Saskatoon MLA Jennifer Campeau resigns
Campeau moving to B.C. for mining job
A provincial byelection will be held in Saskatoon later this year to replace Jennifer Campeau, the Saskatchewan Party MLA who has represented the Saskatoon Fairview riding since 2011.
Campeau announced Wednesday that she is leaving politics and Saskatchewan. She will resign as of June 25 to move to British Columbia and accept a senior advising role with mining company Rio Tinto Alcan.
“This has been a very difficult decision for me, but definitely, I couldn’t pass this opportunity up,” an emotional Campeau said at a news conference.
“You weigh the pros and cons of waiting for the last three years of sitting in the legislature, sitting out my term, but this is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity so I had to take it.”
A byelection must be held within six months — by the end of December — to fill the vacant seat.
Premier Brad Wall said he will make an announcement about the byelection date “at some suitable time.”
The Saskatoon Fairview riding was an NDP seat for 25 years before Campeau beat incumbent Andy Iwanchuk by 247 votes in 2011. She narrowly held onto the riding last year, beating NDP candidate Vicki Mowat.
Wall acknowledged that Saskatoon Fairview will be hard to win.
“Whether or not the current political dynamic was changed by the most recent budget, this constituency we’re talking about is tough ... It’s going to be very, very difficult,” he said.
Mowat said Campeau’s announcement came “as a surprise” and she is putting serious thought into whether to once again seek the NDP nomination in the riding. She said she believes the current political climate has created a “strong opportunity” for the NDP to reclaim Saskatoon Fairview.
“People are frustrated,” she said.
Nicole Sarauer, the new interim leader of the NDP, said her party looks forward to the byelection.
“Every byelection is important,” she said.
“Our hope is, if we have to take the Sask Party seats one by one, we will.”
Campeau, who was once a highschool dropout and single mother, holds a master’s of business administration degree and was an instructor at the University of Saskatchewan before she dove into politics in 2011.