Yorkton Chamber hosts provincial forum

There are five candidates running in the 2024 Saskatchewan provincial election for the Yorkton constituency. (Sierra D'Souza Butts / CTV News)

Yorkton, Sask. -

Yorkton’s Chamber of Commerce hosted an “All Candidates Forum” Wednesday evening. With over 200 people in attendance, residents said they feel more confident in who to vote for in the upcoming provincial election.

“The Chamber always puts on a great forum. It’s wonderful to hear all of the different candidates, their platforms,” said Vanessa Andres, former Chamber president.

“They all have some really great points, but I definitely know who I’m going to vote for.”

The five different candidates running for the Yorkton constituency answered four questions provided by the Chamber which included the push for construction on a new hospital, the development of Grain Millers Drive, incentives to people in the Agri-food sector, and if property tax would be lowered to allow seniors to stay in their homes for a longer period of time.

“I think there’s a lot of people at this stage that haven’t yet decided who they want to vote for, and (this) was a great way for them to start sorting some of the sand, and figure out who represents them the most,” explained Juanita Polegi, referring to the purpose of the public event.

The candidates running are:

• Valerie Brooks – Saskatchewan Green Party
• David Chan – Saskatchewan Party
• Doug Forster – Saskatchewan United Party
• Timothy Kasprick – Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan
• Lenore Pinder – Saskatchewan NDP

Candidates also addressed questions from the audience that focused on the need for attracting and keeping doctors in Yorkton, plans on addressing addiction and homelessness in the community, as well as supporting the province’s education system, specifically towards teachers and students.

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With voting week starting as soon as Oct. 22, people in Yorkton said the event was informative and helped shape their minds on who to vote for.

“I wanted to hear what everyone had to say. The person I was supporting, I wanted to hear how she came across, but I also wanted to hear Doug Forster,” expressed Micheal Halyk of Yorkton.

“I expected him to come across strong, which he did. The guy from the Buffalo Party did as well, he threw a few zingers out there and I think he’s going to get a few votes because of that.”

Another Yorkton resident shared her political opinion based on the forum.

“We didn’t realize there were that many parties, but it’s good to hear from them all for sure,” Alice Matechuk told CTV News.

"We knew who we were voting for before, but I just found that with all due respect, David Chan actually answered the questions. The others were more like typical politicians where they said they need this, they need that, and didn’t really come up with a solution as much.”

Yorkton’s Chamber will be hosting another forum on Oct. 23 for the city’s municipal election.