalcy again.”
He is proud of the party’s back to school plan and says the reaction from people in the riding is “they think we’re doing really well” on that. Cockrill also pointed to investments in renovations such as locally at John Paul II Collegiate.
As for health care, Cockrill said the government has significantly increased spending in health care, and he pointed to the completion of new Saskatchewan Hospital.
Cockrill also points to policies like the party’s plan for a ‘strong recovery’.
“People are excited about that. Our home renovation tax credit… the 10 per cent rebate on SaskPower bills. These are some positive things that are going to really help make life more affordable for people in Saskatchewan and the Battlefords. And there’s been a really strong reception to that.”
Cockrill is seeking to replace Sask. Party MLA Herb Cox and credits him for his support of his campaign.
“I’ve actually been really grateful that Herb has been quite helpful on the campaign the last couple of weeks, just helping me get signs ready and so on”, said Cockrill.
“They are big shoes to fill, but I’m young, I’ve got the energy, I’ve got the time. Let’s see how we can represent this community in Regina.”
What would your approach be for Saskatchewan to deal with and emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic?
“I think our government has done a pretty good job so far on the public health side. I think we continue to follow Dr. Shahab‘s recommendations. As we start to see less and less of the virus, we can continue opening up our province. We have probably one of the most open provinces if you will in our country, and people are grateful for that, but obviously everybody’s kind of bursting at the seams to get back to the way things were before COVID(-19).
“Economically, though that’s really our focus coming out of Covid is again getting more money into people’s pockets so that individual households can help stimulate our economy. And I think that’s how we’re going to come out of it from an economic perspective.
What issues do you see as main priorities for The Battlefords if elected?
“Number one, again, the priority is the economy. I’ve talked to a lot of people in this riding who have lost her job in the oil and gas sector, or they were working for an industry in the oil and gas industry or an industry that supported those sectors and now they’re not.
“...So there’s some challenges there that come with that, so I think that’s issue number one, and our party has been pretty full-throated support-wise in terms of the oil and gas sector. We plan to continue to be that voice for those factors in our province.
“Again, the other issues that people are thinking about in this riding our families. Today we announced new childcare spots, we announce the renewal of the Active Families Benefit out there, and so those are questions that are really on people’s minds.”
