The riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill, which has some areas north of Nipawin, has a new MP.
Conservative candidate Gary Vidal, the former mayor of Meadow Lake, came out on top in what looked like a tight three-way race with NDP incumbent Georgina Jolibois and Liberal Tammy Cook-Searson.
With only four polls left to report out of 173 as of press time, Vidal had received 10,816 votes to Jolibois’ 7,504 and Cook-Searson’s 6,899 votes. Green candidate Sarah Kraynick and the People’s Party’s Jerome Perrault did not crack 600 votes.
In a victory statement released on social media, Vidal thanked the riding’s voters and his family.
“I am overwhelmed, humbled and incredibly grateful for all the support we have received throughout this entire campaign and the months leading up to it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” said Vidal, who also thanked the other four candidates in the riding.
“It takes a great amount of courage, sacrifice and commitment to seek a political office. Thank you for your involvement in this process.”
Vidal’s election was part of a western Canadian blue wave that saw the Tories take every riding in Saskatchewan and all but one in Alberta.
Jolibois, who will go into the history books for the moment as a one-term MP, was philosophical about the loss in a statement issued by her campaign.
“Tonight did not go as we had hoped, but northerners have spoken. The past four years serving as the Member of Parliament have been the honour of my life,” she said.
“Since I was young, I knew I wanted to serve people. I never expected to be the first Dene speaker in the House of Commons. I never expected that we would lay the groundwork to make a new national federal holiday. But every day, I was inspired by the people that I met to do better and to build a stronger northern Saskatchewan than it was four years ago. I believe that we succeeded on that.”
