GRASSLANDS - Voters in the Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley riding will head to the polls on Monday, April 28, with four candidates who are seeking the vote of Canadians.
The incumbent candidate, Jeremy Patzer of the Conservative Party, is joined by three others including NDP candidate Alex McPhee, Liberal candidate William Caton, and independent candidate Maria Lewans.
Jeremy Patzer, Conservative Party of Canada, incumbent
Running once again and seeking another term as an MP is Jeremy Patzer for the Conservative Party, who's seeking a third term in representing the people of this southwest region of the province.
With agriculture being one of the driving forces of Saskatchewan's economy, as well as playing just as big of a part locally, Patzer says that if his party is elected federally, they'd be able to help improve global relationships.
"Right now, we're seeing a big tariff on canola and a few other products by China as a retaliatory measure on EV tariffs that Canada put on Chinese products," he said in a media profile. "When the current government doesn't prioritize the trade relationships and work to expand market access, that's a problem. It's our producers that feel the heat on that."
In addition, Patzer says the energy sector is also receiving a lot of attention in conversation with people. He said if elected, the Conservatives would build a national energy corridor.
"The U.S. is obviously our biggest trading partner, but we have an opportunity to provide the rest of the world with the energy it needs," he said. "To get our product out to the coast is the first step to do that."
Alex McPhee, Canada's NDP candidate
The NDP's candidate for this riding, Alex McPhee is running in his second election, and he says he fully realizes that the riding has been voting conservative in one form or another for quite a long time. However, he feels the end result has seen communities suffer from drying out.
"Under 70 consecutive years of Conservative MPs," McPhee said in a candidate profile. "Mostly those small towns have gotten smaller. Businesses have gone under and gotten more centralized, and services have consistently been moved out of Swift Current and to other larger cities. There are certainly things that are not things right now are not going in a direction that I'm entirely pleased about."
McPhee says he appreciates the opportunities that campaigning brings.
"What matters the most to me though a federal campaign like this one is talking to the faithful and talking to the skeptical," he said. "There are other people all over the riding as well who have never had a politician come to their door. They've never had the chance to think like, 'What can these people actually do for me?' My personal goal is to get outside, stay on my feet and stay healthy because I ran myself pretty ragged in 2021, driving to as many towns as I could."
William Caton, Liberal Party of Canada
The fourth candidate in this riding, the Liberal Party's William Caton, is a familiar one when it comes to the campaign trail, with this election being his sixth one, and his fourth one running for the Liberals. A cattle rancher from the Cypress Hills area, Caton says he's fully aware of the Conservative stronghold on this part of the province.
"We're so conservative where I live in the southwest corner," Caton said in a candidate profile. "I really don't like (Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre)'s attitude about things or his policies. I just thought it was time to stand up and talk about the things that I thought are important."
Caton knows the battle in front of him, and says he doesn't quite know what it would take for a riding that has voted Conservative for many years to consider a Liberal candidate, claiming that many of the voters fall for the Conservatives' agenda due to warped personal views and accusing party leader Pierre Poilievre of falling under the same category as the American president.
"Donald Trump is a menace to the whole world and he's attacking Canada right now," he said. "I think Pierre Poilievre's politics are exactly the same as Trump's. Same as Danielle Smith. Same as Scott Moe. I think we should try and keep Canada as a sovereign nation not let the Americans come in and own everything."
Maria Lewans, independent
This riding's independent candidate is Maria Lewans, a business owner in Swift Current. A past candidate in both municipal and provincial elections, Lewans finds herself running in her third federal election and says she notices how much people are struggling.
"I care about my community," Lewans told media in a candidate profile. "Saskatchewan is one big community and it's hard not to notice how much people are struggling. It's hard to notice that and just to sit by and not do anything."
Running as an independent candidate, Lewans is hoping to draw voters who might be finding themselves to be tired and perhaps fed up with standard party politics.
"All of our conversations about world issues have become so polarized," she said. "That we're not really thinking rationally about what we're doing or how we've structured society and how we've gotten into this mess in the first place. I get frustrated with all that divisiveness and our inability to adjust to what's going on in world affairs without putting people in a state of panic."
Riding history and redistribution
In this part of the province, the South Saskatchewan River serves as the dividing point between two local ridings. One of these is on the west side of the waters; the constituency of Swift Current—Grasslands—Kindersley, a riding that was created after a shift in demographics and numbers, which saw a renaming and a rezoning to include a number of local communities.
This riding includes the nearby communities of Conquest, Dinsmore, Macrorie, Lucky Lake, Beechy, Milden, Elrose and Rosetown.
The southwest is an important agricultural area, so issues related to agriculture and farming will take centre stage during the federal election discurs in the area. Issues involving the border and border security, including tariffs, also take a more prominent role.
Canada votes on Monday night, April 28.
-With files from John Cairns.
