Former Metis-Nation Saskatchewan president Robert Doucette is remaining optimistic despite his election loss.
Doucette lost a tight race as an NDP candidate against Conservative Brad Redekopp in the Saskatoon-West riding during Monday night’s federal election.
The riding became one to watch throughout the evening as the lead went back and forth between the two candidates. By the time all of the polls were counted, Redekopp had enough of a lead to be declared the victor, despite a large number of mail-in ballots set to be counted on Tuesday. Those ballots may make the vote margin even tighter, but would not allow for a Doucette victory.
Doucette and his team have been working hard over the past few weeks knocking on many doors and meeting as many people in the riding as they could.
“You can never feel bad when you put your best foot forward and tried your hardest,” said Doucette. “People should not take a loss as a failure you just have to keep moving forward.”
With such a tight race in the riding, Doucette believes the stage has been set for another nail-biter in the next federal election whenever it may be called.
“We really gained the imagination of the country because everyone in the nation was watching this race,” said Doucette. “I see a lot of great leadership in that campaign office and I think we will see some of those leaders rise up in the next federal election.”
The history of the riding has been one of a Conservative and NDP toss-up with successful candidates only ever winning by a few thousand votes.
This federal election set a record for the number of Indigenous candidates in the country. 70 Indigenous candidates across the country put forward their names for a seat at parliament. For Doucette, he sees it as a desire for Indigenous voices to be heard.
“We now see young Indigenous people engaging in all levels of politics,” said Doucette. “I hope my running can help open doors for these Indigenous youth. I was a guy who was born in the northern Saskatchewan bush and I nearly made it to the highest level of government in this country. So I hope they see that if a guy like me can do it, the sky is the limit.”
As for the future plans, Doucette says he remains optimistic about the future. When asked about a possible return to Metis politics he mostly closed that door as a possibility.
“I don’t think that is in the cards,” said Doucette. “I think the younger generation should be allowed to move up the ladder because that’s our future.”
Doucette says he will be using the next few weeks to spend time with his family as he explores his future possibilities.
(PHOTO: Robert Doucette. File Photo)