Halsten Rust will be running for the federal NDP in the riding of Yorkton-Melville. (Submitted photo/Halsten Rust)

By Becky Zimmer

Aiming for Ottawa

Small town experience main reason for Rust’s run for Yorkton-Melville seat

Sep 16, 2021 | 12:13 PM

Halsten Rust describes the “typical small town life” growing up in Birch Hills, Sask.

This is precisely the reason the NDP candidate is running in the federal election for the riding of Yorkton–Melville, Rust told northeastNOW.

He saw the struggles small town residents experience in Saskatchewan with the lack of funding for schools and infrastructure having an impact on how people grow and the opportunities that are available to them.

“That means that opportunities for our kids are less and less as time goes on, really just moving away from what was an ideal place to grow up to a place that limits our opportunities, because we’re not seeing the investment in our rural communities that we actually desperately need,” Rust said.

Some Saskatchewan voting districts have gone without a strong voice in Ottawa for decades, said Rust, and now is the time for that to change.

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“There needs to be someone who not only is willing to fight tooth and nail for the people of Saskatchewan, but know the struggles firsthand,” he said.

Rust remembers the times growing up where farmers were fighting with insurance companies after plow winds and crop failure for the coverage they paid for and having to raise money for town infrastructure improvements because they were not receiving federal or provincial funding.

Not only is living in rural Saskatchewan difficult at times, but Rust knows how it can also be an amazing experience, how communities come together and take care of one another unlike any other areas of the country.

That is why Rust aligns so well with the federal NDP and their platforms on the lack of funds dedicated to seniors care, public schools, telecommunication and the opioid crisis. We are one of the richest nations in the world, he said, and governments, both provincially and federally, are just not funding the services that are needed.

“That’s just not what this province should deserve and we need to fight to get that investment in those rural communities… that is the number one focus here on my platform is reinvesting in our rural communities,” he explained.

Canadians will now go to the polls on Sept. 20. Advanced polls closed on Sept. 13.

by Becky Zimmer

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Small town experience main reason for Rust’s run for Yorkton-Melville seat

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