YORKTON - The latest Saskatchewan provincial election is in the books, and while the next four years will determine exactly what the results have meant, at first look it was a startlingly divisive affair.
The core population hubs of Regina and Saskatoon elected NDP candidates in most every riding.
The rest of the province – minus the far north – was staunchly Sask Party.
So, what does that mean just days out from the vote?
Well the obvious answer is a deeply divided province politically, but there would seem some additional messages are there in the results.
For rural Saskatchewan voters the message to the Sask Party from most is that what they have accomplished in some 17 years at the helm of the provincial government is good enough for them.
So when someone says there are not enough doctors in rural Saskatchewan the election results run counter to that suggesting the numbers are good enough.
In rural while emergency rooms close on occasion no worry it is good enough.
If the car bounces over pothole strewn stretches of highway getting to the next town where an emergency room is open, that is just fine.
Crowded classrooms, homelessness, community safety are all good enough according to the rural riding vote.
The message for leader Scott Moe and his soon to be announced cabinet is there is little that needs to be done in rural Saskatchewan as they are obviously satisfied with where the Sask Party has piloted us to at this point.
So is the focus in the next four years trying to appease big city voters?
It may well be but that will be fine with rural Saskatchewan one would expect.
The outlier are the northern ridings. Moe and his party often expound the strength of Saskatchewan’s resource sector – much of that in the north – but voters there are obviously not satisfied with what that resource strength has brought them.
So that brings us to our local MLA David Chan, a rookie to the legislature.
It will be interesting to see how he performs as a rookie, especially as three huge price tag projects loom on the horizon for the local constituency.
A new sewage treatment plant is required and there will need to be some provincial funding.
Ditto for work needed to upgrade Grain Millers Road for heavy truck traffic to save in city infrastructure.
And then the hospital – a local need for more than a decade – still in the planning stages, although a plan existed years ago too.
The vote here suggests a decade-long wait is again good enough for most voters, so are we OK with another four-year wait?
Or, can Chan finally get a shovel in the dirt?
That will be the most interesting to see, and if he cannot deliver will it still be good enough?
