NDP voters to choose candidate for empty Saskatoon-Fairview MLA seat tonight

The race to claim the Saskatoon Fairview MLA seat left empty by Jennifer Campeau has barely begun, but already one candidate for the NDP ticket is getting scrappy with the acclaimed Saskatchewan Party hopeful.

"I think it's somewhat brave of somebody, especially who is a public school trustee, to run for the SaskParty nomination," said Keith Jorgenson one of three people vying to become the NDP candidate of his potential rival, SaskParty candidate Cameron Scott.

"He would be intimately aware of the sort of grotesque effects of the cuts to education," said Jorgenson. "I wouldn't be excited about running for them because it's a really hard record to try to defend."

But Scott,a corrections officer and Saskatoon Public School Board trustee, said the ruling party's education record is one of the reasons he decided to run.

"Funding for education in last 10 years has gone up, I believe, 160 per cent, and there are currently 40 new schools being built and completed in the province," said Scott.

"It's fair for [Jorgenson] to have whatever opinion he likes. The voters will make a decision at some point as to who they feel is best to represent the NDP party."

NDP nomination meeting tonight

That opportunity actually comes tonight at 7 p.m. CST at the Confederation Inn.

An estimated 362 registeredNDP members are eligible to choose between Jorgenson, who owns a bakery and runs a local high school, and two other candidates: Vicki Mowat, who ran against Campeau in last year's provincial election and lost by a slim margin; and Chris Sicotte, a Mtis man originally from Cumberland House who is a business development manager at Affinity Credit Union.

Other than the cuts in the provincial government's last budget, Jorgenson said people living in the Saskatoon-Fairview riding are worried about crime and "the lack of attention to it from the government."

For his part, Sicotte says he would like to help foster a move among Indigenous residents in the riding from renting to home ownership.

"I've maintained for a very long time that we're over-represented as renters and under-represented as homeowners. I think there's a role the provincial government can play," said Sicotte.

Mowatsaid the race is a chance to make things right after coming close to winning the seat in 2016.

"We were so close last time and we have had four years to build up support in the constituency and that support has only continued to grow in the past few days," she said last month when she declared her candidacy.

"The main thing for me is we don't have NDP representation in that constituency right now that has a lot of NDP folks in it."

Scott to become official on Aug. 2

Scott will perfunctorily clinch his nomination under the Saskatchewan Party at the party's nomination meeting Aug. 2. No one ran against him.

Asked what Saskatoon-Fairview-specific issues he'd like to tackle, he said, "Maintaining a record of growth and continuing along this right path.

"I remember in the past my peers were wanting to leave the province and now my peers are coming back to the province and it's great to see that our province is still moving forward and it's just working to maintain that Saskatchewan advantage."

Only one candidate has emerged for the Saskatchewan PC Party: Dave Prokopchuk, an independent Primerica financial rep and former longtime technician with Saskatoon Light and Power.

While he too is worried about budgetary cuts, he mentioned another issue that he says is on the minds of people in the riding.

"Some of the older people have children who have been most hit by this recession and are looking for jobs for those children. Thata really big issue for Fairview," he said.

Shah Rukh, who ran for the Liberals in 2016, said he is readyforthe byelection and that his paperwork for the nomination is almost done.

No Green Party candidates have emerged, though the party says it will "absolutely" run a candidate.