It may be a Liberal minority government in Ottawa but Saskatchewan’s 14 seats have gone completely blue and this includes the northern riding.
Conservative Gary Vidal has been elected as the MP for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River with just under 42 per cent of the vote defeating NDP incumbent Georgina Jolibois by just shy of 3,500 votes.
Running for the Liberals, Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson finished third with 6,540 ballots cast in favour or 27 per cent of the vote to Jolibois’ 29 per cent.
Green Party candidate Sarah Kraynick garnered 500 votes and Jerome Perrault of the People’s Party of Canada 205.
Prior to election, Vidal was the mayor of Meadow Lake.
About 56 per cent of registered voters cast ballots in the riding.
Other big losses in Saskatchewan on the evening include long serving Liberal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale who lost his Regina-Wascana seat to Conservative Michael Kram.
NDP incumbent Sheri Benson was defeated in Saskatoon West by Conservative Brad Redekopp.
The NDP also lost its other seat in Saskatchewan as Jigar Patel went down to Conservative Warren Steinley in Regina-Lewvan.
The seat had been held by Erin Weir before he was kicked out of caucus by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
In Prince Albert, incumbent Randy Hoback was easily re-elected with almost 69 per cent of ballots cast.
Cree-Métis New Democrat candidate Harmony Johnson-Harder trailed far behind with just under 6,600 votes or 17 per cent.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was also easily re-elected in his riding of Regina-Qu’Appelle with 64 per cent of the vote.
Voters have decided to give Justin Trudeau and the Liberals another term albeit with a minority government this time around.
The Liberals took 156 seats to the Conservatives’ 122, NDP 24, Bloc Québécois 32 and Green Party three.
The Liberals were actually slightly edged out in the popular vote by the Conservatives 34.5 per cent to 33 per cent.
Running as an independent in Vancouver-Granville, Jody Wilson-Raybould was elected with just over 32 per cent of the vote.
Wilson-Raybould, Canada’s first Indigenous justice minister, was kicked out of the Liberal caucus earlier this year over a dispute with the Prime Minister’s office over the handling of the SNC Lavalin court case.
Former Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott, also running as an independent, was defeated in the Ontario riding of Markham-Stouffville.
Liberal incumbent Robert Falcon-Ouellette, an Indigenous professor, was defeated by Indigenous NDP candidate Leah Gazan in Winnipeg-Centre.
Roughly 64 per cent of registered voters cast ballots in the election.
(PHOTO: Newly elected Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River MP Gary Vidal. Photo courtesy Gary Vidal for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River Facebook page.)