HUMBOLDT — With a strong majority, Donna Harpauer of the Saskatchewan Party has been reelected to the legislature for the seat of Humboldt-Watrous.
“Each and every time, it's always so exciting, but it's also humbling to have that trust,” she said on Oct. 26. “I am going to work very, very hard for the constituents for the next four years.”
Harpauer received 5,267 votes – 73 per cent of the vote. The NDP’s Wendy Sekulich got 1,008 – 14 per cent, the Buffalo Party’s Constance Maffenbeier got 516 – seven per cent, the Progressive Conservatives’ Rose Buscholl got 233 – three per cent of the vote, and the Greens’ Jim Ternier got 169 – two per cent. There were 676 mail-in ballots yet to be counted.
The Saskatchewan Party has won a fourth consecutive majority government. Harpauer said her party was asking Saskatchewan residents who they trusted to lead the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
“I think that Saskatchewan residents are telling us that they do trust us, so we have a task ahead of us and we have a responsibility. We will work very, very hard for not only our economic recovery, but for growth going forward as well.”
Harpauer, who ended the last term as the finance minister, added the goal was to balance the budget by 2024.
How big of a majority the Sask. Party will be working with is yet to be determined. At the time of writing, many of the seats in Saskatoon and Regina were close races between the Saskatchewan Party and the New Democrats – close enough to be affected by mail-in ballots, which will start to be counted two days after the election.
“There's a few nail biting seats out there, yes, there are, that haven’t been just decided. I'll be watching closely,” Harpauer said.
One of the close seats is Saskatoon Meewasin, occupied by NDP leader Ryan Meili. In the last two elections, the Saskatchewan Party has managed to defeat the NDP leader, first Dwain Lingenfelter, and then Cam Broten, in their own seat.
The Buffalo Party, which advocates more independence for Saskatchewan, whether it’s with a Quebec-like deal in confederation or full sovereignty outside of it, placed a distant third among provincial parties, beating the Greens, Progressive Conservatives and Liberals.
Harpauer said she’s hearing where those Buffalo Party voters are coming from.
“There is a lot of frustration with different policy decisions coming from our federal government in Ottawa,” she said. “I absolutely hear that frustration and that is where the vote is going to the Buffalo Party. It's real and I think that Ottawa should pay attention to it.”
The Saskatchewan Party candidate acknowledged her supporters in making her election win possible.
“I just want to say a big thank you to those who supported me, and I will work hard for them for the next four years.”
