Ruling Sask. Party crushed in byelection

SASKATOON — Voters in the Saskatoon riding of Fairview have sent a pointed goodbye message to departing Premier Brad Wall and his Saskatchewan Party by strongly backing the NDP in a provincial byelection.

The Saskatchewan Party candidate, public school board trustee and corrections officer Cameron Scott, was easily defeated by NDP candidate Vicki Mowat on Thursday night.

With all but one poll reporting, Mowat had 60 per cent of the vote, compared with Scott’s 31 per cent. Liberal Shah Rukh, Progressive Conservative David Prokopchuk and the Green Party’s Taylor Bolin each accounted for less than five per cent of ballots cast, with a voter turnout of 35 per cent.

“I think today we really sent the Sask. Party a message,” Mowat told radio station CJWW. “We’re not OK with the heartless cuts to education and health care. People are really frustrated with the sell-off of the Crown corporations and the tax hikes.”

Scott agreed budget cutbacks had an impact on the campaign.

“I think definitely there were some tough decisions made in the budget. I think it does resonate to some extent with people,” he said.

But he defended the budget, saying the decisions were “made with forward-looking thought … and what is in the best interests of the province.”

It was her second try at the seat for Mowat, who works for the associate dean of Aboriginal Affairs at the University of Saskatchewan.

She lost by 200 votes in 2016 to Jennifer Campeau of the Saskatchewan Party.

The byelection became necessary when Campeau stepped down in June to take a job with mining company Rio Tinto.