Today I received an email from a resident of Saskatoon-Riversdale.  She was concerned that perhaps I didn’t understand the need in this province, in this country, for medical isotopes which can be produced in a nuclear reactor.  As a person who’s life has been touched by cancer, I understand completely, and am very appreciative that she took the time to write to me.  Her email highlighted the need for further understanding in regards to isotopes and their production.

The fact of the matter is that a nuclear reactor is not needed to produce medical isotopes.  It makes for good media to say that we need a reactor for medical purposes, but the truth is just the opposite.  The radio-isotopes needed for medicine, scientific research, and industry can be produced inside a particle accelerator, such the cyclotron.  And projects like the cyclotron do not pose the staggering high-level waste associated with nuclear plants.  The Government of Manitoba has put in a proposal to the federal government to produce medical isotopes with a cyclotron at a cost of $35 million.  The Government of Saskatchewan has also put in a proposal, to produce these same isotopes using a small nuclear reactor at a cost of $750 million.  In addition to the problem of cost, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses has said that even a small 25 megawatt research reactor for the purposes of medical isotope production is not worth the health risks that would accompany it.

A nuclear reactor is simply unnecessary, in any capacity.

There’s an all candidates debate this afternoon at the University of Saskatchewan…  I am looking forward to talking with the many people who will likely come visit with me after wards, but I’m the first to say, I don’t enjoy debates.

Sitting at a table, knowing the goal of everyone there is to out-do the person next to them.  It hardly creates a scenario of respect or mutual engagement.  The issues become secondary to the ability to snap out a quick insult, or to hurl a disparaging remark about political affiliations.

I love a round table discussion, or a chance to hash-out the arguments for or against an issue of importance.  I love the laughter and insight that can come from a sharing of information, and a true dialogue on any given topic.  I love the sense of respect and even admiration that can come through cooperation… and that rarely seems to happen in a debate format.

So I’ll go.  And I’ll share my vision, my hopes, my goals for our beautiful province and her people.  What I won’t do is hurl insults at, or seek to disparage my fellow candidates.  So I hope you’ll come out.  And I hope you’ll listen.  And I hope a quiet respect reaches farther, reaches more of you, than a loud criticism.

Filling out the candidate nomination forms for the provincial government, I noticed that they called for your profession in multiple places.  As someone who works freelance, and who has cut back on that dramatically in the last year to devote herself more fully to the Green Party of Saskatchewan, I had a difficult time with this.

A couple of years ago, I was defined by my position.  As a dog professional, I lived and breathed my work.  I trained, photographed, handled, groomed, boarded, transported, fostered, and wrote about dogs.  I’m a recognized expert in the field of canine behavior.

While I’m still involved in the world of dogs, while I’m still a specialist in canine behavior, I’m not so defined by that work.  I still train service dogs for people with disabilities.  I still photograph and handle dogs.  I still offer consultations on canine behavior.  I will always write about dogs.  But I consider my roles as mom and President of the Green Party of Saskatchewan far more important.

So I scribed the requisite Canine Behavior Specialist in the multiple spaces requiring profession.  But I’m more than that.  So much more…  and as I grow, and as I learn, I change.  My priorities change.  I’m a dog professional, but like many professionals, my title doesn’t define me.  People should not be put in boxes.  And no matter the label, I refuse to be boxed in.

Many people have asked me why I’ve chosen to run.  For me, that answer is easy.  My daughter.

Everything I do in this life is for her.  If I want her to grow up as a strong woman with a social conscience, I need to model those things for her.  Where is she going to learn it, except through the example I provide.  I want her to be able to look beyond herself, into the world, to see what needs mending and to do what she can to make things better.  How else will she learn this, except through me?

We all need to be the change we wish to see in the world.  It’s not enough to complain about a broken system, to complain about what’s wrong.  We need to take action, to get involved, to make change happen.  So that’s what I’m doing.  I’m not just talking about it, I’m getting out there - putting myself out there… making change happen.

I can only hope you’ll all be there with me.