A University of Saskatchewan professor says it is disappointing northern and Indigenous issues have not played a more prominent role in the provincial election campaign.
Ken Coates teaches in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the U of S.
He said both the Saskatchewan Party and NDP have failed to put forward a transformative vision that would change the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the province.
“Neither party has really gone out of their way to articulate an Indigenous partnership that would actually make sense to a lot of people in the country and that always worries me,” he said.
At the same time, Coates said both parties have failed to put forward a comprehensive northern strategy that could make a real difference for people living in this part of the province.
“I think at some point people will wake up to the fact that the north is by far and away the poorest part of the country, of the province. That we need to do a lot more to provide economic stability and services that the government has actually cut back on many of the services in the region and moved personnel out. We need a much better northern strategy than we have now.
The NDP currently holds both northern seats in the province.
Voters in Saskatchewan go to the polls Monday.
(PHOTO: Ken Coates. File photo.)