The federal election campaigning is underway, and that means the candidates who have been nominated in Souris-Moose Mountain are out looking to win the public’s support.
The election writ was dropped on Sept. 11, launching a 40-day campaign that will culminate with the election on Oct. 21.
Four candidates have already entered the field: Robert Kitchen of the Conservative Party, Phil Zajac of the People’s Party of Canada, Judy Mergel of the Green Party of Canada and Travis Patron of the Canadian Nationalist Party.
Kitchen, who resides in Estevan, won the Souris-Moose Mountain constituency in the 2015 federal election, was nominated as the Conservative candidate nearly two years ago. Since then, he has been meeting with constituents about their concerns and bringing those issues to Ottawa.
It was good to have a head start on the field, but he doesn’t take it for granted.
“You build on it time after time after time, and make certain that we’re building on it, and again, it’s a learning game, and we continue to learn and I’m continuing to learn,” said Kitchen.
Prior to the election being called, and since the campaign started, Kitchen and his team have been lining up candidates. They have a campaign office open in Estevan – the only office they intend to have. A grand opening was held on Sunday.
“We’re getting out and getting signs up, and getting people who are volunteers, because lots of people have been coming to step forward as volunteers, in Weyburn, in Estevan, in Moosomin and throughout the whole riding,” he said.
It is a big challenge to reach every community in the Souris-Moose Mountain riding, which is 43,000 square kilometres.
As for the federal results, in order for the Tories to regain power, Kitchen said the party will have to help Canadians get ahead by eliminating the federal carbon tax and bringing in other measures.
Kitchen was expecting an election to be called on a Sunday, either Sept. 8 or 15. Federal elections are traditionally called on Sundays, and Sept. 15 would have been the last possible date for the election.
He criticized Justin Trudeau on his decision to call the election on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Phil Zajac, who also is from Estevan, was acclaimed as the People’s Party of Canada’s candidate in the spring. He brought party leader Maxime Bernier to the riding in July, and then attended the party’s first-ever national convention in August.
“We learned a lot about campaigning and how to prepare and what to do, and when you live in a big district like Souris-Moose Mountain, it’s a lot of ground to cover,” said Zajac.
It’s going to take a lot of hard work in the next few weeks to win the constituency.
Zajac ran for the Conservative Party nomination in 2014, eventually losing to Kitchen, and said that experience taught him a lot.
He’s looking forward to door-knocking, reaching out to people and presenting the party’s policies to inform the public about what they have to offer.
Zajac will also have a campaign office in downtown Estevan on Fourth Street.
“It gives people a place to go if they have some questions. They can come right to our office.”
As a new party, Zajac said the People’s Party has a lot of policies that people will be excited about.
“A lot of people know there’s another party out there, but they’re not sure about the People’s Party of Canada or exactly what they stand for, so that’s what the candidate’s job is now is to bring that forward in as many different avenues as possible.”
Zajac would like to have Bernier back in the constituency during the campaign. Bernier really enjoyed his visit here in Estevan in July, and enjoyed his tour of the carbon capture and storage facility.
The Green Party of Canada announced its candidate for Souris-Moose Mountain last week.
Judy Mergel, who resides in the Wood Mountain area, wasn’t able to comment for this story, but did send a news release to the Mercury discussing her candidacy.
Previously a candidate for the party in the Wood River constituency in the last provincial election, Mergel said in a news release that she was inspired to do more after hearing federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May speak at the University of Regina this past spring.
“It's no secret that the Greens don't generally fare well at the ballot box in ‘oil & gas’ country,” Mergel wrote in the news release. “However, the Greens believe in a gradual transition to renewable energy and will support large-scale retraining.”
Although the party is universally equated with the environment, she said their platform addresses much more and will be visible on the Green Party’s website once the platform is launched.
“The Greens are a unique grassroots organization that I'm proud to be part of,” she said. “Our vision for Canada promises a future where no one will be left out or left behind.”
Patron, who resides in the Redvers area, is the leader of the Nationalist Party. As of Monday evening, he was their lone candidate. They have put out a call for candidates, and he said they do have some who are interested.
It’s too early to say how many they would have at this point, and they want people who have demonstrated a commitment to the party and understand its policies.
He is looking forward to getting out to the various municipalities in Souris-Moose Mountain, passing out pamphlets and gaining feedback, and incorporating those ideas into the party’s platform.
He noted that if the election been called on Sept. 8 instead of Sept. 11, the party would not have been allowed to field candidates for the election, since the party was recently approved by Elections Canada.
Patron would have instead had to run as an independent.
“Three or four days is how close we came,” he said.
As of Monday night, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party had yet to find their candidates for Souris-Moose Mountain.
