Conservatives retain dominance of Sask. federal ridings

The Conservatives have again dominated the Saskatchewan federal election map.

Two years ago, during the 2019 federal election, the Conservative Party swept all 14 Saskatchewan seats.

This year, CBC News has projected that the Conservative Party will win all federal seats in the province. 

Jim Farney, a political science professor at the University of Regina, said the Liberals' overall win and the lack of Prairie representation in the House of Commons could cause some tension for Saskatchewan residents.

"Does this give permission to Justin Trudeau to kind of move to the left to run a more progressive government?" Farney said. "If that's what he does, then the gap between him and Saskatchewan voters will be larger than it's been before and the gap between the provincial government and the federal government will be larger than it's been before."

The closest Saskatchewan race on Monday night was in the Saskatoon West riding.

As of 10:30 p.m. CST, Conservative candidate Brad Redekopp was leading NDP rival Robert Doucette by 438 votes in Saskatoon West. Of 169 polls, 120 had reported.

However, once more polls came in, Redekopp led by 2,496 votes by early Tuesday morning, with 168 of 169 polls reporting and CBC's decision desk is projecting a Redekopp win. 

Here are the projected winners in each Sask. riding:

• Battlefords-Lloydminster: Rosemarie Falk, Conservative.
• Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek: Kelly Block, Conservative.
• Cypress Hills-Grasslands: Jeremy Patzer, Conservative.
• Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River: Gary Vidal, Conservative.
• Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan: Fraser Tolmie, Conservative.
• Prince Albert: Randy Hoback, Conservative.
• Regina-Lewvan: Warren Steinley, Conservative.

WATCH: Losing NDP candidate Tria Donaldson on why it was important to run. 

Losing NDP candidate Tria Donaldson on why it was important to run

3 years ago

Duration 1:01

Regina Lewvan NDP candidate Tria Donaldson on what it meant to her to run in the election.

• Regina-Qu'Appelle: Andrew Scheer, Conservative.

Conservative candidate Andrew Scheer thanks party leader Erin O’Toole

3 years ago

Duration 2:00

Incumbent Conservative candidate Andrew Scheer reacts to holding seat in Regina-Qu'Appelle:

• Regina-Wascana: Michael Kram, Conservative.

Incumbent Michael Kram reacts to keeping his seat in Regina-Wascana

3 years ago

Duration 0:48

Michael Kram says he is feeling mixed emotions with the results of the federal election.

• Saskatoon-Grasswood: Kevin Waugh, Conservative.
• Saskatoon-University, Corey Tochor, Conservative.
• Saskatoon West: Brad Redekopp, Conservative.
• Souris-Moose Mountain: Robert Kitchen, Conservative.
• Yorkton-Melville: Cathay Wagantall, Conservative

Belanger's failed bet

In the Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding, one candidate's switch to a new party does not appear to have worked out as desired. 

Buckley Belanger was the longtime MLA for the Athabasca region in Saskatchewan's provincial legislature. He was a member of the Opposition Saskatchewan NDP.

Belanger left the party and provincial politics to run for the Liberal Party in the federal Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding and is projected to lose to Conservative candidate Gary Vidal. 

Vidal, a former mayor from Meadow Lake, was elected as a member of parliament in 2019. This time around, Vidal had captured 63 per cent of the vote, or 5,365 votes, as of 9:25 p.m. CST.

The Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River riding has historically bounced between all three major federal parties and represents one of Canada's largest ridings geographically— an area just north of Prince Albert stretching north to Fond-du-Lac and everything in between.

PPC watch party in Saskatoon draws concerns

Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC), lost in the Quebec riding of Beauce, but was at the Saskatoon Inn ballroom along with supporters and some local Saskatchewan PPC candidates to watch the night's results. 

Bernier's return to the province came just over two weeks after he was egged during a campaign event at a Saskatoon hotel on Sept. 2.

"We are ready to celebrate tonight inside or outside," Bernier said in a video posted on the PPC's main Twitter account late Monday afternoon, gesturing to an outdoor stage behind him. The stage is on a field near the inn. 

Most of the crowd was inside by 8 p.m. CST, however, with many people going without masks.

"We decided to do an event here and people who showed up, they are responsible. If they decided not to wear their mask, that was a responsibility," Bernier said.

'All of these people are responsible individuals': Maxime Bernier says in response to unmasked supporters at PPC event

3 years ago

Duration 2:26

People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier is asked to respond to the Saskatoon Police Service tweeting it is aware of concerns about unmasked supporters at the PPC event and that it would work with the public health officials to look into it.

On Friday, Saskatchewan reinstated a mandate for people to wear masks in public indoor spaces. 

Unlike Alberta, Saskatchewan did not bring back limits on how many people can gather indoors. 

The Saskatoon Police Service said it was aware of concerns about the PPC event and that it would work with the public health officials to look into it. 

Voting in a pandemic election

Asif Hussain, one of the hundreds of thousands of people expected to vote in the province, said he felt safe casting his ballot this morning at the Regina-Lewvan polling station.

"It's nice and clean," he said, adding that people were social distancing.

Brett Huber also showed up early to cast his ballot at the polling station.

He's hoping the western provinces gain more representation in Ottawa ... through a change in government.

"I want to see us bounce back from a poor economic period and start to thrive again," Huber said, after casting his ballot.

"Honestly, if nothing changes it's obviously just a waste of time," he said.