One of the really disappointing trends that we’ve seen locally in provincial and federal elections has been the lopsided nature of the campaigns.
It’s not a knock against the people who have been elected for the federal Conservative Party since 2006, or the provincial Saskatchewan Party since 2007. But these are elections that have been marked by decisive victories.
And it becomes tough for the other parties to find credible candidates. Why would a candidate want to put in a legitimate amount of work, only to finish second with 15 per cent of the vote?
Not only that, but if they have serious political aspirations for the future, these decisive results will be online forever.
That’s not to say we haven’t had a few credible, hard-working candidates in recent votes. Vicky O’Dell was an excellent candidate for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2015 election, and it was a shame she barely finished ahead of the phantom candidate the Liberals threw at us.
Paul Carroll did a great job as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2016 provincial election, and nearly finished second, which would have been the best result for the PCs in an election in a long time.
(Cameron Robock was working hard as the candidate for the NDP in 2016, but he was unfortunately turfed by the party as their candidate at the start of the campaign, and didn’t garner much support as an independent).
But generally, the pickings have been slim for local voters who aren’t backers of the Tories federally or the Sask. Party provincially.
This brings us to the 2019 federal election. Robert Kitchen won Souris-Moose Mountain in a landslide four years ago. It was said before the election that he went through a tougher fight to win the Tories nomination a year earlier. It went to a fifth and final ballot before Kitchen emerged victorious in a six-candidate race.
One of those candidates for the 2014 Tory nomination was Phil Zajac, who announced last week that he will be the Souris-Moose Mountain hopeful for the People’s Party of Canada, the recently-formed right-of-centre party with former Conservative leadership hopeful Maxime Bernier as its leader.
Zajac has already set about showing he’s serious. He was at the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in Weyburn last week, introducing himself to exhibitors and voicing his support for the energy sector.
And he’s been seen at other events in the riding.
It’s an encouraging sign to see at least somebody trying. And in Zajac’s case, he’s going to have to work tirelessly in the next four months if he expects to win.
Kitchen was nominated for the 2019 federal election more than 18 months ago. And he has the incumbent’s advantage. People recognize his name. He’s been on the ballot for a federal election before. And he’s the guy for the established right-of-centre party.
When you consider that the People’s Party of Canada is a fledgling party that has been around for less than a year, it’s particularly important to have a slate of hard-working candidates who can articulate their platform. It’s not a time to have phantom candidates.
This editorial is not an endorsement of Kitchen, Zajac or their respective parties, or any other party for that matter.
But it is encouraging to see someone has shown a willingness to work hard, to challenge not only the governing Liberals on some issues, but the Tories on some others.
Hopefully, the federal Liberals, New Democratic Party and the Green Party can also give us candidates worth supporting. It would be nice to see them field local candidates, not parachutes from Regina or Saskatoon. It would be nice to see them give us people willing to work, rather than phantoms who are merely token candidates.
(It would be a bonus to hear them all go to bat for the industries that make this constituency what it is, but a couple of parties don’t seem intent on doing so).
The people of Souris-Moose Mountain deserve to have people worth voting for, instead of people who will just be fodder for the Tories.
