For more information on Saskatoon Massey Place, please click here.
Saskatoon Massey Place constituency used to be called Saskatoon Mount Royal. The riding changed names for the 2007 provincial election. As constituencies go, it is a relatively new one. Saskatoon Mount Royal first appeared on the province's political map for 1995. Eric Cline, a New Democrat MLA and lawyer, switched from Saskatoon Centre to this new riding, and was easily re-elected with 63 percent of the vote. His main challenger was Liberal candidate Maurice Vellacott, who in 1997 went on to become the Reform MP for what is now Saskatoon Wanuskewin. Cline served in several cabinet positions in the Romanow and Calvert Governments, with Finance being the top position. Cline won again in 1999 with 58 percent of the vote. In 2003 Cline secured victory one more time with 61 percent of the vote. Today Cline is an executive with Areva.
For the 2007 election, Cam Broten won the NDP nomination for Saskatoon Massey Place, and went on to win the constituency with 56 percent of the vote. Broten is the grandson of 1960s CCF MLA for Watrous, Broten has worked as a policy analyst for the provincial government. Cam is running again in tomorrow's provincial election. His main opponent is Ali Muzaffar of the Sask Party. Also Diane West is running for the Greens. When pundits talk about bedrock seats that the Sask NDP should be able to keep in tomorrow's election, they never mention Saskatoon Massey Place. With no Liberal candidate in the seat, the Sask Party will be running at a minimum of 42 percent in the riding. The Greens got 2 percent last time and will be good for at least that much support again. With the wind fully in the Sask Party's sails for this election, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the Sask Party is closing the gap in Saskatoon Massey Place and have made this seat competitive. Broten has a reasonably high profile from the past 4 years as NDP post-secondary education critic, so he has a decent chance of re-election. But with the momentum lifting Sask Party support across the province, it may be a royal battle in this seat come tomorrow night.
The difference between the NDP winning 3 or 4 seats in this election and salvaging 9 or 10, will depend on MLAs like Cam Broten to win again. The legendary political machine of the Saskatchewan NDP will need to deliver as best as possible in the face of the Sask Party juggernaut. Without the surging support for the Sask Party, Broten's re-election would be a slam dunk. But as it stands, this seat may hang in the balance. Much rides on the 'Get Out The Vote' effort that Broten and his team has ready for tomorrow.
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