As the federal political party leaders launched their campaigns for the October 19 general election, the 11-week campaign got off to a decidedly slower start in Yorkton-Melville.
The three candidates who have been nominated in this riding spent the first week generally getting ready.
Cathay Wagantall, running for the incumbent Conservative Party, said she did a little door knocking and received a largely positive response.
The NDP candidate, Doug Ottenbreit, who is entering his third campaign, also did a little canvassing and said he found an appetite for change.
He said he is taking it easy to begin with because of the length of the campaign.
“This one’s not going to be how you start, it will be how you finish,” he said.
The Green Party has nominated Elaine Hughes. Yorkton This Week was not able to contact her by press time.
The Liberal Party has yet to nominate a candidate.
A slow start locally was also evident by the state of the candidates’ Internet presence.
As of press time, there was no biography for Wagantall on the Conservative election site and her own site, cathaywagantall.ca, was not active.
Ottenbreit has a bio on the NDP site, but there has been no recent activity. The latest news tab features some tweets from the previous election in 2011.
And, while Hughes has a biography on the Green site, the party still had her listed as the candidate for Prince Albert where she was originally going to run.
Cathay Wagantall, Conservative
Wagantall was born in Regina and moved to Esterhazy in 1967, where she now lives with her husband Marty. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
After their first business venture failed in 1985, the family moved to Alberta.
Wagantall has been involved with the Conservative Party of Canada since it first merged with Reform in 2004. She has been a delegate at four national conventions and served on the constituency boards in several ridings including Yorkton-Melville.
The couple moved back to Esterhazy four years ago and started the business PositiveSigns.
Doug Ottenbreit, NDP
Ottenbreit was born in Regina and moved to BC in his youth where he attended law school at the University of Victoria.
Before becoming a lawyer, he worked for Ontario’s Minister of Women’s Equality and as a senior aide to BC’s Minister of Social Development and Economic Security.
After he was called to the bar in 2007, Ottenbriet returned to Saskatchewan and practiced with firms in Yorkton and Melville before opening his own practice for four years. He then accepted a year-long position with Legal Aid Saskatchewan before returning to private practice.
Himself a victim of cerebral palsy, Ottenbreit is a lifelong disability rights advocate.
He lives in Melville with his wife Jacqueline, stepchildren Nicolas and Amy and three dogs.
Elaine Hughes, Green
Hughes grew up on a small family farm in northeast Saskatchewan near Archerwill where she developed an early love for the natural world.
Experience in Royal Canadian Navy and a variety of administrative positions in the medical, legal, education and government fields in Canada and as a volunteer overseas strengthened her desire for social justice for senior citizens, the poor, and marginalized members of society.
Now retired, she is a full-time activist for environmental and social justice causes.
