The Prince Albert Daily Herald, Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Liberals' platform includes ideas for farmers, northerners
by Joshua Pagé
The freshly released Liberal platform, labeled
"Richer, Fairer, Greener," includes specific ideas for
rural and Northern Saskatchewan.
Re-committing to a moratorium on closing rural
mailboxes is a particular fighting point for
Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River Liberal candidate,
David Orchard.
"I get my mail from them and the more you have to
drive and drive, the more frustrating it is," said
Orchard, a fourth-generation farmer.
"Mail service is supposed to be just that, mail
service."
Other rural and northern-aimed initiatives include a
tax credit for volunteer firefighters, money to fight
the mountain pine beetle, wiping out $10,000 of a
doctor's student debt for each year a physician serves
in a rural or under-serviced area and creating a
national strategy to address Canada's troublesome
forestry industry.
Prince Albert Liberal candidate Lou Doderai stressed
that his party's attention to rural Canada is what
separates it from the Conservatives.
"We want to help nurture and grow smaller
communities," he said.
As a way to counterbalance added taxes from the green
shift, the Liberals will also pay each tax filer in
rural Canada $150 per year.
As for the embattled situation between the Canadian
Wheat Board and the Conservative government, a Liberal
government would avoid any government intervention,
placing all responsibility on elected Wheat Board
officials.
"The Wheat Board belongs to the farmers, not the
government," said Orchard.
The Conservatives and NDP haven't released platforms
yet. The Green Party has released a small, eight-page
platform outline.
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