The leaders of Saskatchewan’s two major political parties made whistle stops across the province Saturday, as their campaigns wrap up.
NDP Leader Ryan Meili focused on rural constituencies as he visited Indian Head- Milestone and Last Mountain-Touchwood to give those candidates one last push.
“We’ve been on a lot of miles and been to a lot of constituencies, a lot of rural constituencies,” said Meili. “Jared Clarke and Thera Nordal are particularly excellent candidates.”
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe focused on the urban centers with stops in Regina and Saskatoon.
“The bulk of the population live in those two urban centers, when you throw in Moose Jaw, North Battleford and Prince Albert, you do have a large percentage of the population here in the province,” said Moe. “So, it should come as no surprise that all leaders of parties are spending some time in urban Saskatchewan, but also spending some time in the rural areas of the province.”
Meili says these last few days of the campaign are incredibly important, as some people are still undecided.
“There still are folks who’ll make up their minds in these last couple days,” said Meili. “They want to see what the campaign has to say all the way throughout.”
Both leaders were asked if they thought there was a lack of focus on rural and agricultural issues in the province during the campaign. Meili said agriculture is important to him because of his family’s farming background.
“One of the things we’ve committed to in our platform, and have been talking about, is raising the margins of agristability, which the end result is more support for farmers, especially those who have tough years,” said Meili. “This is something that the Sask. Party has refused to do, despite some pretty tough years in certain areas of the province.”
Moe says the Sask. Party has, and always will be, an ally for farmers in the province.
“We realize agriculture is the strongest industry we have in this province, that’s why we are concerned with Saskatchewan’s relationship with those over 150 countries that we export products to,” said Moe. “We want to ensure that we are advocating in those countries to preserve the market share that we have. That’s why we are opening up international trade offices around the world.”
Both leaders are set to make stops in Prince Albert Sunday, with Moe also visiting North Battleford, and Meili travelling to Saskatoon and Batoche.
