By Geoff Smith

Election 2016: Meet candidate Josh Hunt

Mar 21, 2016 | 8:00 AM

The provincial election is on April 4 and The Battlefords constituency has four candidates vying for the MLA seat in Regina.

Josh Hunt is running for the Green Party.

Geoff Smith: First of all, if elected, how would you help the following groups: children under 18, young families, and seniors?

Josh Hunt: Children, I think the answer is education. We need to get these children educated, and we need to remove a cost on education. Because, to say that if you want to be educated you’ve got to have money just doesn’t make sense. Part of the Green Party’s platform is to free education. The more educated people are, the more they succeed. The second was families? That goes into that education as well. To have a job that you’ve been educated to do and do well, you’re going to then have an income and be able to support a family a lot better. We would like to see social programs helping families that need help with anything. That comes into the guaranteed income, guaranteed liveable income for families. So that’s, I don’t know the exact number at this time, but there’s a set amount that, hey, you have a family, you live here in Saskatchewan, we’re going to help you out. And the elderly, they need care too. The idea that we’re just going to, uh, you’ve hit a certain age and we’re just going to kind of forget about you, doesn’t make sense. So are there going to be some private homes for them? Yeah, you know, you can run a business to take care of people. But there needs to be publicly funded homes for these people as well.

GS: What can be done to reduce the crime rate in North Battleford?

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JH: (laughs) That is a very good question. I don’t have a solid answer to that. I think that we need to get the community more involved for sure. But I think it stems to a deeper problem. We need to get relations repaired. We have really bad relations in town, a lot of angry people, and they’re angry on both sides. So I think preventing crime starts there. Getting people together, working together to stop this sort of stuff.

GS: What’s your opinion of public-private partnerships like the one being used to build the new Saskatchewan Hospital?

JH: Not a fan of it. You want private investors? Sure. But you shouldn’t have a private hospital completely privatized. It should be publicly funded. It should be open to the public. I’m not a fan of privatization across the board, pretty much.

GS: Given the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings, does our education system adequately teach students about the residential schools and First Nations issues in general?

JH: No. Not even close. I mean granted, when I went to school this was a long time ago, but it wasn’t touched. It wasn’t talked about. And residential schools weren’t really long ago. So it’s still fresh. It’s still there. We need to educate people about it and start to repair that way.

GS: Given the importance of the energy sector in this area, what would you do to improve conditions for the development of natural resources?

JH: I think we need to look at more renewable resources as a way to improve the energy. I mean, we have this giant ball of energy that’s up in the sky. How come we don’t have more houses with solar panels on them? It’s a really simple solution. We get some solar panels, we have capabilities of batteries to store this energy, and it comes around every day. So I think working with more renewable energies as opposed to burning carbon and all that stuff… we have a river just down from us. Why can’t we harness some energy from that? And wind. It’s windy here in the Battlefords. We could absorb energy from that as well.

GS: Where do you stand on how we provide temporary shelter for the homeless, i.e. the Lighthouse?

JH: I think it’s a great idea. Once again it’s something that’s a social program that should be funded publicly. It needs more attention. It needs more fundraising to it. It just needs more help than what we’re giving it right now. It’s a great program and I think it has improved the people that we see on the street here in the Battlefords. We do have people who are homeless and they need that and if we lose that, well, where have they got to go now?

GS: What do you see as the pros and cons of privatizing liquor stores like such as the one in Battleford, and should the North Battleford store be privatized as well?

JH: The pros and cons of that, well. Pros? I mean, obviously you’re going to have someone who’s going to make some profit, and he could be, or she could be a partner to some of these publicly funded things. But I think if we keep them public we get more funding through that. You get people with jobs then, that’s a set standard. You can’t just hire, like, you’re going to work at minimum wage and stay there for a long time. With it staying public, it goes, hey, we have a wage that you’re going to start at, and as you work there, you continue. You put in the time, you’re going to make more money. But public, like I said, the privatization of things just don’t seem like a safe route to go in my mind. Now, are there places for it? Yes. But what was a public income, turning that private, is actually now then taking money from the public. So I think it’s just a bad idea in general.

GS: Is enough being done to recognize issues with mental health and what more can be done?

JH: No. No, I don’t think there’s enough being done. It’s still stigmatized. You know, you hear, well, that person has a mental health problem, aw, sure they do, they’re coming up with whatever they need to. I think mental health is a big issue, and social programs are something that are going to help with that. I know that the Green Party is running on social programs to get people help with those aspects. I’m not exactly sure how to get that funding in there. But I do know that we need more funding in the mental health aspect of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, just more mental health awareness.

GS: Premier Brad Wall has come out against a federal tax on carbon emissions, saying it could be costly to the Saskatchewan economy. If not a tax, what could the province do to combat emissions, especially from emitters like SaskPower and SaskEnergy?

JH: I don’t have an answer to that one. Personally, I think the idea of taxing a company for what they’re putting into the air is perfectly acceptable. Yeah, we have a small number here in Saskatchewan. We’ve only got a million people. We’re not polluting that much compared to a larger populace. But we’re still polluting. And to think that that isn’t adding to the problem or creating more problems is, you’re turning a blind eye. Companies that do pollute and put things into the air, there should be a penalty or something on that, a tax, or what? I don’t know finances that well, I’m just kind of throwing it out there that yeah, they should be responsible for what they put in the air.

GS: This is the last question: at what point would a disagreement with your party result in your resignation?

JH: Like something in their platform I didn’t agree with?

GS: Anything.

JH: I don’t see anything in my future saying hey, you know, I can’t do this, because I’m lucky this party doesn’t have a, you need to do this, you need to say this. Well, you’re a person and you have your opinions. You’re allowed to have those. So as long as that exists, and I’m free to speak how I feel, then I’m happy with the party I’m in.

gsmith@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @smithco