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Election 2021: Waugh, Tochor reclaim seats in city ridings; Saskatoon West too close to call

Polls closed across Saskatchewan at 7:30 p.m. and both candidates were declared shortly after 9 p.m.

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Conservative incumbents Corey Tochor and Kevin Waugh have reclaimed their seats in the ridings of Saskatoon-University and Saskatoon-Grasswood, respectively.

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Polls closed across Saskatchewan at 7:30 p.m. and the Canadian Press declared both candidates as victorious shortly after 9 p.m.

“(I) just thank the people of Grasswoods, there was obviously lots of anticipation this election, but you know what … things turned out well for us,” Waugh said as the results rolled in.

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As Waugh was celebrating, results from Saskatoon West were too close to call — and campaigns in the riding said they did not expect to know the results Monday night.

Counting of votes cast Monday and during advance polling was expected to be completed Monday night. However, Elections Canada says counting of local special ballots — including mail-in ballots — may not be finished until later in the week.

“The full count may take up to four days in some ridings,” Elections Canada says.

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As of Monday, Elections Canada had issued 39,105 voting kits with special ballots to Saskatchewan people, including those looking to vote by mail. Of those, 31,564 had already been returned.

The race in Saskatoon West was expected to be one of the closest in the province. Last election, Conservative candidate Brad Redekopp bested NDP incumbent Sheri Benson by fewer than 3,000 votes — the smallest margin of any Saskatchewan riding and smaller than the number of special ballots (3,090) issued to voters this year.

It’s a race between the Conservatives and the NDP in Saskatoon West, one of the few competitive ridings in Saskatchewan.
It’s a race between the Conservatives and the NDP in Saskatoon West, one of the few competitive ridings in Saskatchewan. Photo by Matt Smith /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

This time around, Redekopp is facing off against the NDP’s Robert Doucette, a former Métis Nation-Saskatchewan president, who says he plans to bring thousands of Indigenous voters to the polls as part of his efforts to win the seat. Ruben Rajakumar is running for the Liberals.

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A poll conducted in the riding by Mainstreet Research in late August found that 27 per cent of 305 respondents planned to vote NDP and 26 per cent said they would cast a ballot for the Tories. Among undecided voters, each party had support of 29 per cent of respondents. The poll, which used automated telephone calls and online samples, has no margin of error.

Both Redekopp’s and Doucette’s campaign teams said they didn’t expect a definitive result Monday.

Redekopp doesn’t plan to let it disturb his sleep. He says he’ll spend the evening with team members and supporters and plans to kick up his feet and unwind in the next few days.

“I’ve been waiting 36 days for this answer, so to wait another day doesn’t feel like too much of a big deal,” Redekopp said.

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“Quite frankly, tomorrow, it will be a much more relaxing day. I won’t have to spend the whole day talking to people and running up and down the streets. I can actually maybe put my feet up and take a bit of a rest after a long campaign.”

Doucette described the waiting game as “a Shakespearian drama that’s going to play out to the end.”

“That’s good for this province. It needs a little adrenaline kick every now and then, and that’s what this has done. We’ve captured the imagination of this country. No one thinks we (the NDP) can break through this blue sea. But win or lose, we’ve sure brought about a different outlook on Saskatchewan tonight,” he said.

As of 11 p.m. on Monday, Redekopp held a lead of more than 600 votes over Doucette, with 85 per cent of polls reporting. The lead swapped between the two candidates all night.

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There are 14 federal ridings in Saskatchewan, including three in Saskatoon. All went to the Conservatives in 2019.

Kyla Kitzul, the NDP candidate who finished well back of Kevin Waugh in Saskatoon-Grasswood, said that regardless of the result she was glad so many people voted in such an unusual election.

“I didn’t expect an election in a pandemic, so to have people have to participate in democracy during a pandemic like this, when they almost in some ways are risking their lives, is really difficult. And I’m glad to see people got out and made the effort to make sure their voices were heard,” she said.

No information on voter turnout was available Monday night.

— With files from Zak Vescera and Thia James

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