(Submitted photo/Cathay Wagantall campaign)

By Cam Lee

Year in Review

Year in Review: Federal election sees Liberal minority gov’t; Conservatives dominate Sask.

Dec 26, 2019 | 12:00 PM

northeastNOW is taking a look back at the biggest and most interesting stories of 2019, as selected by our newsroom:

The province turned solid blue, but the country still had enough red to keep Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister.

The federal election Oct. 21 further illustrated the major divide between east and west in Canada. Saskatchewan elected Conservatives in all 14 ridings, while 33 of Alberta’s 34 ridings sent a blue wave to Ottawa. Conservatives were also elected in seven of Manitoba’s 14 ridings.

However, 79 Liberals were elected from Ontario, a major reason why they hung onto power, albeit with a small minority.

Conservative Cathay Wagantall was re-elected easily in the Yorkton-Melville constituency, which includes local communities like Porcupine Plain, Hudson Bay, Naicam, and St. Brieux.

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Wagantall received 76.2 per cent of the vote during the federal election, but she told northeastNOW she took nothing for granted during the campaign.

“I ran like I was going to lose. I ran like every vote counts,” said Wagantall, who purchased a travel trailer to drive to do door-knocking, meet-and-greets, town hall meetings, and interviews.

She said she had a wonderful time touring the constituency, touring campgrounds and provincial parks while campaigning at the same time.

Nationally, Wagantall said the results were bittersweet, with better results for the Conservatives than in 2015 but not enough to regain government status.

“But we do have to celebrate that we brought [Trudeau] down to a minority government, the smallest minority in our history,” said Wagantall.

She said the Conservatives needed to get the message out about affordability for Canadians and their environmental policies during the campaign.

“Those things just seemed to hit brick walls, especially trying to get it out on the national media stage,” said Wagantall.

There is some uncertainty going forward for the Conservatives as party leader Andrew Scheer recently announced he is stepping down. Wagantall said the decision was difficult to hear, as Scheer is very much appreciated.

The party is expected to name a new leader soon, perhaps as early as their party convention in Toronto in April.

“You’ll see that same commitment to this country from Conservatives from across the entire country whenever the leadership convention is held,” said Wagantall.

The Yorkton-Melville MP was assigned to the Veterans Affairs committee prior to the election, and she said she hopes to return now that the vote has passed.

Wagantall said she will also continue to champion farmers and their struggles, particularly with the effects of the federal Carbon Tax.

“It’s crippling our economy here,” said Wagantall.

She said the Conservatives continue their effort in highlighting Liberal government policies and decisions that hamper Canadians, including the ballooning deficit and a lack of leadership when it comes to the resource and manufacturing sectors.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974