The Cypress Hills-Grasslands riding is named after both the national and provincial parks. This riding in south central and southwestern Saskatchewan has its western boundary running along the Alberta border. The southern boundary is denoted by the American border to the south. The eastern boundary of this riding is marked by Willow Bunch Lake, Old Wives Lake, the town of Mortlach, the Thomson and Gordon McKenzie Arms and the South Saskatchewan River. The northerly part of the riding includes the Kindersley region. The largest community in the riding of Cypress Hills-Grasslands is the city of Swift Current. This riding was created in 1997 by integrating sections of the former Kindersley-Lloydminster, Moose Jaw-Lake Centre and the Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia ridings together.
Voters generally chose centre-right candidates in Cypress Hills-Grasslands. Lee Morrison from the Reform Party represented this area from 1993-2000. He was succeeded by the Alliance Party member, David Anderson, when Morrison retired from politics in 2000. Anderson had represented Cypress Hills-Grasslands as a Conservative since 2003. Anderson announced he would not be seeking re-election in March, 2019. He was replaced by Conservative nominee Jeremy Patzer during a leadership race in June 2019. Patzer grew up on a family farm in southwest Saskatchewan. He’d been living in Swift Current for nearly 10 years. Patzer had been involved with the Conservative Party Board of Directors in Cypress Hills-Grasslands for four years, before wining the Conservative nomination after the ballot went into the fifth round in the leadership race in Swift Current this spring.
The Liberal candidate for the 2019 federal election in Cypress Hills-Grasslands is Bill Caton. Caton was born and raised on a ranch in Frenchman Valley. Caton has been a rancher for much of his life. He believes Canada’s corporate and public sectors should be accountable to all Canadians.
Assiniboian school teacher Trevor Peterson will represent the New Democratic Party in Cypress Hills-Grasslands in the upcoming federal election. Peterson had also stood for the NDP in the 2011 and 2015 elections. He was nominated unopposed at an NDP meeting in Swift Current on Sept. 11.
Bill Clary was born and raised in Leader, Saskatchewan, but he had lived in the British Columbian Lower Mainland for 25 years. He worked for BC Housing and spent 14 years as an employee for BC Transit as a transit operator. Clary is concerned about many social and community issues affecting people in Saskatchewan, including poverty, homelessness, healthcare and the environment.
PPC candidate Lee Harding grew up near Lafleche. He lived for four years in Caronport and received a Bachelor of Arts from Briercrest College. Harding had also lived in Assiniboia from 1997-01, where he worked in the agricultural industry. The former reporter for CBC, CTV and GlobalNews had previously been employed as a Parliamentary Assistant for MP David Anderson in 2010.
At this juncture, Elections Canada is not able to release the sites for polling on October 21 as of yet. However, Elections Canada advised that people in Assiniboia and region should receive their voting registration cards in the mail by Friday, October 4. The cards should supply all the necessary communications for voting in this year’s federal election. Voters will also be able to access polling information at the Election Canada website by typing in their postal codes.
The advance polls in Assiniboia will happen at St. George’s Catholic Church on 325 Sixth Avenue from 9-9 p.m. The dates for the advanced polls will run over the weekend from Friday, October 11 to Monday, October 14. Voters must be Canadian citizens who are 18 years or older. All voters are required to prove their identities and permanent addresses at their respective polling stations.
