Constituency Profile: Kindersley

Kindersley constituency is marked in red on this map

For more background on Kindersley constituency, just click this link.

The voting history of the Kindersley constituency goes back 99 years and includes a colourful cascade of politicians from across Saskatchewan's unique political spectrum. The first MLA elected in the Kindersley constituency was in 1912. He was William Motherwell, Saskatchewan's first Minister of Agriculture. Motherwell was the provincial Liberal Agriculture Minister from 1906 to 1917. Later Motherwell went on to become the federal Agriculture Minister in the Mackenzie King government. The Motherwell Homestead near Abernethy in east-central Saskatchewan was Motherwell's base of operations. After Motherwell went to Ottawa, Kindersley became dominated by agrarian socialist politicians. In a 1919 by-election, Wesley Harvey,  Farmer-Independent candidate was acclaimed in Kindersley. Harvey went on to win the seat over the Liberals in 1921 with over 72 percent of the vote, this time as a Progressive MLA. In 1925 the Progressives won Kindersley again with Ebenezer Whatley as the winning candidate. Whatley was re-elected in 1929 and became part of the infamous Anderson coalition government. Whatley didn't even bother running for re-election in 1934. Kindersley was then won by Louis Hantelman of the new Farmer-Labour party. This was one of the five seats won by Farmer-Labour in the pivotal 1934 election that saw the Liberals win a landslide government and every member of the Anderson government defeated. The Farmer-Labour Party went on to become the Saskatchewan CCF. Hantelman later served for Canada in World War 2, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. Donald Laing of the Liberals won the new Kerrobert-Kindersley in 1938.

In 1944, the voters of Kerrobert-Kindersley joined most of the rest of Saskatchewan in electing a CCF MLA as part of the historic Douglas landslide win. The triumphant candidate for the CCF was John Wellbelove. Kerrobert-Kindersley remained a strong CCF seat through the Douglas years, with Wellbelove being re-elected in 1948, 1952 and 1956. Wellbelove retired in 1960 and was replaced by CCF MLA Eldon Johnson. But in 1964 the Liberals finally won Kerrobert-Kindersley with Bill Howes as the winning candidate over Johnson. Howes was re-elected in 1967 but was narrowly defeated in 1971 by New Democrat Alex Taylor. This would mark the end of the era; it was the very last time the CCF/NDP ever won this seat.

In 1975 the new Kindersley riding was won the by Liberals one more time. The winning candidate was Neil McMillan, who was just in his 20s at the time. Today McMillan is the President and CEO of Claude Resources, a Saskatchewan-based gold mining and gas and oil exploration company. For years after McMillan narrowly lost the Kindersley riding in 1978, it was speculated for years that McMillan was the great "dauphin" of the Saskatchewan Liberal party, that some day he would return to claim the Liberal throne, rebuild party and restore its former power and glory. However McMillan never made the move. Probably his ideal time to have done so would have been in 1989, when Lynda Haverstock came on the scene. In any case McMillan has had a very successful private sector career, and likely has no regrets about returning to save what became a lost cause.

In 1978 Kindersley voters brought their constituency into a new chapter in its history when they entered the Tory fold. Bob Andrew of Eston was elected as the new MLA and went on to be re-elected in 1982 and 1986. Andrew was a high-profile cabinet minister in the Devine government, having served as Minister of Justice. Andrew quit in 1989, and the Kindersley constituency remained vacant for the next 2 years. In 1991, former Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Lynda Haverstock had first considered running in the Kindersley constituency, but was unwisely talked out of it by the swarm of lawyers that surrounded her (and later ended her political career). Instead, Bill Boyd of Eston would go on to win a close contest here in 1991 and has mostly been the MLA for Kindersley ever since. In 1994 the wily Boyd became leader of the Saskatchewan PC Party and went on in 1995 to salvage 5 MLAs in a miraculous and well-run election campaign. In 1997 Boyd became one of the original 8 MLAs to form the Saskatchewan Party. In 2002 Boyd quit as MLA and was replaced in a by-election by Jason Dearborn of the Saskatchewan Party. Dearborn was easily re-elected in 2003, but drew unwelcome attention to himself. In 2007 Dearborn did not seek re-election, and Boyd returned. Today Boyd is the Minister of Energy and Resources, and of Intergovernmental Affairs. He is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and influential ministers in the Wall Government, and may yet become Premier of Saskatchewan some day.

Too few women involved in Saskatchewan politics

Government Affairs Minister Laura Ross, image courtesy of www.cbc.ca/sask

Why are there so few women in Saskatchewan politics? The Sask Party has just 10 women nominated as candidates for this fall's election, the New Democrats have 14, and the Greens have 19 and counting.

At the end of the day, maybe women see better opportunities outside of politics. It might also be the case that women in politics have to be tougher to survive than men. After all, men in politics are never subjected to having appearances commented on, among other things.

Constituency Profile: Estevan

Estevan constituency in red, image courtesy of Elections Saskatchewan

For more information on Estevan Constituency, just click this Elections Saskatchewan link.

The first time Estevan constituency was contested was in 1908. The first MLA was Liberal George Alexander Bell. He would be re-elected in 1912 and 1917. In a by-election held in 1918, the Liberals kept Estevan with Robert Dunbar as the new MLA. Dunbar was re-elected by acclamation in 1921. Estevan had another new MLA by 1925 in the person of James Creighton. By 1929 the Liberal MLA for Estevan was Eleazar Garner. The Conservatives would first win Estevan in a 1930 by-election with David McKnight as the winning candidate. The by-election was triggered over allegations surrounding the 1929 vote count in the riding. By 1934 the constituency was now called Bromhead and the Liberals won back this seat with Norman McLeod being the new MLA. In 1938 the constituency was re-christened Souris-Estevan, and McLeod was re-elected. But the Liberal hold on Estevan was ended in 1944 by the CCF sweep of the province. McLeod was crushed by Charles Cuming of the CCF in that historic election. It marked the first time that the Liberals had lost Estevan in a general election. The Liberals came back to win Estevan in 1948 with John McCormack as the winner. McCormack was re-elected in 1952. In the 1953 by-election in Souris-Estevan, the Liberals did not run a candidate, and Robert Kohaly of the PC Party easily defeated the CCF. But by 1956 the CCF won in Souris-Estevan again with Kim Thorson as the winning candidate. But Thorson went down to defeat in 1960 when Ian MacDougall of the Liberals took back the riding. MacDougall was re-elected in 1964 and 1967 but was defeated in the 1971 general election by Russ Brown of the NDP and again later that year in a by-election by Thorson.

The modern constituency of Estevan has had many boundary incarnations since 1908. The modern voting history of Estevan more or less begins in the 1975 general election when Bob Larter of the Tories won this seat by almost 2,000 votes over Thorson. The PCs had been shut out of the Saskatchewan Legislature since the Great Depression, but the party began a huge comeback in 1975, and Estevan was one of the 7 seats that were won this time. Larter was easily re-elected in 1978, but was gone from the Legislature by 1980. In the 1980 by-election, Jack Chapman of the NDP beat PC Leader Grant Devine by about 80 votes. the Liberal candidate was Ralph Goodale. Chapman went on to serve in the Blakeney Government until he was defeated by Devine in a rematch in 1982. Devine went on to be easily re-elected in 1986 and again in 1991. In 1992 Devine stepped down as PC Leader and didn't run for re-election in 1995. Larry Ward won a close 3-way fight in Estevan for the NDP in 1995, but lost in 1999 to Doreen Eagles of the Saskatchewan Party. Eagles has not had a close contest since first winning in 1999 - in that election she won with almost 47% of the vote over the Liberals, with Ward finishing third. By 2003, the Liberal vote had started collapsing in Estevan, which helped boost Eagles to over 51% of the vote. In 2007, Eagles cruised to 66% of the vote after the NDP vote cratered in the constituency. Without a Liberal candidate in Estevan this time, and given the strong oil and gas activity underway in the Estevan area, Eagles could win Estevan again with 78 to 80 percent of the vote or more. Estevan is solidly in the Saskatchewan Party camp and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, if not longer.

NDP promise to open 750 long term care beds

Here is another health care promise from the Saskatchewan NDP for the November 7 provincial election.

Health care is a touchy subject in Saskatchewan politics. That said, one wonders where the money will come from to fulfill all of the health care promises being made by the political parties. Health spending already represents roughly 45% of the provincial government's annual budget.

Rural health delivery remains a big challenge for the Sask Party Government

So says Health Minister Don McMorris. What do you think should be done to improve the delivery of health services in rural Saskatchewan?

NDP wants subsidy restored for chiropractic visits

There are more details about the Sask NDP election promise beyond this link.

The Saskatchewan NDP are going to great lengths to roll out a detailed platform with specific promises - no vagaries. Perhaps the NDP hope to wage an issues-oriented campaign instead of one based on the (un)popularity of Dwain Lingenfelter. Trying to put forward policy goals may be the right way for them to go.

Victor Lau wins!

Victor Lau won a convincing first ballot victory with 60% of the vote earlier today at a convention at the Glencairn Rec Centre in Regina to become the new Leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan. Lau beat Larry Waldinger of Saskatoon and Brendan Cross of Regina. Cross only received 3 votes. Lau and the Greens now have to scramble to launch their provincial election campaign. The election will be dropped around October 7 for the November 7 vote. This is the second time that Lau has lead the Green Party of Saskatchewan; his first tour of duty was in 2006. Lau is one of the founders of the New Green Alliance, which was the forerunner of the Green Party of Saskatchewan. Lau is running for the Greens in Regina Douglas Park against NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter and Russ Marchuk of the Saskatchewan Party.