With the provincial election taking place in under two weeks, MBC News has been working on securing interviews with candidates in the northern ridings over the last few weeks. MBC News was able to secure an interview with Leroy Laliberte, NDP candidate for Athabasca.
Below you will find a transcript of the interview and the audio version of the interview.
*Note- At the time of publishing this article, MBC has reached out to all other Athabasca candidates but has not heard back.
MBC News: Just to start off here, can you just tell me a little bit about yourself Leroy?
Leroy Laliberte: Well, my name’s Leroy Laliberte. I’m originally from Beauval. That’s where I’m from. That’s where my family’s from. But I do have ties into different parts of northern Saskatchewan, Île-à-la-Crosse, and Buffalo Narrows, and I’m married into Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation. Just a while back, I was working with Flying Dust First Nation as their community wellness manager and I’m the director and founder of a group called Burn Youth/BURN Consulting.
MBC News: Getting into it, the cost of living in the province has gone up quite a bit in recent years and especially in the north where prices have already been high. If elected, what would you do to help northerners with the cost of living?
Leroy Laliberte: Well, and one of the things that was said, we had had the opportunity to bring, our NDP leader, Carla Beck, into northwestern Saskatchewan. And there was a northern strategy that was introduced, where we were talking about lowering the cost for families in the north, cutting the PST on groceries and children’s clothing, suspend gas tax to help families keep more of their money in their pockets. The cost of living obviously is quite high throughout the province and then it is higher in the north.
MBC News: Education wise, you know, it’s pretty big priority for lots of northerners. So, if elected, how would you support education in Saskatchewan and in the north? And what are your some of your thoughts on the teachers strike with the province that happened last year?
Leroy Laliberte: You know, and that was something that we’ve heard a lot about was the strikes. You know, obviously, the Sask Party didn’t want to sit down with the teachers and listen to them. They kept going to the to the picket lines and talking about how they were over exhausted. You know, they were working really hard, and we’ve heard it even just a couple of weeks as school started this fall where they’re feeling exhausted already. You know, the classroom size, the amount of students that they have in their classrooms, Sask Party wouldn’t work with them, they didn’t have a contract to work with, you know, from October of 2023, which is, you know, ridiculous. To be able to sit down with our educators that work directly with our children. I have children in school myself, and my oldest, there was the possibility of her not having the opportunity to graduate. And it affected a lot of students. It affected their education, and it affected the parents and the teachers big time. So, you know, we’ve been listening, to and sitting down with multiple teachers, multiple educators throughout, northern Saskatchewan and throughout the province. And, we want to work with, with the teachers to be able to get the best outcome for our children.
MBC News: And another concern is access to health care in the north. How would you plan to support Northerners with, helping them get better health care because, you know, many of them have to travel hundreds of kilometers to see service providers. How would you help support health care in the north?
Leroy Laliberte: ‘Well, and one of the things that, we talked about was hiring more health care workers. To recruit and train more doctors and nurses so everybody would be able to access the necessary care needed. And to be able to train them right at home. You know, we have the opportunity to be able to work with the communities and have these individuals trained right at home. Wouldn’t that be awesome to be able to take the educational component, the education that you needed right at home to be able to support the health care workers and health care professionals. So that way, there’s a better future for our system.
MBC News: And in recent years, lots of indigenous groups have kind of raised concerns over policies passed by the provincial government that they say failed to consult and accommodate them, you know, like selling Crown Lands and the Saskatchewan First Act. Kind of what are your thoughts on these policies, and how would you plan to prioritize consulting indigenous groups?
Leroy Laliberte: Well, you know, I haven’t traveled around the north and made any type of promises. One of the promises I did make was to be able to properly, consult northern residents when it came to I mean, that Sask First Act was something that, there was no proper consultation done whatsoever by Jim, by Scott, Moe, his Sask Party decision that was made on their own, and it upset it a lot of people. There was people that were opposed to it. There was a lot that traveled from the north to the legislature in Regina that stood there, and they were opposed to all of this. And there was no consultation of people in the north, you know, and a lot of people that do know me know that, I’m very vocal, and, I would sit down with them and properly have consultation with them. Because that’s what’s needed before making any type of decisions, especially when it’s going to affect northern residents. Duty to consult and accommodate is a thing, and it hasn’t been utilized.
MBC News: Recently in Meadow Lake, two women that were working at the justice unit, they got sent home for wearing orange shirts on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and then that kind of sparked Tribal Councils to push for the day to become a provincial holiday. Would you push for the government to make the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a stat holiday for the province?
Leroy Laliberte: 100% certain that I would. And it was something that our leader, Carla Beck, has said recently. And it was something that was already on the table, and, of course, they didn’t prioritize it. And I’m talking about the Sask Party. It was something that should have been done already, and it’s a shame that these women were were sent home for wearing orange on that day. It affects so many people, not only in the north, but throughout the province and this country. And it’s supposed to be a day where we would be able to educate other people that dont understand what reconciliation is. Our people have spoken the truth. Now it’s up to the government to speak on reconciliation, and that just shows you how behind we are when it comes to reconciliation in this province.
MBC News: And, another concern for northerners is northern infrastructure. How would you lobby for northerners to bring, you know, better roads and access to northern communities if elected?
Leroy Laliberte: Well and that again, that was something that was talked about when Carla Beck introduced the northern strategy, was to be able to work in partnership with the First Nations Metis people. And, and talking about investing in highway maintenance, you know, like highways 155, 123, to ensure the safety for all northerners because a lot of, people have to access a lot of services that we don’t have in the north, and they have to travel south on these roads. So, it was something that, that was brought up in investing in the highway maintenance as needed.
MBC News: You know, around the province, there’s been talks about the kind of mental health and addictions crisis. What do you feel are the root causes for this crisis and kind of how would you aim to address the issues?
Leroy Laliberte: Well and again, it’s working in partnership with with the community members, with the First Nations and Metis people, and of course, community members in general to be able to bring these services into the communities. Our leader had spoke about, bringing these services back into the communities where they’re needed, and they’re needed, throughout the province.
MBC News: Another issue in the province has been, you know, a big rise in homelessness. How would you work to kind of address the housing crisis and make sure more people in the province have a safe space to call home?
Leroy Laliberte: Well, making vacant, fast housing units available for people needing homes, introducing the rent protections to tenants, and restoring direct payment for rent and utilities, landlords for income support clients. You know, there’s a lot of homes that, that have been kind of, there’s a lot of places that are kind of just sitting. And so that was one of the things that that we talked about was, and and again, that’s it’s a part of that northern strategy, tackling the housing crisis to introduce the landlord and tenant rent protection act, to protect renters from unfair rent hikes, to open 3,000 vacant housing units for families in need. You know, there’s many ways to be able to, to work towards fixing these crises.
MBC News: Well, awesome. Those were kind of all the questions that I had for you, Leroy. Thank you. Was there anything else that you would like to add?
Leroy Laliberte: Well, like I said, previously, the Sask Party and Jim haven’t been listening to the people in northern Saskatchewan. Jim has had over 2 years to have advocated issues impacting northerners and has been on-site of the government. He can’t provide results. Like, you know, he had 2 years now in the by-election to be able to work directly with these communities to give proper consultation to the people in northern Saskatchewan and the people of Athabasca, but there hasn’t been any work done. It’s time for change, and that’s all we’ve been hearing throughout the province. It’s time for change, and, the NDP is willing to work directly with the communities as needed. We’re going through many crises, and it’s time for us to get to work here and get our people back on track. So, I’m humbly asking the people of Athabasca, throughout northern Saskatchewan for your support and to vote Leroy, your boy Leroy, from northern Saskatchewan NDP candidate for this election. Please get to the polls. You matter. Your vote matters. Your families matter. And this is the time that we have the opportunity to create change.