August Hastmann believes the years he has spent living in First Nations communities have given him a thorough understanding of the tribulations facing northern Manitoba.
Now he hopes to take that knowledge to Ottawa as he aims to become the first ever Green Party MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski.
“There’s certain issues that are never dealt with [by] any of the big parties, and there’s things that have truly touched my life,” says Hastmann, 50, an elementary school teacher in Garden Hill.
“I don’t believe any of my counterparts could speak to them properly.”
As one example, Hastmann is troubled by homelessness in the region.
“You go to Thompson and you see homeless people,” he says. “It’s not a big city [like] Winnipeg.”
While the plight of missing Aboriginal women has dominated headlines, the overall number of missing northern Manitobans, gender and race aside, worries Hastmann.
He recalls going to a gas station and having a boy tell him he was related to two of about 10 missing people depicted on posters. A teacher from his current community of Garden Hill also went missing, never to be found.
Another issue that requires federal attention, Hastmann says, is the poor condition of northern roads. He tells of a friend who was left a paraplegic after an accident on the notoriously rough Provincial Road 280 between Thompson and Gillam.
Hastmann further speaks of northerners who must still use slop pails in place of toilets and of mental health problems that lead to homelessness and a high suicide rate.
“Those [mental health] services aren’t there,” says Hastmann, adding that while such issues are discussed during election campaigns, there is no will to deal with them.
On the Green Party’s signature issue, Hastmann says the environment is “the foundation that we’re going to build the rest of our lives on.”
He favours an environmental strategy that reduces unnecessary pollution and promotes locally grown food.
“I don’t see why a greenhouse in Ontario grows tomatoes and then those tomatoes get sold in a place like Thompson,” Hastmann says. “Why don’t we have the greenhouse just sitting in Thompson?”
Hastmann is critical of the NDP’s stance on long-gun registration. Last December NDP leader Tom Mulcair reportedly pledged to give police the tools to track every firearm in Canada, but this summer he reportedly ruled out reintroducing the long-gun registry.
The idea of another long-gun registry is anathema to Hastmann, who says the initial registry was wasteful and lacked popular support.
He says the Green Party is willing to utilize good ideas from all political parties and thoroughly review each proposal or law put forth.
While the Green Party has historically enjoyed marginal support in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, Hastmann is upbeat despite the limitations of his campaign.
“I don’t’ have $100,000 to back [his campaign],” he says.
“I’m fighting a lot of big money, so I like the idea of winning and I like my chances to make a difference, and I’m just hopeful. I’m honestly hopeful because it would be a step in the right direction for the riding.”
Originally from a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Hastmann has spent nearly 16 years teaching in northern Manitoba, save for a few months he was in the Yukon.
During that time he has taught in Cross Lake, Pukatawagan, South Indian Lake, Gods River, Shamattawa, Wasagamack, Split Lake and Garden Hill.
