Press Release Plus

This morning I congratulated the recent winner of the Sean MacBride Peace Prize, Doug Roche. Doug replied from New York where he is busy lobbying for nuclear weapons disarmament at the annual UN talks. He is ninety years old.  

And I have been struggling with the sense that I am too old to be starting a career in politics!

I am no stranger to challenges, from public speaking in 4-H to becoming the first female physician in Wynyard to teaching medicine in Iraq. As a candidate, my passions for health, justice and the environment will be given priority.

My career has always focussed on the needs of rural people for equity in health care. I have worked as a clinical doctor, an instructor and as an administrator. I have had experience in Ottawa lobbying on behalf of Physicians for Global Survival and was given a lifetime award in the Canadian Medical Association for my advocacy work.

My husband, Bill Curry, and I jointly won the Saskatchewan Global Citizen Award in 2010 for decades of volunteer work in areas of justice, environmental activism and international health. We have lobbied for poverty reduction, jobs and access to clean water. I believe that Canada urgently needs a national water plan to secure this resource for Canadians. Bill died suddenly in 2015 but his spirit lives on when issues of violence, illicit drug use, police training, appropriate sentencing and jails are addressed. This includes and is not limited to fulfilling the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

I am furious with the waste of time that federal parties undergo in their rush for brinkmanship. We've already seen the incredible waste of money that the Ford administration has undergone because their desire was to cut everything that the Liberals had done - hence paying millions of dollars for broken contracts. Kenney has already followed suit in the cancelation of a multimillion dollar hub in Edmonton. Federally, the pot is calling the kettle black - the Cons and the Libs duke it out verbally, neither really able to claim moral advantage - and no business gets done.

I am annoyed that bills on the national security overhaul (C-59) and the changes to First Nations' child welfare acts may not get passed (C-92). Two much smaller bills are at risk as well, one on pardons for simple pot possession and the other for revision of the no-fly lists (so that 8 yr-olds with names similar to someone legitimately on the list are no longer harassed in airports). Awaiting passage as well is a ban on tanker traffic along the Northern BC coast (C-48).

I am encouraged by seeing people everywhere working together to tackle climate disaster - I believe that humans are ultimately smart people who are concerned about survival. We find change difficult unless there are positive enticements - and largely there are! Some things are not right-left issues, they are smart-dumb issues - business as usual is a dumb issue.

The Green Party acknowledges that climate change is real and includes urgent planning in its platform. Leader Elizabeth May says that the time to act – for the sake of our children and grandchildren – is now.

I plan to use examine the platform of the national Green Party, policy for policy.....and to document my trials and tribulations during this campaign. For more information, you can phone or text 306 560 7577.  Go the website www.greenparty.ca or contact me directly at mdmd@sasktel.net. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter as daledewar. 

Dale's Bio

Dale Dewar

Dale Dewar is no stranger to challenges, from public speaking in 4-H to teaching in Northern Iraq; she is ready to take her place in the 2019 election in Andrew Scheer’s riding, Regina-Qu’Appelle. As a candidate, she can give a voice to issues of environment, justice and health. Dale admits that running in opposition to a sitting party leader makes this challenging but states that “it would be a lot harder for me to stay home”. 

Dr. Dewar is a rural doctor and Associate Professor of Family Medicine with the University of Saskatchewan.  She worked as a clinical physician in Wynyard, SK, off and on for thirty years, with Northern Medical Services for seven years and continues to provide medical care to isolated communities above the Arctic Circle. She now calls herself “sort of” retired.

Dr. Dewar and her husband, Bill Curry, jointly won the Saskatchewan Global Citizen Award in 2010 for decades of volunteer work in environmental activism and health. In 2013 she received a lifetime membership award in the Canadian Medical Association for her advocacy for rural physicians and rural populations and for her international educational work. 

Dale is more than a survivor of many kinds of losses, broken bones and chronic pain. Bill died suddenly in 2015 at the age of 73 – Dale now lives with three cats, one dog, and seven chickens in a passive solar house on an organic acreage in the Touchwood Hills between Raymore and Wynyard. Their three grown daughters (one with a spouse) are divided between Winnipeg and Calgary. Her interests include but are not limited to health, writing, reading, yoga, cooking, gardening, doing sudukos, watching Rupaul’s drag race and tending to her animals.