Everett Hindley to represent Saskatchewan Party in 2024 provincial election
The serving MLA for Swift Current will be representing the Saskatchewan Party in the 2024 provincial election.
Everett Hindley was acclaimed as the party’s candidate during an uncontested nomination meeting, Oct. 4.
“I’m just very, very grateful for the opportunity to be the Saskatchewan Party candidate for the Swift Current constituency in the next election,” he said during a phone interview, Oct. 6. “This will be the third time for me now. … I’ve been honoured to serve as the MLA over the past number of years and really looking forward to the opportunity to continue our work and to continue to serve our community in that regard.”
He was elected as MLA for Swift Current in a 2018 by-election and re-elected in the 2020 provincial election. His 2024 candidacy was unopposed, but it can never be assumed there will not be any challengers.
“Well, you never know,” he said. “In 2017 it was a contested nomination and our party has an open process where people have the opportunity to seek nominations for the Saskatchewan Party in any of the constituencies across the province. As an MLA, I try to work as hard as I can to help people and then serve the people that I’m elected to serve. You never take that for granted and that includes when it’s time for the next provincial election. You know that it’s not a given that you’ll be the candidate for the party.”
He has been appointed to several roles within government since his election as MLA. He currently serves as minister of health and he was previously the minister of mental health and addictions, seniors and rural and remote health. Before that, he was government whip and legislative secretary to the minister of trade and export development, and he served on several government boards.
His duties as a cabinet minister takes up a significant portion of his time and he needs to balance those responsibilities with his duties as MLA for Swift Current.
“I do work very hard to try to ensure that I am continuing to be responsive to the needs of Swift Current,” he said. “It’s easier to do this now, in some respects, with technology and virtual meetings and that sort of a thing. It does allow me to be in Swift Current to be able to both have local meetings and face-to-face meetings with constituents, but also keep up on my ministerial duties. I always look forward to the opportunity to be in the MLA office and try to do that on a regular basis.”
The next provincial election is scheduled to take place on Oct. 28, 2024. Hindley felt he will have plenty to talk about when referring to his work as the elected representative of Swift Current.
He mentioned his role in advocating for various initiatives in the community, including provincial funding for the Canadian Mental Health Association building project, stable funding for the Swift Current Early Years Family Resource Centre, the land agreement with the provincial government that allowed the development of an inclusive park in the city, and supporting the City of Swift Current’s goal to expand the Light and Power franchise area.
“And then some other broader-based initiatives,” he said. “Funding for a variety of capital projects, but also some of the work that’s being done around staffing for health care at our local hospital and in The Meadows long-term care facility, and knowing that there’s still some challenges ahead that we need to address.”
He feels fortunate as an elected official to have the opportunity to interact with people on a variety of issues, but it also presents what he considers to be the most challenging aspect of his work.
“It’s not always easy to come to a resolution or to a decision that everybody necessarily agrees with at times,” he said. “That can be a challenge, but you try to do to the best of your ability as an official to be able to hear from as many people as possible and be able to carry that message forward and do so in a productive way.”
The Saskatchewan Party has been the governing party in the province since 2007. It won three elections under the leadership of Brad Wall and 2024 will be the second time the party goes into a general election under Premier Scott Moe.
“We do want to talk about our record,” Hindley said.
“We’re proud of the record that this government has had over the successive terms that we’ve been fortunate to serve as the government and to talk about some of the significant investments that have happened into health care and education infrastructure, and trying to make sure that we’re making life affordable for families in this province.”
He noted that the Saskatchewan Party is already thinking on both a provincial and local level about the 2024 election, even though it is still a year away.
“For me at least, the election is never really that far away,” he said. “Time goes by quickly in each and every one of our lives, and the same is true in politics. It’s important to keep that perspective in mind, knowing of course that we’re also trying to make decisions as a government that are beyond that election cycle. We’re making decisions around initiatives that are long-term in nature that would go beyond a four-year election cycle, but we’re always preparing for that.”
He expects the 2024 election will see a return to typical campaign activities compared to the more restricted format of the 2020 election due to the COVID19 pandemic.
However, he anticipates the use of technology will continue to influence campaigning in various ways.
“You have to keep in mind there’s other ways that people get their information,” he said. “You can reach them through social media, through other channels as well as through traditional media. And I think that’s always evolving. So as a political candidate, you have to be cognizant of that and to make sure that you’re incorporating that into your campaign as well.”
He acknowledged that political divisiveness has been increasing, which he felt is related to the influence of the internet and social media, as well as the 24-hour news cycle.
“Our world has really shrunk, because of technology,” he said. “People are able to share information, share their views, and sometimes have opposing views more frequently. There are some benefits, but I do truly think there’s also some downsides. It does create some challenges. Sometimes people will say things to one another on social media that they might not say face-to-face, and I think that’s an unfortunate thing. So in some respects that probably does lead to more divisiveness at times.”
He felt it is a fine line for politicians as well as other community leaders to ensure that they do not contribute to more divisiveness through their actions and words.
“It does fall to each and every one of us to make sure that we are conducting ourselves in a respectful fashion,” he said. “And making sure that we try to think about the other person and the perspective that they’re coming from, try to understand, even though you don’t necessarily agree with that.”
Hindley received 73.5 per cent of votes in the 2018 by-election in Swift Current and 78.4 per cent of votes in the 2020 general election.
However, he does not feel past results will take any pressure off his campaigning in the 2024 election.
“No, it never does that to you,” he said. “Honestly, I never take this for granted. … You just never do. At least, I know I don’t. I try to work hard each and every day. And not just during the 28 days of the campaign. I think about it each and every day that I get up and go to work.”
Two other serving MLAS in southwest Saskatchewan will again represent the Saskatchewan Party in the 2024 provincial election.
Doug Steele was acclaimed as the party candidate for Cypress Hills and David Marit is the acclaimed party candidate for Wood River.