June 11, 2024 | Advertise with us

Be campaign ready.

Presented by

Two candidates announce Mayoral bids in Saskatoon

The race is officially on as two well-known politicians announce their intention to lead the province’s largest city for the next four years.

Cynthia Block

Cynthia Block is a City councillor representing Ward 6, or the Downtown and Nutana neighbourhoods, since 2016. She is the council’s lead on the Downtown Event Entertainment District. In 2015 she ran for the federal Liberals. Saskatoon has never had a female Mayor.

In her launch speech, Block said, “We need to reimagine our city to meet the challenges of our time, so that Saskatoon can be a modern, progressive city, where everyone feels welcome, supported and sees a bright future for themselves and their families.”

Her campaign website lists her priorities as strengthening infrastructure and housing, address homelessness with compassion, fostering reconciliation, and revitalizing downtown. Her slogan is ‘All of Us, Together.’

Gordon Wyant

Gordon Wyant is no stranger to Saskatoon politics. He was a City Councillor from 2003 to 2010 and served as an MLA from 2010 until now. Wyant has served in multiple cabinet roles including Education, Advanced Education, Justice and Attorney General, and Deputy Premier.

At his launch, Wyant said, “I'm here to clear up one of the worst-kept secrets in Saskatoon: I am indeed running to be your mayor.” Wyant’s campaign is built on three pillars: public safety, affordability, and transparency.

His campaign slogan is simply stated, ‘Safe Streets, Smart Spending.’

Wyant also launched his campaign website today.

Wyant and Block are likely the major players in the 2024 election, although Cary Tarasoff is also running for Mayor. He finished a distant fourth in 2020 with less than 5% of the vote. Former Mayor Don Atchison also expressed interest in running again.

The SKoop will be covering the municipal elections, so stay tuned for future editions.

Sponsored by the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association

Focus on infrastructure this election season

Learn more about the great work the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association and its members are doing at saskheavy.ca.

Sask. Party nominates candidate in Regina Lakeview

The Saskatchewan Party has nominated the candidate for Regina Lakeview ahead of this year’s election.

Sarah Wright was acclaimed as the party’s candidate last night in a nomination meeting. Wright is a public relations specialist. She is also a breast cancer survivor who has been a vocal advocate for cancer patients and the costs they face.

Lakeview is one of the safest NDP ridings in the province representing Regina’s Cathedral neighbourhood and the area around the Legislative district. The area is represented by NDP leader Carla Beck, who was first elected in 2016 and the NDP has held the riding since 1986. Beck won in 2020 by one of the largest margins for an NDP candidate.

This is the Sask. Party’s 50th candidate out of 61 nominated ahead of this fall’s vote. The next nomination meeting will be for the NDP in Lumsden-Morse tonight.

Sponsored by Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan

Sask. calls on feds to ban A.I. voice replication ahead of election

Artificial intelligence is capable of doing remarkable things, both good and bad, including generating images and cloning audio to mimic someone.

Everyone has heard of ChatGPT or some other A.I. model that can type in seconds, or generate images. There is also the risk that deepfakes can lead to the spread of disinformation, especially during elections.

Saskatchewan’s Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre is asking the federal government to ban AI-generated voice calling ahead of the next election.

Eyre spoke this week as to what kind of technologies could be banned. “Those would become the communications rules for robocalls and any voice-cloned AI-generated calls across the country. We've seen voice cloning of other politicians around the world ... and I think the risks are obviously fakery of messaging in an election, and impersonation of a voice could lead to all sorts of risk in an election.”

Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer Michael Boda said his colleagues from across the country are meeting in July to come up with a recommendation on AI.

(CBC News)

Sponsored by Mash Strategy

Get Marketing Results Or You Don’t Pay

Need better results from your marketing provider?

Mash Strategy provides bold marketing solutions that get you results…because if they don’t, you pay $ ZERO.

That means more leads, customers and sales for your business…GUARANTEED.

Yes, this team has proud Saskatchewanians aboard that bleed green while also doing outstanding content, public relations campaigns, advertising, branding, logos, web, video and graphic design.

Learn more by booking a free consultation with their CEO, Derek Robinson today!

PS: Hurry! Limited new client spots available. Investigate this option before it's gone. Book a call today!

More news and info

• ‘No hope’ for Liberals winning next election with Trudeau as leader, pollsters say (Hill Times)

• Police responded to three stabbings, hatchet attack over the weekend in Saskatoon (CKOM News)

• First-ever Saskatchewan AI gathering held in Saskatoon (SaskToday)

• Key issues explored in key interviews with Moe and Beck at Oil Show (Discover Weyburn)

• Western Premier’s Conference begins in Yukon (Premier Danielle Smith/X)

2024 Election Candidate Tracker