In many ways the federal election campaign, more than any other campaign, is a media-driven exercise to get the votes out and establish the government for the next four or five years.

With the advent of electronic technology, this campaign is especially tied to the statements and events put on for the sake of the media, all to get the message out. It's easy to get carried away with the "issue of the day," where one leader says or does something that the other leaders jump on. With the use of text-messaging devices like Blackberries, this has brought a whole new meaning to the word "instant news" as campaigns follow the leaders.

For the six candidates vying to represent the huge southeast riding of Souris-Moose Mountain, it's important for the candidates to focus on what's important to the voters here.

And what is important? Anything related to the main concern, interest or work-a-day lives of most of the residents here would certainly be a start, and in Souris-Moose Mountain, this would agriculture for one, and health care for another.

There are many, many other side issues that come up, related to justice, or the oil and gas industry, support for the military, and so on. Many residents have views on one or several of these other issues, depending on their experience and background, but the bottom line is agriculture and health care touch virtually every resident, directly or indirectly, in this riding.

It is true having a former premier running, after being spurned by one of the major parties for candidacy, has drawn a lot of attention to the riding, and Mr. Devine has certainly made that unfortunate incident with the Conservatives one of the main bases of his campaign.

But in the day-to-day lives of the riding constituents, will it make any difference, say, two years from now, whether or not Devine was allowed to run for a particular party or not? What about the BSE crisis? What if the border to the U.S. remains closed for an extended, indefinite period of time for whatever reason? What if prices never recover to a decent level for grain and oilseed producers, or for hog producers, or the drought of the past two or three years extends into another year?

In health care, what if the waiting lists for needed operations just keeps getting longer in Saskatchewan or nurses and doctors continue to leave because of the working conditions, exacerbating a growing shortage of these professionals?

As each of the candidates comes around asking for support, or as each takes to the podium at the upcoming candidates' forums around the riding, residents need to hold them to these issues, to find out what they're going to do for us in this riding. As the national polls seem to change and continue to point at either a Liberal loss or at best a minority government, it will be crucial more than ever that we know who we're voting for, and what their stance is so we have the best candidate possible representing us in Ottawa. - G.N.