Constituency Profile: Moose Jaw North

Moose Jaw North constituency is outlined in red on the map above.

For more information on Moose Jaw North, please click here.

Moose Jaw North first came into the Saskatchewan political lexicon in 1967. It was the first election where the cities of Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert used multiple seats to elect MLAs instead of the two-seat electoral system. The first MLA for Moose Jaw North was Gordon Snyder of the NDP. Snyder was first elected in Moose Jaw in 1960 and was re-elected in 1964, 1967, 1971, 1975 and 1978. In the 1970s, Snyder served as Minister of Labour in the Blakeney Government. Snyder was defeated in the "Monday Night Massacre" election of 1982, and he subsequently retired from politics. In 1971, Snyder moved to Moose Jaw Wakamow riding, and Donald McDonald of the Liberals won Moose Jaw North. McDonald didn't run for re-election in 1975, and New Democrat John Skoberg won the seat back for the NDP. Skoberg had been the New Democrat MP for Moose Jaw from 1978 to 1982. Skoberg was returned to the Legislature in 1978 but retired in 1982. The seat was picked up by Keith Parker of the PC Party. But Parker lost in 1986 to New Democrat Glenn Hagel.

Hagel had a lively career as an MLA. He was Speaker of the Legislature from 1996 to 1999, and then joined cabinet in 2001. Hagel held several different portfolios, including Post Secondary Education, Social Services, Gaming, Community Resources and Employment, Provincial Secretary, and Culture, Youth and Recreation. Hagel was re-elected in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003. In 2007 Hagel was defeated by Warren Michelson of the Saskatchewan Party by exactly 33 votes. Part of Hagel's defeat may be the result of an alleged  controversy over NDP caucus funds when Hagel was Caucus Chair. Hagel was never charged by police. Today Hagel is Mayor of Moose Jaw, so he has enjoyed a political comeback.

Michelson is running for re-election on November 7th. His opponents include Derek Hassen of the NDP, Corrine Johnson of the Green Party, and PC Party Leader Rick Swenson. Swenson was the MLA for Thunder Creek from 1985 to 1995 and held several cabinet portfolios in the Devine Government. Swenson was also interim PC Leader from 1992 to 1994. Swenson became PC Leader in 2006 after the party came out of self-imposed hibernation for 2 provincial elections after the formation of the Saskatchewan Party. Swenson ran in Thunder Creek in 2007 but finished fourth with 3.42 percent of the vote. Swenson and the PC Party is before the courts with the Sask Party over access to the PC Trust Fund. The trust fund was established by the PCs before the party was placed in hibernation. The trust fund contains an estimated $3-million.