Canada’s NDP Leader is urging voters in northern Saskatchewan to stick with the party when they head to the polls Monday.
Former Saskatchewan NDP MLA Buckley Belanger is running for the Liberals in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.
In his campaign, Belanger is calling on traditional NDP supporters to vote for him and avoid vote splits.
Nevertheless, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the Liberals have shown they are simply not credible on the issues affecting northern people.
“At the end of the day, Liberals promise lots of things and don’t deliver,” he said. “People end up paying the price, it hurts people. Trudeau promised the (clean) drinking water for every Indigenous community and broke that promise. That hurts. People end up paying the price for that. Indigenous kids still don’t have clean drinking water in many communities because of Mr. Trudeau’s abandoning of that promise.”
In the 2015 election, the NDP took three seats in the province including Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.
However, in 2019 all fourteen ridings in the province, including the northern seat, went Conservative blue.
Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River is currently held by Conservative MP Gary Vidal.
Nevertheless, Singh said the party is optimistic it can take back at least a few seats in Saskatchewan.
“In northern Saskatchewan, we’ve had Georgina Jolibois in the past. People remember how she fought for folks. Sherri Benson was our MP who fought for people in Saskatoon. So, people remember that New Democrats have been here for them, often being strong voices.”
Harmonie King is running for the NDP in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River and former Métis Nation-Saskatchewan President Robert Doucette is representing the party in Saskatoon West.
National polling shows the Liberals and Conservatives virtually tied in terms of support at about 31 per cent each heading into Monday’s election.
At dissolution, the Liberals held 155 seats in Parliament, the Conservatives 119, Bloc Québécois 32, NDP 24, Independents five, Green Party two and one seat was vacant.
(PHOTO: Left, Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. File photo.)