MOOSOMIN — Earlier this year, Souris-Moose Mountain MP Dr. Robert Kitchen announced he would not be running in the next federal election. Former Moosomin-Montmartre MLA Steven Bonk decided to seek nomination for the MP position. Bonk was nominated and will be running in the next federal election.
Reflecting on the past year, Dr. Kitchen pointed out some of the challenges and opportunities in Souris-Moose Mountain.
What were some of the highlights in your riding this year?
It’s that time of year when we want to reflect on what happened in the past and give gratitude for what we have at the present and hope for the future. The challenges that we’ve had for the riding have been quite immense in so many ways, for the families that have issues over these last nine years.
This last year has not been any better with this present government, and it’s made it very challenging with ever-increasing debt that’s going to have to be paid back, unfortunately. So my constituents throughout the riding are having to deal with costs, and ever-increasing food costs, heating costs, electricity costs, supplies, etc. whether it’s a small business or a big business or just a family. So those are challenging times that they’ve had over the last while.
What do you think 2025 holds?
We look for how we can improve on those aspects. For me, I think one of the ways that needs to happen is we need a change in government. That needs to happen and that can’t come soon enough. By changing that government, that’s going to make a big difference. It’s going to put some faith back in the population to get them to believe that there’s a chance that we’re going to see things move forward.
The first thing that needs to happen is we need to axe that carbon tax. That carbon tax is continually adding costs to everything we do. And you know the saying, basically, if you tax the farmer and then tax the trucker and eventually tax the business, ultimately, the one that has to pay that tax is the consumer and the population, and that tax just keeps adding up. By getting rid of that, it will be a great start to getting things back in a situation that hopefully people can look at things and ultimately have money in their pocket, and that they are the only ones that are making that decision, not somebody else making it for them, but giving them that ability for them alone to do what they want to do with their money.
We have a GST break until Feb. 15—is it going to accomplish much?
When you look at it, what the NDP and the Liberals did was push this through, and ultimately, what it’s going to do is just add to our national debt. It’s going to add $1.6 billion to the national debt. Yes, it’s going to give that short little break on things like potato chips and on beer, wine, and on certain things. But when you look at Lego, for example, for kids it’s on Lego up to a certain age, but anything over, it’s not on. It’s going to be a huge challenge for our businesses.
You know, there’s the assumption by this government, that all the business does is just hit a button and everything changes and stops, but now they have to go through every item they’ve got, they’ve got to look at their computers, they’ve got to work on their computers and programming etc, to put it in place for those two months, which is going to be a huge challenge and cost to them. Then two months from now, they’re going to have to change it back. On top of which, a month after that happens on April 1, he’s going to increase the Carbon Tax, which is going to add close to a 19 per cent increase in costs.
It’s basically a bait and switch is what they’re doing, and that’s going to be have a huge impact on people.
What are some of the positives in Souris-Moose Mountain right now?
We look at so many aspects that we have out there and you look at aspects that we don’t want to see harmed. Ultimately, we look at our agriculture industry and our farmers and the huge challenges that they have. They are great stewards of the land, and they’re doing as best they can.
We had a private member’s bill that just passed through the Senate, which will be looking at dealing with aspects for certain farmers, and in particular, dealing with fresh fruits and vegetables. But again, this PMB will actually decrease those costs and make it easier for them to do their business. That’s what we want to see for our farmers.
We want to see that for our oil and gas industry, our potash industry, our energy sector that we have such great things for. There’s so many avenues that we have in the riding that we want to see continue to be expanded and a change in government, I think, will make that huge step so that there will be some positive steps.
The energy sector, especially in the riding—we’ve essentially got it all from oil and gas, the rare earth minerals, potash—it’s being on the cusp of so much excitement in the region.
You’re right—we do have that aspect. We look at the windmill projects that are being built and proposed, ones that are out there, and the challenges that people have one way to decide yay or nay to it. But ultimately, there’s one that’s being looked at in Lajord, there’s another one being looked at in Weyburn, and hopefully those—if they go through—will create jobs and entities and provide that energy that we need, because that’s what’s going to be needed for our future.
Energy is a huge source as we move forward, and if we start looking at data collection centres, etc, these places are going to require lots and lots of energy. And we in our riding have all those positives. We have solar that can provide energy, we have wind that can provide energy, we have coal that can provide energy, we have gas and oil that also can provide energy. It’s a progressive part that not only helps our riding, but it helps all of Saskatchewan and will help across this country.
Looking ahead, if we see an election, there’s the opportunity for a new government in power, but that will mean a change in Souris-Moose Mountain.
I’m still here, and will be here until the election, and then I will be here after that fact. What I want to see is how can we further advance that, and I will continue to do that, no matter what my role will be.
My constituents are my family, and I never want to turn my back on my family. So I want to continue to do what I can to advance that in these times—now and for our future. And I will continue to do that as best I can, absolutely.
