Leslie Beck isn’t married to political ideology.
As Liberal MLA candidate for the Flin Flon constituency, she says elected officials need flexibility to move left on certain issues and right on others.
“I strongly believe that the North needs to start looking at change,” says Beck.
Indeed change is a key theme for Beck as she attempts to become the riding’s first Liberal MLA in nearly 60 years – and the first non-NDP MLA in almost 50 years.
“I believe that with the NDP, they’ve taken Flin Flon and the North for granted,” she says. “They’ve always been able to get the vote, and for that reason I don’t believe that they’ve actually paid attention to what could have been grown here.
“They take the revenue, but they don’t really put back.”
Beck says northern Manitoba “doesn’t get a lot of stuff” because, on a per-capita basis, the province feels it can get more bang for its buck by funding initiatives in larger centres such as Winnipeg.
“I think we have to…stop looking at it as a per-capita [matter] and say, ‘What do we need to do to make parity between the North and the South?’” she says.
Beck is a long-time witness to this perceived inequality. While an RCMP officer, she transferred to Flin Flon in 1986 and remained with the detachment for the remainder of her policing career.
After retiring in 2007, she remained in Flin Flon, working as an educator and safety officer in the areas of mining, health care and municipal government.
In 2014 Beck was elected to Flin Flon city council. She resigned her seat last week, earlier than required, to avoid any hint of conflict between her provincial campaign and civic duties.
In both civic and provincial politics, a dominant issue of late has been the future of the mining industry in Flin Flon. To enhance the outlook, Beck favours continued investment in mineral exploration.
She says she believes there is viable ore to be found and that sometimes success stems from supporting junior exploration companies so they may later join forces with larger companies such as Hudbay.
Beck also wants more collaboration between industries in the region.
“We have to take all our sectors in the North and bring them to the table,” she says, “and say, ‘Okay, what is important to [the] North? What are we missing? How are those challenges met? And what are the challenges moving forward?’”
Additional cooperation is required, Beck says, when the provincial government sets aside funding for a particular community. The municipality, not the province, should decide how the dollars are spent.
“I believe you have to collaborate with the community and say, ‘Okay, this is the money that’s on the table and what’s important for you?’” she says.
In terms of taxation, Beck wants municipalities to have the option of imposing a base property tax, as is done in Saskatchewan.
She says a private contractor was prepared to build more seniors’ housing units in Flin Flon, but taxes under the current system ruined the proposal’s financial feasibility.
Beck says a base tax would also make Flin Flon more competitive with neighbouring Creighton in terms of attracting residents.
Another challenge for Flin Flon and other communities, she says, are costly provincial regulations placed on municipalities that cannot afford them.
As an example, Beck cited staff training requirements for indoor ice rinks, saying “a lot of communities will go broke” trying to meet the standards.
Rather than a top-down approach, she prefers consultation and planning between the province and municipalities so that regulations can be feasibly met.
Food prices in northern Manitoba are another concern for Beck, and not only in terms of remote First Nations communities.
“We have to start looking at, why is it costing more to bring [food] here to Flin Flon than, say, to Swan River and places like that?” she says.
In addition to 15 months as a city councillor, Beck brings campaign experience from her unsuccessful runs at the Flin Flon mayoralty (2010) and the Flin Flon provincial NDP nomination (2011).
She says her transition into politics came as “a natural progression.”
“I have a real passion for getting involved, and this is one way to be involved,” Beck says. “I’m a strong believer that if you’re going to comment on the conditions of things, then you better be able to get in there and get your hands dirty with the issues and fight for what you believe in.”
The provincial election will be held Tuesday, April 19.
