Weyburn-Big Muddy returned incumbent MLA Dustin Duncan to another four-year term, as the riding helped show that "in this province, green is the colour," as Premier Brad Wall said of the surge of popularity that swept the Saskatchewan Party to its bi
Weyburn-Big Muddy returned incumbent MLA Dustin Duncan to another four-year term, as the riding helped show that "in this province, green is the colour," as Premier Brad Wall said of the surge of popularity that swept the Saskatchewan Party to its biggest majority yet in provincial history on Monday night.
Duncan, representing the Saskatchewan Party, garnered 5,142 votes to 1,502 for Ken Kessler of the NDP, and 148 for Gene Ives of the Green Party. In terms of the percentage of the ballots cast, Duncan garnered 75.7 per cent, Kessler had 22.1 per cent and Ives had 2.2 per cent. There were 21 rejected ballots.
Provincially, the Sask. Party increased their hold on the Legislature to 49 out of 58 seats, reducing the NDP down to nine members, including losing their leader Dwain Lingenfelter, who lost his own seat in Regina and subsequently resigned as the leader.
The Liberal and Green Party were shut out of the Legislature again; in Weyburn-Big Muddy, the Liberals didn't field a candidate, and the Green Party only ran a paper candidate, as there were no reports that Ives showed up to campaign in Weyburn-Big Muddy.
Speaking to a boisterous group of supporters at the Weyburn Legion Hall, Duncan said he looked at the front page story in the Weyburn Review the last time he won four years ago, and noted he said at that time, "We made history as a party and as a province. We were just getting started."
He went on to note the Sask Party set one of the highest percentages of votes in a provincial election in Saskatchewan, and "that extended to right here in Weyburn-Big Muddy. This is the highest winning percentage in a Weyburn constituency in 90 years," he said to cheers.
Earlier, he told his supporters that his opponent in the race, Ken Kessler, "is a humble and decent guy. We have issues that we need to work on together in this riding."
Duncan also noted he received a lot of advice about writing two different speeches for election night, but in the end, he said he decided to just write one.
"I've come to realize that regardless of the outcome, whether it's a win or a loss, I think only one speech is necessary," he said, going on to share his appreciation with all those who worked for him and beside him, particularly his wife Amanda for being willing to "put up with someone who since the age of 10 or 11 has always wanted to do this."
In an interview earlier in the evening, Duncan said, "I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to continue working for the people of Weyburn-Big Muddy. I'm very pleased and humbled by the support we received."
Asked what one of his first actions will be as a re-elected MLA, Duncan replied, "We're going to look at ways to better communicate with the residents of Weyburn-Big Muddy.
He noted that as he has been in cabinet the last two years as Environment minister, "it' meant less time in the constituency. We're going to come up with new ideas. One thing is, we're thinking maybe having some of my office hours outside of Weyburn, in places like Bengough and Coronach. That's something I want to look at right away."
There were some specific issues that people brought up to him over the course of the campaign, said Duncan, such as "people want to see more work done on the highways. Maybe $2.2 billion may not seem like much when spread through the entire province. There are parts of this constituency that need to see highway construction."
On the issue of health care, Duncan said Coronach is one place where particular concerns were raised, as that community does not currently have a doctor.
For the NDP's Kessler, he said in an interview he was not really all that disappointed in how the results came out, as he knew heading into this election, this year "was a building year" for the party in Weyburn-Big Muddy.
"We are actually very encouraged by the results. We saw a lot of strong areas that we can build on over the next four years. Some of the areas included Coronach, even here in Weyburn where affordable living is a major issue," said Kessler.
In general, he said he took great encouragement from what people told him on the doorsteps throughout the campaign.
"We saw a lot of enthusiasm. We feel really confident that we can build a really strong election campaign in four years," said Kessler.
In speaking to many constituents around Weyburn-Big Muddy, said Kessler, "it just showed me a lot of people share some of the same concerns I have about this government. There's a lot of discontent out there."
Asked if he will run again in four years' time, Kessler said he went into this election knowing this year was a building year.
"I have every intention of putting in the work over the next couple of years and hopefully I will get nominated again," he said.
This election was the first for the Pangman organic farmer as a candidate.
In looking back, Duncan noted that the Sask Party's support was largely rural from the start, but now, with this election especially, their support has grown a lot in the cities as well.
"It means we'll be representing a better, more diverse cross-section of the population of Saskatchewan. It means an added responsibility for us to represent all views of all the people of the province."
In speaking to his supporters, Duncan said of the high percentage of votes, "We did that not only in this province but in this constituency by running a disciplined campaign. We had a platform of fiscal prudence, with lower taxes and better servics for the people that we serve. We're going to move forward in the next term."
He added that voters gave him a tremendous gift in being able to serve the province, alongside "the most dynamic leader in Canada."
In the wake of the election, Mayor Debra Button congratulated Duncan and Premier Brad Wall on their re-election.
"The vote showed that Mr. Wall and Mr. Duncan have once again earned the trust of the Saskatchewan people. They deserve to be proud of their accomplishment and I kow that neither of them will take that trust for granted," said the mayor.
She said some of the issues she will want to take up with the new government include housing, recycling, infrastructure and health facilities, particularly the need for a new hospital.
In a parallel vote on the electio held by Student Vote, in which almost 20,000 high school students from across the province took part in voting, their results closely reflected the official results.
There were votes carried out in 276 schools from 57 of the 58 ridings in the province.
In the high school vote, the Sask Party won 44 of the 58 seats, and attracted 54 per cent of the popular vote. The NDP took 28 per cent of the vote, but only elected 13 candidates.
As in the provincial election, no other party won a seat, but the Green Party won 15 per cent of the popular vote.
