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Jurgens announces run for federal Conservative Party nomination

Apr 5, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Allan Jurgens has entered the race for the Conservative nomination in the northern riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River. Jurgens said Thursday that he has filed the paperwork and plans to run for the Conservative nomination in the riding, which encompasses more than 342,000 kilometres, and includes the communities of Meadow Lake, La Ronge and La Loche.

Jurgens said he has been talking to residents in the North who are disappointed with the current Liberal government, and are looking for a change in direction. He said residents are concerned their taxes are too high and money is not being spent wisely. He said the current government is not listening to western Canada.

“The carbon taxes, everybody’s against them. Nobody wants to see more taxation,” Jurgens told paNOW. “People can’t understand why they want to tax something to pay off out of control spending.”

He said he would like to help facilitate better communication and a better understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Jurgens said the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River was viewed as separate entities in the past — North and South. 

“There’s a lot of integration between the North and the South now. Southern people are going North for a variety of tourism and other purposes, and northern people coming down for everything from health care to just visiting family,” he said. 

Jurgens has worked in the forestry and natural resources sector for 25 years. He is currently working in Buffalo Narrows, facilitating the first year of the Integrated Resource Management diploma program through Gabriel Dumont Institute and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

And he has worked on political campaings before – his wife Victoria is a past Sask Party MLA – and run for office before as well, most recently for a provincial Saskatchewan Party nomination in the constituency of Prince Albert Northcote.

No date has been for an official nomination meeting for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, but the riding’s Conservative Electoral District Association said they will secure a date in the coming weeks. So far, no other candidates have put their names forward for the riding’s Conservative nomination.

The riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River was a nail-biter in the last election in 2015 with Georgina Jollibois winning the seat for the NDP by just a few votes. A recount was ordered before Jollibois was declared the official winner. Before that, the riding was represented by Conservative MP Rob Clarke. He served two terms before the NDP took the seat in 2015.

The next federal election is set to take place on or before October 21, 2019.

 

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt