November 20, 2024 | Advertise with us

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Former cabinet minister opines on campaign loss

Former Saskatchewan Party MLA and cabinet minister Bronwyn Eyre penned an opinion piece in the Western Standard this week, explaining why she thought her party suffered big losses and lost nearly every large urban seat.

Eyre said, “I write this in the spirit of admiration, respect and constructive criticism for a government I served in for eight years, for my colleagues and because we must now begin the work of rebuilding the Sask. Party brand in the urban centres.”

She lists boundary changes, health and education, unions, communications, media, and change rooms as reasons the party suffered such losses, including in her own constituency, where she was defeated by the NDP’s Darcy Warrington.

The boundary commission re-drew many boundaries, eliminating ridings that blended urban and rural communities, including Eyre’s former constituency of Stonebridge-Dakota. She said, “Part of those boundary changes saw former Biggar-Sask Valley MLA Randy Weekes lose his entire constituency, which set in motion a destructive cycle of resentment with (for us) harmful consequences.”

She also said the time of simple compare and contrast with the NDP record of decades ago no longer resonates with voters, and the party needs to incorporate new campaigning methods that engage and excite the electorate. She said, ““The future or the past” (Sask Party vs. NDP) narrative, once so effective, is now rather hackneyed. Instead of releasing daily, generic campaign videos of the boss, perhaps we could have shown him meeting more people and doing original things. How about, say, driving a semi down our amazing, rebuilt highways and passing lanes, doing media from the cab or a scrum at a truck stop, surrounded by highway workers? Or, since we invested $1 million earlier this summer in local food banks, why not go to one and serve meals with local MLAs?”

She concluded by saying she hopes the party is having conversations about what happened during the campaign to rebuild a winning campaign for the next election.

You can read the full opinion piece here.

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Former Saskatchewan Party MLAs elected municipally

Two former Saskatchewan Party MLAs who decided not to run in 2024 were elected in municipal races this fall.

Former MLA for Kindersley Ken Francis left after being first elected in a 2018 by-election and was re-elected in the 2020 general election. His roles included Deputy Caucus Chair and Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Trade and Export Development. Francis announced in May 2023 that he would not seek re-election.

Francis was elected Mayor of the Town of Kindersley last month with 72% of the vote. He defeated challenger Tom Morris.

Former MLA for Prince Albert Carlton Joe Hargrave was acclaimed as Reeve of the RM of Corman Park. Hargrave said, “I gave it a lot of thought and talked to my wife and she said, ‘well, it’s the kind of politics where at least you’re home every night. You’re not in Regina half the time,’” Hargrave said in a phone interview on Nov. 8. “At my age—I’m 68, almost 69 years old—I just didn’t want to be on the road back and forth to Regina and Prince Albert, so it was like, I got some gas left in the tank. I think I can help out.”

Hargrave represented Carlton for two terms as a Saskatchewan Party MLA and won the party’s nomination for a third term in November 2023. However, he stepped down a few months later, citing age as one of several factors.

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NDP attack government over urgent care centre staffing in Regina

The Saskatchewan NDP is attacking the government over the operational hours of its urgent care centre in Regina.

The NDP is accusing the Saskatchewan Party government of breaking one of its flagship campaign promises by not having the centre provide 24/7 service. NDP MLA Meara Conway said the government has mishandled the mental health and addiction crisis and has contributed to the issue of long emergency wait times and poor worker retention.

Conway said, “I know that many are hoping that the government will come to the table before they replicate this model elsewhere, because they have so many ideas about what is going wrong.”

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority and Ministry of Health are currently assessing the first few months of Urgent Care Centre operations,” the health authority said in an emailed statement to 980 CJME. “This will establish a better understanding of the impact of the (centre) on overall system capacity, and support future planning for necessary physician coverage and staffing levels to meet patient volumes.”

The health authority noted that its assessments will help in determining when expansions to 24-hour-a-day service will begin. “We will communicate more as this progresses,” the health authority noted. “Until that time, hours will remain as posted and the SHA will continue to recruit for any unfilled positions.”

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