tank: scant joy in saskatoon on election night as sask. results unfold
3 minute read
conservative candidate kevin waugh speaks at the watch party after winning his seat in the 2025 federal election.
michelle berg
/
saskatoon starphoenix
when i arrived at the ndp watch party in saskatoon on election night, the two dozen or so people seemed surprisingly peppy.
but by then the party faithful gathered in the darkened coors event centre in downtown saskatoon had plenty of time to let the federal party’s worst performance in saskatchewan history resonate … and to down a few cocktails.
the provincial performance — or lack thereof — was punctuated by the party’s near obliteration across canada with just seven seats left with most polls reporting and 6.3 per cent of the vote. leader jagmeet singh finished a distant third in his riding and resigned, plunging the party into uncertainty.
ndp support in this province was slightly higher at 7.6 per cent, but still by far the worst in the party’s 64-year history and less than half of the previous low of 18 per cent in 1963. the party finished third in all 14 saskatchewan contests, with just one respectable showing.
a few blocks away, at the liberal election party at persephone theatre, the crowd seemed subdued despite their team winning the election. cbc’s declaration of a liberal victory produced little reaction.
perhaps the red lighting that bathed those in attendance tempered their enthusiasm. or perhaps expectations had grown too high of a comfortable majority government and multiple saskatchewan breakthroughs.
but the liberal supporters erupted when buckley belanger was declared the comfortable winner of the northern desnethé—missinippi—churchill river seat that had been held by the conservatives. that lone liberal win prevented a historic third straight conservative sweep of the province’s seats.
the gathered liberals also cheered loudly when the tv showed conservative leader pierre poilievre trailing in his own ottawa area riding. poilievre would lose his seat to a liberal.
advertisement
in saskatchewan, the liberals vaulted to become the second-place option with nearly 27 per cent of the vote, more than double that in 2021.
yet the saskatoon seats the liberals clearly thought were within reach never materialized, despite a surprise visit on the campaign’s last day by newly elected prime minister mark carney, who became the only party leader to visit saskatchewan twice during this campaign.
voters returned all three incumbent conservative mps representing saskatoon ridings by comfortable margins, odd when you consider the right-leaning saskatchewan party won just one seat in saskatoon in october’s provincial election.
liberals came closer to winning two races in regina seats than they did in saskatoon.
and, despite an appeal from liberals to avoid vote splitting, in only two saskatchewan seats, saskatchewan—university and saskatoon south, did the combined liberal-ndp vote amount to more than the conservative total (although others were close).
just three conservative candidates got less than 50 per cent of the vote in the 13 seats they won.
five conservatives won races with more than 70 per cent, and the two sprawling ridings that border the united states — with america the focus of so much attention this election — delivered conservative support above 80 per cent.
those two ridings, swift current—grasslands—kindersley and souris—moose mountain, featured the highest winning vote shares of any election race monday anywhere in canada.
saskatchewan voters cast nearly 65 per cent of their ballots for conservatives, up from 59 per cent in 2021 and again the highest in canada.
and the brighter lighting at the conservatives’ election party at prairieland park aptly symbolized that saskatchewan success. yet, mere months ago, poilievre seemed a sure bet to lead his party to a big majority government.
advertisement
still, the conservatives’ vote share across canada reached 41.4 per cent — more than any federal party has got since brian mulroney’s progressive conservative majority in 1988 … except for the 43.7 per cent carney’s liberals won monday.
“i’m disappointed,” re-elected saskatoon south mp kevin waugh told reporters. “i think we had a chance to form government.”
waugh acknowledged the party’s campaign may have taken too long to pivot after former prime minister justin trudeau’s departure and now faces uncertainty with a leader who lost his seat: “the first caucus meeting is going to be a lot of soul searching.”
despite another conservative blue tsunami in landlocked saskatchewan and another 13 mps off to ottawa, joy seemed in short supply.
phil tank is the digital opinion editor at the saskatoon starphoenix.
this column has been updated to include the combined vote of ndp and liberal candidates in saskatoon south.
liberal supporters watch the federal election results come in at the liberal watch party at persephone theatre.
michelle berg
/
saskatoon starphoenix
guests watch the federal election results come in at the ndp watch party at the coors event centre.
michelle berg
/
saskatoon starphoenix
our websites are your destination for up-to-the-minute saskatchewan news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and leaderpost.com. for regina leader-post newsletters click here; for saskatoon starphoenix newsletters click here
share story
