With federal elections only a month away, candidates are out on the campaign trail and . But NDP representative Duane Zaraska said says his compassion for people sets him apart from the other candidates vying for the Lakeland district.
“As (Region 2) vice president of the Métis Nation (of Alberta), I have seen the despair of the people there and the challenges,” he said.
“I was basically tired of their plight and their concerns, and that’s what motivated me to go into government. Because I don’t think it was just unique to being Métis; it is unique to Canadians, and their problems are much the same.”
Zaraska lives in Elk Point and has roots in the Lakeland riding that go back generations to his mother’s Métis heritage and his grandfather’s immigration from Ukraine in 1907.
Having lived in Lakeland for many years, and speaking with constituents on his travels, Zaraska said the main issues he would address in government if elected would be the economy, the environment, agriculture, and transparency in government.
One of Zaraska’s solutions to the downturn in the economy and the loss of jobs will be to diversify the economy by expanding the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
“We should be supporting our farmers, big and small, with a better risk management program at a more reasonable cost,” he said.
That would also include establishing a marketing board to help farmers market and transport their products, similar to the Canadian Wheat Board before it was sold.
Zaraska would also lower the small business tax from 11 per cent to nine per cent, expand CPP benefits for seniors, and take advantage of low oil prices by investing that into processing plastics, rubbers, and oil derivatives, as well as renewable energies.
“I don’t think we need to choose between a strong economy and the environment,” he said.
Zaraska’s Métis background and ten years at Métis Nation of Alberta have also influenced his campaign and motivated him to run for MP.
He said the decaying infrastructure on reserves has been an obstacle for First Nations communities to improve their economic situation.
“You can’t even do economic development properly because people can’t get out there to develop,” he stated, mentioning crumbling schools and poor water and sewer systems.
He also criticized the federal government for not fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations, as well as neglecting healthcare, education and , child protection, and the legacy of residential schools.
“Indigenous people are being ignored,” he said. “Their treaty obligations are not being fulfilled and that’s including their consultation policy… We’re included in conversations, but we’re not included in the decision-making.”
“In Ottawa, if there were 1,200 women who were murdered and missing, do you think you’d need the United Nations to tell us what we need to do? I don’t think so. And that’s a motivation me.”
