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Retired conservation officer seeks seat on city council

Oct 4, 2016 | 2:00 PM

He’s raised a family here, laid roots down, and 30 years later, Meadow Lake is Tom Harrison’s home.

Harrison grew up on a farm outside of Quill Lake, Sask. and with his job as a conservation officer, moved around quite a bit. Now retired, he’s seeking election as a city councillor on Oct. 26.

“I think we have a great community and I like the way we’re headed,” Harrison said. “I thought it was a good time to get involved, bring some of my experience to the floor and have an opportunity to give back.”

As a conservation officer, Harrison served as senior-manager within the Ministry of Environment and looked after most of north-west Saskatchewan. Upon retiring from the ministry, Harrison spent a few years working for Mosaic Potash on process improvement, leadership training, and policy.

An interested observer in politics, Harrison said over his career he gained experience working with each level of government and believed he has a good feel for how the different levels operate. 

“Sometimes it’s easy to sit back and criticize without knowing all the backstories and everything which goes into it,” he said. “Having worked in government, I know there’s a lot of different balancing acts going on as new authorities or policy legislation (are brought in).”

Besides being a government employee, over the years, Harrison has volunteered with different groups.

He said being on council is another way to help out and provide some leadership based on his experience and background.

While he likes the way Meadow Lake is heading, if elected on Oct. 26, Harrison wants to continue infrastructure investments, increase relations with the bylaw officer Joe Hallahan, RCMP and Citizens on Patrol, while also keeping taxes low and eliminating any unnecessary red tape.

“It’s so important to build that building block to make sure businesses invest,” Harrison said. “Having proper legislation in place so people are comfortable investing in business or housing in the community moving forward.”

The father of Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison, Tom said he talked with his son and told him he was interested in running, to which Jeremy encouraged 100 per cent.

“(Jeremy) didn’t talk me into it. He’s encouraged me always to be involved and I have been,” Harrison said. “I mean, I was involved long before he was an MLA and I’m very proud of what he’s done to date and what he continues to do. But this is more about me being able to help out in the community and give back.”

Voters cast ballots on Oct. 26 at the Civic Centre to elect six city councillors.

Besides Harrison, other newcomers on the ballot include Richard Levesque, and Glen Winkler. Incumbents on the list are Merlin Seymour, Conrad Read, Kim Chiverton, and Curtis Paylor.

Following the Sept. 21 nomination deadline, Mayor Gary Vidal was acclaimed to his second term.

 

Colton Swiderski is meadowlakeNOW’s municipal affairs, crime and court, health and education reporter. He can be reached at cswiderski@jpbg.ca or tweet him @coltonswiderski.