Saskatoon Fairview: 3 candidates confirm nomination bids after Campeau resignation
Jennifer Campeau left office on Sunday
Three candidates have announced they will seek the nomination for the seat of Saskatoon-Fairview after Jennifer Campeau's resignation last week.
Vicki Mowat was the first to announce she would make a bid for the seat, confirming on the weekend she would seek the NDP's nomination after losing to Campeau by a slim margin in the 2016 provincial election.
On Monday, Cameron Scott, Saskatoon Public School Board Ward 4 Trustee, announced he intends to seek the Saskatchewan Party nomination.
And on Monday afternoon, David Prokopchuk announced he would seek the nomination for the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan.
Previous candidates still considering nomination bid
Undecided is Shah Rukh, the Liberal candidate in 2016 who finished third with 308 votes.
"It's quite early to say anything at the moment," said Rukh on Saturday when asked about his intentions.
Green Party candidate Debbie McGraw, who finished last with 89 votes, said she will be meeting with party officials in the next few days before making a decision about running.
6 months to call byelection
The Saskatchewan government has not yet called a byelection and has six months to do so.
"However, the next session starts on Oct. 25 so I would suspect that the byelection will happen before that so that we can have a full list of MLAs at that time," said Mowat.
David Forbes, the NDP MLA for Saskatoon Centre, said the campaigning will have to begin right away.
"We know the premier will be counting on apathy," said Forbes. "Perhaps it will be called over the summer and people will think that it will be a sure thing."
'Tough' constituency, says premier
But Premier Brad Wall didn't exactly sound confident last week after announcing Campeau's resignation after she took a B.C. job with global miner Rio Tinto.
"This constituency we're talking about is tough. [182] votes, with an excellent candidate [Campeau]. So we're pretty realistic about that. It's going to be very difficult," said Wall, who is also the leader of the Saskatchewan Party.
"When we have a candidate in place, I'm sure that candidate will be campaigning even if the byelection is not called," Wall added.
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with files from Stefani Langenegger