Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, a riding that had been considered one of the closest races in Saskatchewan, was called fairly quickly on election night.
Conservative incumbent Gary Vidal is holding onto his seat in the province’s northern riding after being selected in around half of more than 90 per cent of recorded ballots Monday night.
The former Meadow Lake mayor celebrated with a group of volunteers in the city.
He noted his commitment to making stops in communities across Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River as truly making a difference in getting out the vote.
“I heard from people over and over and over again how they appreciated my commitment to get out and be in their communities, listen to their concerns, talk to the people, get to know what’s going on and I really do believe people appreciate that,” Vidal said.
Former Athabasca MLA and Liberal Party candidate Buckley Belanger received about a quarter of the vote while NDP candidate Harmonie King received around 17 per cent.
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Both candidates were unavailable to speak Monday night.
The results were a surprise to some experts, considering all three major parties have won this seat recently and the race was decided by 82 votes in 2015.
“I thought it would be a lot more contentious,” said University of Saskatchewan political scientist Daniel Westlake.
“That’s a surprising result to the Liberals and the NDP who are well under their past performances (in this riding).”
In 2019, Vidal won the riding with 42 per cent of the vote, while the Liberal and NDP candidates received 26 and 28 per cent respectively.
Vidal added he’s not afraid to jump across the aisle and advocate for northern Saskatchewan with the newly elected Liberal minority government like he said he did in his first two years in the job.