YORKTON - In case you haven’t noticed the political signs sprouting on lawns amid the ghost and goblin decorations of Halloween, we are in election mode.
In fact thanks to a badly managed effort at the provincial election Saskatchewan is actually in the midst of two elections, the campaigns for both municipal mayor and council, and provincially for MLAs happening at the same time.
The result has to be a level of voter confusion – in fact a candidate for Yorkton MLA was asked about his run for Council at a recent Chamber of Commerce function.
With both provincial and municipal terms extending four years there was zero need to create a situation where candidates are tripping over each other as they seek support, but alas we are left with the situation.
And certainly some issues overlap enough that certain questions will work for whichever election the candidate knocking on the door is running in.
For example, what is the plan to help those who are homelessness?
Locally, we have fire chief Trevor Morrisey at work trying to get all the agencies who might help together to eliminate duplication of services and provide a clear road map to where a homeless person might find help.
That’s a good thing because as winter nears the need for a warm, safe bed becomes more immediate.
Certainly there is a growing concern in Yorkton, and Council moved to make the rules governing pitching a tent in a local park clearer, citing safety concerns.
And we see financial institutions moving to close in building ATM areas to prevent loitering in the night.
But neither effort helps the homeless.
Making tenting in parks and closing the doors to a warm space helps them not at all.
And maybe it simply will make them more desperate for a warm spot – and that might mean breaking into a garage or an abandoned building becomes a better option than a night on the streets in January.
So when talking to those seeking your vote perhaps ask how they see helping the homeless.
The answer is not simply locking more doors, or hiring provincial marshals.
There are root issues behind most homeless.
It might be property taxes pushing rents ever higher.
It might be a minimum wage that is among the lowest in the nation that pushes even some with jobs to their cars to sleep.
It might be holes in mental health care supports.
It might be many things, most of which are changeable by one level of government, or another.
The question is which candidates remember it is people on the streets and helping them find a home needs to be high on every candidate’s priority list.
