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The electronic sign outside Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park complex promised a “celebration” of Saskatchewan Day.

But inside the room, the atmosphere was decidedly gloomy for the a few who showed up On Monday evening, the political heavyweight who had won the most seats in the province’s largest city since 2011 was reduced to just two seats, despite leading with a few postal ballots pending.

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A stage and podium inside the hall with party logos were unused.

Most of the seemingly sulky Saskatoon candidates didn’t even show up, including defeated ministers Bronwyn Eyre (justice) and Paul Merriman (public safety) and former minister Ken Cheveldayoff, who seems likely to survive, perhaps as the only government MP from Regina or Saskatoon.

Instead, retired party stalwarts Don Morgan and Donna Harpauer dutifully gave on-air interviews, to the cheers of the sparse gathering, when a candidate was elected and when a majority government was been declared.

For a party that had just won its fifth consecutive majority, it represented a strangely grim scene. The absence of candidates shows a complete disregard for party supporters and voters, which will hamper attempts to revive support in Saskatoon.

Moe and his party have survived widespread antipathy toward incumbent governments, but as NDP Leader Carla Beck pointed out, the the political landscape has changed with, pending additional votes, the opposition with 26 seats — the largest number since Elwin Hermanson led the Saskatchewan Party to 28 in 2003.

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Brad Wall then guided the party to a majority government four years later.

David Buckingham, who apologized mid-campaign for making racial slurs among colleagues last year, is clinging to a 31-vote lead in Saskatoon Westview, while some mailed-in ballots have yet to be counted. That could leave Cheveldayoff as the last man standing in the party’s former stronghold.

A video posted to social media by Cheveldayoff last week featured his wife, former CTV anchor Trish Cheveldayoff, urging voters to support her husband, but made no mention of the Saskatchewan Party or leader Scott Moe, who defeated Cheveldayoff as party leader.

This message reflects a party that moved too far to the right during his tenure with voters in the two largest cities – and also where growth Moe’s party likes to brag about what’s going on.

Depending on your point of view, Moe’s move to the right was either a clever strategy to stunt the youngster’s growth United Party of Saskatchewan or an unnecessary change that diminished his fortunes in Regina and Saskatoon.

In the end, United received only four percent of the vote and failed to place second in a single competition, despite obvious and significant campaign spending. In 2020, the right-wing Buffalo Party finished second with four seats.

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For all the diversity Saskatchewan Party candidates offered, especially visible minorities who represented a higher share than the province’s population, most ended up as sacrificial lambs in the sieges of Saskatoon and Regina. But mental health counselor David Chan won his seat in Yorkton.

And eight women won elections for the Saskatchewan Party, more than were left in caucus when the legislature was dissolved. These women will have more influence in a smaller caucus of 35 MPs, but so will all MPs.

Although Moe says he heard a message from voters, he could find himself facing an emboldened group of lawmakers with far more power than they would have in a huge caucus intent on pushing an agenda that will appeal to voters. right-wing rural supporters, but which will be unpleasant for them. in the largest cities.

An even further push to the right could therefore well result from a government now firmly anchored in regions of the province that are either stagnant or declining. And federal cuts to immigration will likely cause Saskatchewan’s population to decline.

Yet while Moe’s party claimed victory, apathy emerged as the true victor. Only 53 percent of eligible voters showed up – for the second election in a row – and fewer ballots were cast than four years ago.

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Considering that 76% of voters voted in Wall’s first victory in 2007, this decline should concern us all.

Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

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