Regina-university a seat to keep an eye on

Saskatchewan Party MLA could have hard time holding urban seat in 2020

Saskatchewan politics is filled with random events. In this weekly feature, political reporter David Fraser shares some of those stories.

PROVINCIAL NOMINATIONS UPDATE

Lisa Lambert (Saskatoon Churchill-wildwood), Ken Cheveldayoff (Saskatoon Willowgrove) and Tina Beaudrymellor (Regina-university) will all be seeking re-election after winning their nominations to run for the Saskatchewan Party in 2020.

One of those acclamations — Beaudry-mellor’s — gave an early indication the Regina-university seat could be one of the most interesting to watch in the next election.

Since Premier Scott Moe took over, there has been notable attention put on rural-specific issues. That, coupled with the party’s recent poor performance in urban by-elections and some urban MLAS stating they won’t be running again, has led many to believe urban seats are the NDP’S to lose.

Regina-university is perhaps the epitome of that.

Beaudry-mellor is the advanced education minister at a time when her riding — home of the University of Regina — is in the midst of a labour dispute and she was not viewed as particularly strong in her previous portfolios.

There were apparently very few people at her acclamation (I heard estimates ranging from eight to 12) and she just scraped out a victory in the last election, winning by about 420 votes.

Her opponent at that time? Aleanna Young, who had 30 to 40 people early in November at an event where she simply announced her intention to seek the NDP nomination for the riding again.

MINORITY GROUPS

As more nomination meetings for provincial parties start taking place, I’m interested to see how prevalent some minority groups will become on the political scene. Sask. Party Reginapasqua MLA Muhammad Fiaz was the first Muslim to be elected to the Legislative Assembly, but he likely won’t be the last.

Rather, he was likely the first of many from Muslim and Sikh communities to attempt life as an MLA.

Word is many of those communities — particularly in Regina and Saskatoon — are looking to run as many candidates as they can in the upcoming general election.

Early prediction: the slate of candidates running to be the next crop of MLAS in this province will be more diverse than seen in any election prior.

‘TAKE A CHILL PILL’ AND OTHER NOTABLE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

The session is almost over and MLAS are perhaps getting more restless with each other.

Maybe it is just me, but the amount of shouting back and forth during question period has picked up in recent weeks — and it has led to some memorable quotes.

Rural and Remote Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit had just finished answering questions raised by NDP MLA Danielle Chartier when he told her to, “take a chill pill” on Tuesday.

Minister of Energy and Resources Bronwyn Eyre was responding to NDP Leader Ryan Meili’s query on getting oil to world markets when she said, “Perhaps he could have got off his skateboard long enough to actually weigh in on some of the issues facing this sector because they are major.”

Soon to be retired Cannington MLA Dan D’autremont yelled out on Monday: “They’re unionized, they don’t have to work” during a Question Period back and forth on the topic of a $15 minimum wage.

Minister of Crown Investments Corporation Joe Hargrave was responding to questions raised by the opposition stemming from a CBC story about mandatory truck driver training when he said in his official response to the NDP, “I’m glad their crack research team from CBC is working hard for the NDP again. Mr. Speaker.”

After, in a scrum with reporters (including the CBC’S Stephanie Taylor) he apologized for the remark, saying it was made “in jest.”