Saskatchewan MPs, other candidates gear up for federal election call

It’s not official yet, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to visit Gov. Gen. Mary Simon on Sunday to ask that Parliament be dissolved, triggering the second federal election in less than two years.

With that in mind, Saskatchewan’s 14 Conservative MPs and candidates from all parties are now gearing up for that call.

But it’s one that Saskatoon-Grasswood MP Kevin Waugh believes is totally unnecessary.

“I’m a little disappointed in the egomaniac prime minister we have right now,” Waugh said. “There is no need for this … Coast to coast, people have been saying it and I’m disappointed that this prime minister has decided that he wants a majority.”

Trudeau’s Liberals won a minority in the previous election, which was held Oct. 21, 2019.

Former Saskatchewan NDP MLA Buckley Belanger announced just this week he would be seeking the federal Liberal nomination for the northern Saskatchewan riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill.

He said simply that a federal election isn’t his call.

“The potential dates, that’s certainly within the parameters of the PMO,” Belanger said in reference to the Prime Minister’s Office. “The big situation that I would comment (on) is that the decision will be made by the party, and as a candidate, we’ll abide by all the rules and regulations around COVID-19.”

Waugh and his staff are starting to make the calls for volunteers and to get campaign signs ready. He likens the possible election call to another job interview.

“If the election is called on the weekend, the first week, yes, we’ll be up and running,” Waugh said. “For us, we’re going to finalize our campaign office next week. We’re excited to once again represent Saskatoon-Grasswood.”

And as for Belanger, his plans include figuring out how to get to as many places as possible in the vast riding.

“The NAD, Northern Administration District, is 275,000 square kilometres so we’ve got quite an area to cover,” he said. “You incorporate the challenges of COVID-19 with that (and) you can see it’s going to take a lot of good planning and a lot of thoughtful work to get to as many places as we can.”

If the campaign kicks off Sunday as expected, Canadians could be heading to the polls as early as Sept. 20.