KAMSACK - In a recent gathering in Kamsack’s Trackside Garden on the 14th of July, residents expressed their concerns regarding the state of health care and education in their community with local New Democratic Party (NDP) Candidates, Wynn Fedorchuk and Mike Woollard.
The meeting shed light on the challenges faced by rural Saskatchewan and the impact on essential services. The meeting began with a reflection on events that transpired one year ago in a local parking lot, where MLA Terry Dennis and his team faced public dissatisfaction. The community members raised questions about the progress made in the past year and the current state of healthcare facilities. Concerns were expressed regarding the number of available beds and access to doctors' appointments and prescriptions.
Some attendees shared personal experiences, noting the difficulties in receiving timely healthcare services. During the event, political candidates also had the opportunity to address the community. One candidate, Wynn Fedorchuk, emphasized his experience in the Ministry of Social Services and highlighted the importance of addressing poverty strategies and government spending. Fedorchuk said, “I couldn't find any local area social work. There's hardly anything you could find. The wages were in Manitoba. I wanted to move closer to home. My hometown is Pelly, Saskatchewan. Yorkton was already too far for me to travel. So Swan River was the closest place that I could get my degree. I’m definitely happy I did because, I'm gaining a lot of knowledge and experience of what they're doing and they're doing things quite differently.”
Another candidate, Mike Woollard, a teacher in Kamsack’s Victoria School, shared concerns about the challenges faced in education, particularly in terms of class sizes, split grades, and the remuneration of teaching assistants. “It's becoming challenging,” said Woollard. “ TAs (Teaching Assistants) are the lifeblood of a school and our youths, I talked to a couple of TAs. They've had their their sons or daughters graduate, and one's working at Walmart this summer and one's working in Canadian Tire and they're both making $1 less than their parents. So there's something to be said about the value of education. What's gonna happen is the best people to be teaching our kids and helping teach our kids are not going to be teaching our kids. They're gonna go because frankly, I can work at Walmart for the same wage.”
Community members discussed the need for effective public health strategies and expressed worry about the potential privatization of health care in the future. The candidates acknowledged the importance of addressing these issues to ensure accessible and sustainable health care for future generations.
The gathering concluded with an open question and answer session, allowing attendees to share personal stories and concerns. Some individuals highlighted the challenges faced in the healthcare system, while others expressed frustration with the lack of attention given to rural communities by political representatives. The candidates addressed these concerns and emphasized the need for improved communication and engagement with the community. Fedorchuk said, “What I'm noticing that needs to happen in government is we need to face the fact that Michael and I are not experts in health care. We're not experts in labs. We're not experts in law. We're just two guys that care about our communities. But we are not experts. What needs to happen in government is we need to bring people to the conversation. So when we started discussing health care, education funding, bring in the voices who were actually impacted by going into our campaign with this idea. We can't be talking about health care without health care people. We can't be talking about education without people in education.”
Overall, the meeting discussed pressing issues faced by the local community regarding health care and education. The discussions shed light on the shortage of healthcare professionals, the need for proper funding and resources, and the importance of supporting sustainable education programs. The concerns expressed by attendees and community members emphasized the significance of these issues in their daily lives, urging political candidates to take action to address the community's needs.
