Mayoral candidate Fraser Tolmie used the future site of the new regional hospital on Thursday to drive home his message: he is looking towards the future needs of Moose Jaw and promises to make those needs the first priority if he is elected.
“I am (going to be) a first-time father and my first child will be born in the old Union Hospital, but if God willing my family is blessed with a second child it will be born in the new hospital,” Tolmie said. “Deb Higgins promised a hospital and wasn’t able to deliver.”
Tolmie said Moose Jaw needs someone who will stick up for the city, and that his work on city council has proven he’s up for the challenge.
"I helped in reducing the Hillcrest curling budget by twenty per cent,” he said in his presentation, also discussing his overall contributions to the community.
Tolmie went on to say that “a person should be judged on what they promise and what they deliver. . . I’ve been challenged on my experience, and if you challenge someone on their record, you need to be accountable on your own.”
He said believes he is the better candidate to work with MLAs towards future projects.
"We’re tired of taking a back seat, we want to look to the future,” said Tolmie.
Along with saying that challenger Deb Higgins failed in helping to deliver a new hospital, Tolmie brought up $4.7 million in educational cuts made while she was a cabinet minister. He said she also failed to draw attention to the looming cuts at Valley View Centre.
“I’m eight months prepared,” Tolmie said regarding the time span between now and when the official statement was made on the facility's closure. “43 per cent of local provincial jobs have been lost, and if you can’t take care of your own, how are you going to help with the growth of the city?”
