"In this province, green is the colour."
Those were the words of the Saskatchewan Party's Brad Wall in Swift Current after being declared winner of the 27th Saskatchewan election on Monday night.
The Saskatchewan Party's green swept the province, winning 49 seats, and leaving the New Democratic Party with just nine.
This is a further drop from the 2007 election, when the Sask. Party won 38 seats, and the NDP just 20.
The Sask. Party also claimed 64 per cent of the popular vote, while the NDP had 32 per cent, and the Green Party three per cent. The remaining one per cent went to the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan, who ran just nine candidates in the election.
Locally, it was definitely a Sask. Party sweep.
According to the unofficial live poll results, Donna Harpauer, the incumbent MLA for Humboldt, retained her seat with 5,633 votes, beating Gord Bedient of the NDP, who earned 1,788 votes, and Lynn Oliphant of the Green Party, who received 288 votes.
In Batoche, Sask. Party incumbent MLA Delbert Kirsch also retained his seat, netting 4,598 votes. This was a closer race, as the NDP Janice Bernier received 2,088 votes, and Amber Jones of the Green Party, 197.
In the Melfort constituency, Melfor mayor Kevin Phillips won the seat for the Sask. Party with 4,577 votes. Coming in second was Ivan Yackel of the NDP with 1,548 votes. Melvin Pylypchuk of the Green Party got 139 votes.
In the riding of Arm River- Watrous, Greg Brkich of the Sask. Party was re-elected to his seat with 5,017 votes. His nearest rival was Eric Skonberg of the NDP, who had 1,602 votes. Orest Shasko of the Green Party received 188 votes.
Back at the provincial level, there was an upset in the Regina Douglas Park riding when Russ Marchuk of the Sask. Party won the seat over NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter subsequently resigned that night.
Humboldt
Donna Harpauer's face was beaming as the election results from around the province poured in on November 7.
Friends, family, and staunch supporters of the Humboldt riding's incumbent MLA gathered in one of the conference rooms at the Bella Vista Hotel to watch the media coverage and to celebrate with Harpauer, the Sask. Party candidate who reclaimed her seat in the Legislature on Monday night.
"I am absolutely excited," Harpauer said when she saw the results for her own riding. "I have such a passion for this area, I always have. It's been my home from childhood on."
Harpauer won her seat by a large margin, proving once again that she has earned the confidence electors showed her with their votes.
"It's always overwhelming to get the support and the confidence that I get from the people of this area to represent them," said Harpauer. "I don't take it lightly. I think I've worked hard for this area, and I'm going to continue to do so."
As the evening progressed, and the number of Sask. Party seats continued to augment around the province, so did the noise level in the room as Sask. Party supporters celebrated together.
Harpauer was overwhelmed by her own success, but added the overall provincial results were also overwhelming.
"I did not expect this type of landslide," she said. "I told my team if we gain four more seats, I'll be very, very happy. Obviously, now I'm ecstatic."
Although the Green Party and the Liberal Party had candidates around the province, the real adversary for the Sask. Party in this election was the NDP, who led a strong campaign. Harpauer said that she and her colleagues agreed that they had to enter this race "as if they were 10 points behind, and not to take anything for granted."
She said she thought both teams ran a great campaign, but in her mind, in the end, the platform and promises the NDP were making became their undoing.
"Obviously the people have chosen confidence within our party to give us another mandate," Harpauer said, "and obviously they will find we can follow through with our platform."
Now that the elections are over, Harpauer said the top item on the agenda for the Sask. Party and her number one goal is to keep the promises they made during the campaign.
"It's been my goal every time, and it's going to be my goal again," said Harpauer.
"Let's keep our promises again for the next term. I want to come out of it with people saying, 'You know what, she did what she said she'd do.'"
And then she added, with a laugh, "We don't agree with her all the time, but she did what she said she'd do!"
When the polls first closed, it was a very relaxed atmosphere in Gord Bedient's camp. NDP supporters had gathered at his campaign manager's house in Humboldt, waiting for the results to come in.
After seeing Donna Harpauer of the Sask. Party win the riding, a wave of disappointment swept over the group, and the candidate.
Bedient explained that he was disappointed with the loss because he thought their campaign went well. When he was out on the campaign trail and door-knocking, he felt there were more people supporting him than what was reflected in the polls.
"The door-knocking wasn't quite where we thought it would be," said Bedient.
He was happy with the way they ran his campaign, describing it as a "very up-front" and "issue-based," but felt the people of the province may not have had the concerns his party did.
"It may have been more of a popularity contest than (voting) for what party will serve the province best for the next four years," said Bedient. "I thought our campaign resonated with people, but I guess it wasn't something the people of Saskatchewan were looking for at this time."
Although he was disappointed with his loss, Bedient was still proud of his party and all the work they did in this election.
"I don't think any NDP candidate should be ashamed (of not winning)," said Bedient. " We ran a good campaign, it just didn't resonate. In the end, the people of Saskatchewan have spoken."
He said his party will have to take a step back and regroup for the next election.
"(We will) listen to see what the people want (so) they will elect us in four years," said Bedient.
After the polls came in for his constituency, Bedient went to the Bella Vista Inn to congratulate Harpauer on her win.
