Voters in Conservative-blue Saskatchewan go to polls as Liberals try to make gains

The Front Bench Panel breaks down the election strategies of the party leaders and discuss what each party could have done differently.

Conservatives are looking to keep their vise-grip on Saskatchewan while Liberals hope to make inroads in at least one seat as voters go to the polls Monday for the federal election.

Public opinion polling suggests Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives will win nearly all of Saskatchewan’s 14 constituencies, but Mark Carney’s Liberals could pick up the province’s only northern riding: Desnethe--Missinippi--Churchill River.

Saskatchewan has been entirely Tory blue since 2019.

Buckley Belanger, a former provincial NDP cabinet minister in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is taking another run for the Liberals in the northern seat. Belanger left the Opposition NDP in 2021 to run in that year’s election but lost to Conservative Gary Vidal.

As part of regular redistribution, the district was redrawn to no longer include the Conservative stronghold of Meadow Lake, a city of 5,300 people. It now mostly makes up Indigenous communities, which have tended to vote Liberal or NDP in past elections.

Vidal is not running again and has said his decision was a result of the boundary changes.

In his place for the Conservatives is Jim Lemaigre, a former Saskatchewan Party government backbencher before he lost his seat in the provincial election last October. Lemaigre speaks Dene fluently.

The NDP’s Doug Racine is also running in the riding. New Democrats last held it in 2015.

Polling also suggests a tighter race in Regina--Wascana.

Conservative incumbent Michael Kram has held the district since 2019 after defeating longtime Liberal Ralph Goodale, who represented the riding for 26 years under three prime ministers.

Jeffrey Walters is running for the Liberals in that seat. Walters was the leader of the provincial Liberal Party before it was rebranded in 2023 as the Saskatchewan Progress Party. Kaitlyn Stadnyk is representing the NDP.

Polling suggests Regina’s two other seats will likely stay blue.

Former Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is running again in Regina--Qu’Appelle, a seat he’s held since 2004. He’s up against Liberal candidate Rahima Mian and the NDP’s Chris Simmie.

In Regina--Lewvan, Conservative incumbent Warren Steinley is looking to hold the seat from the Liberals’ Mac Hird and the NDP’s Ray Aldinger.

Blue is also expected in Saskatoon’s three ridings, polls suggest.

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In Saskatoon West, Conservative Brad Redekopp is up against Liberal Chad Eggerman and New Democrat Rachel Loewen Walker.

In Saskatoon--University, Corey Tochor of the Conservatives is duelling with the Liberals’ Greg Poelzer and NDP’s Melissa McGillivray.

In Saskatoon South, Conservative Kevin Waugh is aiming to keep his seat from Liberal candidate Rokhan Sarwar and the NDP’s Jacob Gadzella.

Poilievre made campaign stops Thursday and Friday in Saskatoon to rally support. Carney also visited the city earlier in the campaign.

The waning days of the campaign saw voters turn out in record numbers. In four days of advance polling, a record 7.3 million people marked their ballots early.

That’s up 25 per cent from the 5.8 million people who took part in advance voting in the 2021 federal election.

-This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.