Surprising news came in at the end of May for the constituents of Kindersley. Current MLA Ken Francis announced that he would not be seeking re-election come the next provincial election in 2024.
The official Sask Party statement from Francis is available in the link above, though a message shared to his Facebook page thanked his constituents in a more direct fashion. Conversation, deliberation, and analysis all went into the decision along with life considerations in general as he will exit the political world at the end of this current term in the fall of 2024.
"I feel honoured to have been elected twice by the good folks of Kindersley and hope they know I did my best to represent them and the interests of our area and endeavoured to help make good decisions on their behalf over the past 5 years." penned Francis thanking the riding for the opportunity.
Not ready to look back quite yet on his time in Legislature, Francis shared some thoughts on the recently finished spring sitting.
"I think one real glaring thing that came out in the last week or so of session is our power generation, and how our federal government keeps moving the goalposts," shared Francis. "We finally come to the point where we just had to say it's not doable, it's not a reasonable amount of time to replace our coal fleet, and make our gas fleet basically obsolete, some of them we don't even have built yet."
Francis is on-board with the directives that have been put in place by the Premier and SaskPower, "holding the line" on provincial jurisdiction when it comes to electrical generation around energy in general, and also when it comes to sectors like agriculture.
"The (federal government) have been way overstepping, and I am glad we are taking a firm stance on it."
We also asked Francis about one topic a little closer to his desk. As a member of the Treasury Board, the Kindersley MLA commented on the Saskatchewan Revenue Agency Act that could be a way for the province to "pursue greater autonomy in tax collection" in the form of a new Treasury Board Crown corporation.
"It's something that we are looking at. We are looking at ways to insulate ourselves and protect ourselves from federal overreach, whether that is in the energy or ag sectors, or it's tax collection. We are looking at all options to increase our autonomy."
Nothing is even close to being set in stone. Francis commented how Alberta has been collecting their corporate income tax for several years, something that brings both drawbacks and benefits. Discussion is the main part of the process right now.
"That's all we have committed to. Is to flush out what would be the best approach for the province."
Francis is excited to stay on the Treasury Board for the remainder of his term. Part of the SaskBuilds team as well, Francis enjoys the boardroom side of things compared to voicing things out in the Assembly.
"Those are the things I like the most about political life. The boardroom side, and the policy side of politics. I am excited to finish my year and a half in those roles."
Consituents can email Francis at kfrancismla@gmail.com, or reach his constituency office at 306-463-4446.
Thu, Apr 25, 9:30 AM
