Brooks running for Greens in Yorkton-Melville
April 14, 2025, 11:02 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Valerie Brooks is a familiar face to the Green Party in this province, and she is once again running for the federal election in the Yorkton-Melville riding.
“I’ve been a member of the Green Party for over 20 years now, and I ran in the last federal election as well in this riding,” she said. “Because I’ve been able to take a step back from my work as an educator, I have time to commit to doing this and putting my face and name out there, to give people a real choice for change in this riding. I think the world needs way more of the values that the Green Party has to offer.”
Residing in Saltcoats, Brooks says that her interest in politics was ignited during her undergraduate education at the University of Calgary, where she gained an Education degree in Secondary Social Studies. Choosing the Green Party in particular is traced back to her most recent Master of Education degree and a thesis Brooks researched and wrote titled ‘Treaty Education and Reconciliation: Things Non-Indigenous People Should Know (But Don’t) about Treaty 4.’ She says that the educational experience of learning from Indigenous participants really opened her eyes and heart to how crucial living in balance with nature, others, and within one’s self truly is.
As for issues facing people in Yorkton-Melville, one of the biggest Brooks sees is the lack of attention agricultural producers receive.
“I think voters in my riding, the producers here are getting squeezed really hard with these tariffs, and I really feel for them,” Brooks said. “Elections are won and lost in the east, so the steel manufacturers and the car manufacturers and all those people are getting all the press, but here we have farmers that are going to be struggling and no one’s talking about that.”
On top of that, general voter apathy is an issue she’s concerned about.
“I think there’s a lot of people in this riding that don’t vote because they just are discouraged with the fact that it doesn’t matter who they vote for,” Brooks said. “A Conservative is just going to win anyway and I find that to be really disappointing. What we have is this echo chamber of catch phrases that are being caught up in these polls, and the politicians are changing what they do and say based on these polls rather than on good policy, good vision, and good planning. We need some intelligent people in there with the backbone, that are brave enough to stand up and stay consistent with their message, which is what the Green Party is.”
Yorkton-Melville is a huge riding, and Brooks has already planned a series of meet and greet sessions, and has reached out to all the municipalities to introduce herself.
When asked about getting the Green Party message out to the masses, Brooks said there are lots of misconceptions about the party.
“We’re way more than just tree-hugging environmentalists,” she said. “I have never done a environmental rally, I’ve never been an activist, but I still believe in what the Green Party has to offer.”
Brooks also said the Green Party is keen on diverting more power to local municipalities, rather than the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Right now, we don’t have a real good intergovernmental relationship between federal, provincial, and municipal governments,” she said. “That’s one thing the Green Party would really strive to reverse—less power in the PMO, more power in local municipalities.”
An example Brooks gave was the current homelessness crisis in Yorkton.
“They see it on the rise, but they don’t have the resources or the political power to do what’s necessary, so they’re waiting on this relationship with the provincial and federal governments to help them solve this crisis that lots of other cities and areas are struggling with,” she said. “We believe strongly that more power and more finances, more local autonomy is necessary to solve all of these issues. Those types of things that are going to affect local communities differently. It’s not a one solution thing that can come from Ottawa.”
