A desire to clear up some unfinished business has prompted Bob Deptuck to make a second run at federal politics.
The Rocanville resident was recently announced as the Green Party candidate for the Souris-Moose Mountain Constituency in the May 2 federal election. Deptuck also ran in the 2008 election and finished in fourth place. Despite that tough finish, he is back with a desire to continue spreading the Green Party message in southeast Saskatchewan.
"There's still a lot of people to talk to and a lot of people that were stuck voting along party lines this last time and the more I can get out there and present the Green Party platform, the more, hopefully, I can change some minds," said Deptuck.
An avid outdoorsman who is employed by the provincial government's Dutch Elm Disease control program, Deptuck said his primary concerns as far the election is concerned involve the environment. He said although southeast Saskatchewan is a rich area for natural resources, there needs to be a happy balance between resource extraction and environmental stewardship.
"I think people don't want our success to spoil the good things we have down here," he said. "It's a balancing act to find that balance between success and prosperity and make sure that our environment isn't degraded.
"Now that Saskatchewan is booming, I don't see any reason why we can't start putting a little bit of that success to work in developing some alternative energies. Around Moosomin we now have the wind farm and despite its success and its obvious benefits to the environment, people are still not keen on it."
In the days and weeks leading up to the election, Deptuck said he will continue to push the message that with our oil and gas reserves coming towards the end of the line, the country must begin looking at other, more environmentally friendly, forms of energy.
"It's a very successful business, but at what cost?" said Deptuck. "We are seeing the end of the line of easy oil. I think Canada and Saskatchewan are perfectly in line to start being a leader in renewable energy."
As for the campaign itself, Deptuck admitted that due to financial constraints he won't be as active as he would like. He estimates his campaign budget in the 2008 election was $5,000 and said it will likely be even less this time around. Still, he intends to hit all the major events and candidate forums in the constituency.
"I am not a member of one of those high-powered federal parties that dumps money at their candidates. Mr. Komarnicki, I think his budget in the last federal election was $85,000, mine was $5,000. We don't have an electoral district association in the southeast which is a high priority for us and that is our goal for after this election.
"But I think this is an important thing to do. The other parties are fairly limited in their scope. People get down on the Green Party for being a one issue party but protecting our home and protecting our home is the main issue. We can't have success in the future if we don't protect our home.
"I encourage people to really become informed voters. I was disappointed (in the last election) when a lot of people voted along party lines. The Liberals put in a paper candidate and the NDP ran a 19-year-old university student from Regina and they
both garnered more votes. That tells me people are just voting party lines, so I really encourage people to learn the issues and learn what each party has in their platform and don't be bribed with their own money. Make sure that any programs that the parties are promising take care of all aspects including environmental health and social health and economic health."
