Vince Natomagan will not be the the Saskatchewan Party candidate in northwest Saskatchewan after all.
The 45-year-old radio broadcaster and economic development official in Pinehouse is pulling out of the race for the party’s nomination in Athabasca.
At last word, Natomagan was the only candidate in the race and had sold 275 party memberships.
Natomagan says he couldn’t leave behind a youngster at home, the recent economic boom in Pinehouse and the northern way of life for a possible career in Regina.
“Especially within the backdrop of the fact with all this social and economic development and growth that we’re experiencing in Pinehouse, I felt it was premature to leave my community and my colleagues while we’re building this community together. We seem to be doing so good. So that was one of the factors. The other one was the fact that my youngest is eight years old. I’ve had past experience where I wasn’t around as a father as much as I should have, so I didn’t want to go through that again. And if I had a hard campaign and ultimately I had gotten in, I would have had to commit myself to be away for extended periods of time — away from my family.”
Today was to be the deadline for candidates for the nomination to file their papers.
Natomagan says he notified party officials yesterday and says they were “surprised” with his decision.
He currently holds a position with Pinehouse Business North and has previously been a Michif language host on MBC Network Radio.
The Athabasca constituency has been represented by the NDP’s Buckley Belanger since 1995.