SOUTHEAST SASKATCHEWAN - The 2024 Saskatchewan general election is underway, and that means a lot of work for the declared candidates in the Cannington constituency.
Daryl Harrison of the Saskatchewan Party has been Cannington's MLA since 2020 and is seeking a second term in the legislature. He is being challenged by Natalie Clysdale of the Saskatchewan Green Party, Michelle Krieger of the Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan and Dianne Twietmeyer of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.
As of Wednesday at noon, the Saskatchewan United Party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan and the Progress Party (formerly the provincial Liberal Party) had yet to announce their candidates. The deadline to be a confirmed candidate for the election is Oct. 12.
The provincial election will occur Oct. 28.
Harrison was nominated last year, and since that time, in addition to his duties as an MLA, he has been out meeting people and visiting with urban and rural municipal councils. Cannington is now a larger constituency, as communities such as Kipling, Kennedy, Langbank and Osage have been added to the northern boundaries.
"It just means you're spread out further and further, and it takes time to get from corner to corner," said Harrison.
He believes Saskatchewan's economy has remained strong, which he said is needed to keep people employed and for investments to happen in the province.
"Our ag sector is very strong, and thankfully crops, from what I've been told, have been average to slightly above [average], so I'm very, very appreciative because all the producers realize that not all areas in the province are like that."
He has seen several drilling rigs popping up across the riding, but it would be nice to see more. Harrison pointed out that the party has a goal of producing 600,000 barrels of oil per day by 2030, and to achieve that, more drilling is needed.
Health care and education have received funding increases, he said, and the government has committed to building a new pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 school in Carlyle.
Harrison said the experience of four years ago has helped with the campaign. He has already met people in communities, and he knows the communities better than he did four years ago.
A campaign team is in place, he said, and he will have a mobile campaign office this year due to the greater size of the Cannington riding.
Krieger was one of the first candidates to be announced for the Buffalo Party last fall. Since then, she has attended town hall meetings across the constituency and talked to people to get to know the riding.
"It was really important to me to get out and meet some of the people in some of the towns that were a little further away from my corner," said Krieger.
She will use the campaign to promote the party's plan to increase production of oil to a million barrels a day. They also want to start building upgraders and refineries in rural areas. Her other big concern is health care, as the riding has been "hit particularly hard" with emergency room closures and staffing shortages.
She is currently a town councillor in Alameda.
To win Cannington, which has been a Saskatchewan Party and a Progressive Conservative stronghold for decades, Krieger said she and the campaign team members would need to talk to as many people as possible. She has a goal of knocking on every door in the constituency, including rural residences, which she admits is a very lofty ambition.
"In order for us to be heard out here in Cannington, we need to make a change," said Krieger. "One thing that I hear lots when I am knocking on doors, is that the government essentially ignores us."
She believes the government takes the riding for granted because they don't think they can lose in Cannington.
If she is elected, Krieger said she would hold a town hall meeting every three or four months in a different community while she is in office.
Twietmeyer's nomination was announced by the party in late September, just days before the election was called. She is running for the NDP in the second consecutive election; she finished third behind Harrison and the Buffalo Party's Wes Smith in 2020.
She said she decided to run for the NDP because there are a lot of "thoughtful and caring voters" in Cannington who deserve to have a candidate who they're familiar with and represents their ideals. Twietmeyer said there are voters who are upset with cuts to education and health care during the Saskatchewan Party's tenure.
Cannington has been a very tough constituency for the NDP in the past, but she thinks there are a lot of people who could be convinced to change their mind this time.
"People are unhappy with the Saskatchewan Party on a lot of different levels," she said.
A friend of her husband's recently asked him why anybody would want to vote for the NDP. She responded by saying she wishes that person would have asked her, because she noted it's the party that brought in Medicare and rescued the province's finances in the 1990s.
Twietmeyer said she will bring forward the party's messages on such issues as education, health care and the economy. The NDP would restore funding where needed for education and health care, provide jobs for people and train people within the province.
She also noted the provincial NDP does not share its federal counterparts' support of the carbon tax. The Sask. NDP does not support keeping the tax because it believes it doesn't work for Saskatchewan, due to the province's size, large rural population and resource-based economy.
The Green Party announced last week that Clysdale would be its representative in Cannington. She could not be reached for comment, and as of Wednesday at noon, there was not a photo of her nor a bio on the Green Party's website.
When the election was called, the Sask. Party held 42 of 61 seats in the legislature. The NDP had 14, the SUP had one and there were three independents. One seat was vacant.
The Sask. Party is seeking its fifth straight majority government.
For regular updates on the election, be sure to visit our provincial news hub at sasktoday.ca.
