How diverse candidates did in the Sask. election

While there are still a few Saskatchewan ridings that are too close to call, several diverse candidates were elected.

Three Indigenous candidates were successful Monday for the NDP.

For the NDP, Athabasca candidate Buckley Belanger and Cumberland candidate Doyle Vermette were elected, and Saskatoon Centre candidate Betty Nippi-Albright is projected by CBC News to win, leading by 686 votes with 901 potential mail-in ballots pending.

Nippi-Albright said she is very excited about her projected win in Saskatoon.

"I think this is a very big win for the Indigenous community, as [in] Saskatoon Centre there is a large Indigenous population," Nippi-Albright said. "It's important that Indigenous girls, young mothers, grandmothers see somebody that looks like them.

"I'm just so happy that this is the first time that an Indigenous person is going to represent Saskatoon Centre."

Indigenous NDP candidate Ashlee Hicks is in the lead for Saskatoon Riversdale, but the results were too close to call on election night.

Diversity among candidates

Jaris Swidrovich, a pharmacist and advocate for Indigenous issues who was part of the CBC Saskatchewan's contributors panel on Monday night, said the NDP is leading the way when it comes to diversity within the two leading parties.

"I know that the diversity of the NDP candidate is much more considerable than the Sask. Party and certainly the other parties that are reflected in the election so far," Swidrovich said. "I would love to see more First Nations, Metis, Inuit representation in really all parties, but certainly the Sask. Party too." 

He said he also was happy to see how many women the NDP ran.

Women are now projected to make up six of the seats in the NDP caucus, including Nippi-Albright.

NDP candidate Meara Conway won in Regina Elphinstone-Centre, while fellow NDP members Nicole Sarauer (Regina Douglas Park), Carla Beck (Regina Lakeview), Vicki Mowat (Saskatoon Fairview) and Ericka Ritchie (Saskatoon Nutana) are all projected by CBC News to win with mail-in ballots still to be counted.

Meanwhile, the Sask. Party had five successful female candidates on Monday night, with two others still in races too close to call.

Sask. Party candidates Lori Carr (Estevan), Bronwyn Eyre (Saskatoon Stonebridge-Dakota), Lisa Lambert (Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood) and Donna Harpauer (Humboldt-Watrous) and Christine Tell (Regina Wascana Plains) were all re-elected Monday, while Chris Guérette (Saskatoon Eastview) and Tina Beaudry-Mellor (Regina University) are in tight races with mail-in ballots still to be counted.

Sask. Party MLAs Greg Lawrence, who won in Moose Jaw Wakamow, and Lisa Lambert, who is projected to win in Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood, both identify as Métis.

The race for Regina Pasqua between the Sask. Party's Muhammad Fiaz and NDP's Bhajan Brar was too close to call.

Overall there are eight ridings that were too close for CBC News to call. Elections Saskatchewan will start counting mail-in ballots Wednesday.

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