The leader of Saskatchewan’s Green Party says northern citizens should be involved in informing government and policy direction.
Green Party Leader Victor Lau is laying out his ideas for northern development in his party’s ‘Real Change’ platform.
Lau says the idea of participatory democracy is key to his party’s platform.
He says this idea would allow people to inform leaders using email, social media, letters, phone calls and town hall meetings to communicate what they want for their communities.
“We just really want to talk to people on the ground and see what kind of northern economic development strategy they want to see,” says Lau. “Instead of us telling northern Saskatchewan what to do, we want to ask northerners what kind of lifestyle they want and how we can facilitate that.”
Lau says this type of ground-up approach is a more co-operative and effective strategy for northern development.
The Green Party leader also says if his party is elected on April 4, it would create an overview of what the current provincial government has done for northern development.
“What kind of revenue streams and investment has the current government put into the north and what has come of it?” he asks. “We want to show northerners that overview.”
This overview would become the basis for any future dialogue about ‘real change’ for the north, according to Lau.
The Green Party’s northern candidates include Micheal Lessard for Cumberland and Max Morin for the Athabasca constituency.