Sask. Party wins Saskatoon byelection

The Saskatchewan Party has held onto the Saskatoon-Northwest riding after a resounding byelection victory Monday.

Saskatoon city councillor, and Sask Party candidate, Gord Wyant earned nearly 59 per cent of the vote, six points higher than Serge LeClerc earned for the party in the 2007 provincial election.

“It’s always humbling to get that vote,” Wyant said after the victory. “We knew we were going to do well, we had a good response at the doors.”

“I think perhaps there is a message there,” added Premier Brad Wall. “I’m not sure it’s one for the NDP or not, but I think it’s a message that people in Saskatoon-Northwest, not unanimously, but to a great degree are happy with the direction of the province.”

NDP candidate Jan Dyky finished in second place with 33 per cent of the vote. Despite the loss, Dyky is happy with the four point improvement for the NDP in the riding since the 2007 campaign.

“I can’t be disappointed in our results tonight,” Dyky said. “We made some huge gains in an area that I don’t think anybody expected to see. I don’t think anyone was prepared to see northwest turn orange the way it did.”

“The fact of the matter is there are a lot of people in the province not happy with Premier Wall,” said NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter. “If he believes the building trades are happy with him, I urge him to keep thinking that, but it’s not accurate. If he thinks first nations are happy with him, I urge him to keep in that bubble and keep believing his advisors who are telling him he is loved by everyone in the province.”

With the victory the Sask Party maintains its 38 seats in the legislature, the NDP have 20.

Three other candidates running in the by-election finished well back, each earning less than five percent of the vote. Liberal Eric Steiner finished with 157 votes, Progressive Conservative Manny Sonnenschein earned 133 votes and Green Party leader Larissa Shasko finished with 122 votes.