Buckley Belanger will attempt to make it seven election wins, as he will seek the NDP nomination in Athabasca.
The 25-year vet, who had been contemplating his political future in recent weeks, said the provincial government seizure of two northern trapping cabins motivated him to continue in politics.
“When we saw two trappers cabin being hauled out of the north, that the arrogance of this government and the treatment of northern Saskatchewan people have inspired me to re-enter the race and continue on the fight to have northern people respected,” Belanger said.
Belanger who hosted a summit in February in Buffalo Narrows on issues affecting the north said there is the beginning of an uprising, a push back by residents.
Belanger noted that the commercial fishery, the loss of northern mining and jobs, infrastructure and other cuts have forced northerners to work with less.
He called the current relationship between the Moe government and the north as a “mistreatment,” and a neglect of the north and its resources.
“Giving the northern people less and less and less is why people are getting so angry. This is what happens when you ignore a certain sector of people or a certain region of people. They’re going to fight back and I see that starting to rise up,” Belanger explained. “We’re taking all the risks to our way of life, but we’re getting no benefits. That’s why I keep telling people we’ve got to rise up and get organized. We’ve got to help each other and we’ve got to be kind to each other.”
A nomination meeting will need to be held to determine if there are any challengers. In the 2016 general election, Belanger took 65 percent of the vote.