Gord Wyant is a busy man.
As a potential new leader for the Saskatchewan Party, Wyant is making his way across the province to talk campaign issues, including a stop in Humboldt on Nov. 10.
Wyant has made stops at numerous Saskatchewan Urban Municipality Association meetings and many issues he heard there he expected to hear in Humboldt, including municipal infrastructure and revenue spending.
Wyant was most recently in the area for the Saskatchewan Party debate in Melfort on Oct. 26 with the Saskatchewan Party convention in Saskatoon following that on Nov. 4.
Coming off both those events, Wyant says he can see the camaraderie within the party.
“Our message is resonating between people within the party so we’re going to continue travel ling around the province and continue to send that message.”
Getting around the province and listening to the people of Saskatchewan is the most important part of this campaign, says Wyant, and the most important part of renewing the party.
“The premier has given us this great opportunity for renewal, not just within our party but within our government, it’s important for us to get that message out.”
Wyant is up against four other strong MLAs from the tightly knit Saskatchewan Party group; Ken Cheveldayoff, Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Alanna Koch, and Scott Moe.
While the race will decide who the party thinks is strong enough to lead the party into the 2020 election, and Wyant hopes the party thinks it is him, he is a member of a strong group of candidates right now, including three fellow caucus members.
Going forward, the economy should be the biggest focus for the Saskatchewan government, including balancing the deficit and Saskatchewan’s reliance on cyclical commodity prices.
“Those are the kinds of things we need to talk to Saskatchewan people about and on the same token remember we have a social responsibility as a party.”
Vulnerable people should also be a focus of the Saskatchewan party going forward, especially within the education and healthcare sectors.
It will take balance going forward and that is going to be a challenge, says Wyant.
“All social issues are economic issues, so we need to not lose focus on the people who are involved in that. We need to understand that investments in social programs really do have an economic return.”
Cost of programming is not the same as return on investment, says Wyant, and that is what the party needs to realize going forward.
Former Kelvington-Wadena MLA June Draude sees Wyant as someone who can keep that balance in focus, she says, including the balance between urban and rural.
Draude and former Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart were in Humboldt for Wyant’s campaign stop as leadership backers.
Wyant is one of the few MLAs to have both an economic and social portfolio within the caucus at the same time, says Draude.
Premier Wall knew that Wyant could be the one to understand both sides, she says.
No matter what portfolios he has been on, Wyant has always been a help to Stewart.
“He listens to people and he sees the whole picture; not just one or two segments of it.”
While Wyant is not sitting in a rural seat, Draude says it has been an interesting run for Wyant with both former Agriculture Ministers supporting Wyant in his campaign.
“(Wyant) tells you he’s not a farmer but he also tells you he listens. He knows in order to build the economy and help the people we have to be working together.”
To keep building the economy and growing Saskatchewan, says Draude, we need to continue to look upon our commonalities instead of our differences.
It is great to have these people on his side, says Wyant, since they will bring a lot of strength to his campaign, also to his leadership as well if he gets elected.
“It’s important to have them there, not just for their perspective but for their knowledge and expertise.”
