Crystal Stadnyk
 

 

Work: I currently work at the University of Saskatchewan as a business analyst. I have had a diverse work background that has allowed me to experience work from many different perspectives from price checking at a grocery store to customer service at a bank to computer programming.

Education: I have a Computer Systems Technology Diploma from SIAST Kelsey Campus, a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Master of Industrial Relations from Queen's University.

My platform:
I believe that the "Tyranny of the OR" (from Porras and Collins - Built to Last) has dominated politics for far too long. We simply cannot afford to continue thinking we can only take care of the future if we sacrifice something important in the present. We need to be creative to find solutions that make our lives better today and ensure a sustainable future. Here are just a few ways I see us doing this:

Expand our local food supply - Saskatchewan currently grows a very small percentage of the produce consumed here. This forces us to import food which leads to extra pollution from transportation as well as a diminishing of the quality during refrigeration and transport. We have an incredible wealth in this province in our rich and fertile land and in the family farms that grow food on that land. I would like to see us make it possible for more family farms to supply our cities with food and to make it possible for them to compete against massive agribusiness. I would like to see urban food growing encouraged and supported. And I would like to see us increasing our value added processing of the crops grown here in our province. I absolutely believe all of these things are possible if we direct the Saskatchewan spirit towards these goals.

Reduced pollution of our water, air, soil and food supply. No one wants to breathe, drink or eat pollutants and we don't want to see ever increasing landfills destroying our prairie landscape. So, let's stop supporting organizations or ways of thinking that encourage this. Let's focus our positive efforts on finding ways to not only prevent more damage but to help clean up the mess that has already been made. Again I point to the innovative people of Saskatchewan as people more than capable of achieving this goal.

Improve accessibility of eduction. I loved my time as a student at SIAST and at the U of S. The joy of learning I experienced should be more readily available to people who wish to learn. Education and applied learning in our technical schools, in our trades, in our Universities are key to our ability to innovate in the future. The more we all know the more solutions we are likely to find to the questions of how to make our present vibrant and our future healthy and sustainable. I believe in a collaborative approach to finding ways to make education more accessible.