Buckley Belanger puts Liberals on the map in Northern Saskatchewan

Buckley Belanger is shown in this image taken from the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan website.

Buckley Belanger has earned a decisive victory in Saskatchewan’s northernmost riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, breaking the Conservative Party’s hold on the province.

Belanger beat out Conservative challenger Jim Lemaigre, earning 64.6 per cent of the vote, at last count, with only eight polls unreported. The NDP’s Doug Racine trailed in third place, with about 10 per cent of the vote.

The victory represents a significant departure for a province where the Liberals have long struggled to compete. In 2021, the Conservatives swept every seat.

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“Clearly I think Saskatchewan is going to be hearing from the Liberals a lot more,” Belanger told CTV News in a phone interview Monday night.

“I think northern Saskatchewan is, [I] have always said, that this is not a conservative ridings. Northern Saskatchewan is far from being conservative.”

Belanger is the first Liberal candidate elected in Saskatchewan since Ralph Goodale, whose long career in parliament came to an end when he was unseated in 2019.

As the only Liberal in the province, Belanger said he plans to cast a wide net.

“We’re going to tell all the progressive voters across this province we got ‘er done. This is for you, and we’re going to continue moving forward and working hard from Saskatchewan’s perspective.”

The map of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River was redrawn prior to this election cycle, with the boundary pushing northward.

Experts predicted this would be favourable to the Liberals, as a block of Conservative voters were absorbed into other ridings.

Belanger has deep roots in northern Saskatchewan. He was born and raised in Ile-a-la-Crosse and spent part of his early career setting up local radio and TV stations in northern communities, including Cumberland House, La Loche and Beauval.

Belanger has decades of political experience, first serving as mayor of Ile-a-la-Crosse before winning elections as an MLA, first for the provincial Liberal party in 1995, then with the NDP from 1998 until 2021.

-With files from Stacey Hein