Saskatchewan.

• Author: Woods, Margaret
• Position: Legislative Reports - Saskatchewan Party - Brief article

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

On October 10th, the 25th Legislature was dissolved and a general election called for November 7th. The standings in the Assembly were 30 New Democrats and 28 members of the Saskatchewan Party. When all of the ballots were counted, the Saskatchewan Party received 52% of the popular vote and a majority 38 seats in the Assembly. The New Democrats saw its share of the popular vote fall to 36% and 20 seats. The Liberal Party under David Karwacki received only 9% of the popular vote and no seats. The composition of the new Assembly will include seventeen new Members and an eighteenth, Bill Boyd, who returns to the House after not running in the 2003 general election. Women now hold thirteen of the total 58 seats, an increase of two from the previous Legislature.

The success of the Saskatchewan Party campaign was noteworthy for several reasons. Premier designate Brad Wall's government will be the first formed by the Saskatchewan Party since the party's creation in August 1997. The seats gained by the party included three in Regina, long a bastion of NDP strength, three additional seats in Saskatoon and one each in Moose Jaw and Prince Albert. The in-roads made by the Saskatchewan Party in the urban centers suggested that the split between urban and rural voting patterns that were so evident in the 1999 and 2003 elections were weakening.

Premier designate Brad...