Campaigning gets underway for Feb. 15 provincial byelection in Athabasca
A provincial byelection is set for Feb.15 in the northwest electoral district of Athabasca. The seat has been vacant since last August when the former NDP MLA Buckley Belanger resigned to run in the federal election.
The NDP and Saskatchewan Party are running candidates who live in the district. Both candidates are members of Clearwater River Dene Nation.
The NDP candidate is Georgina Jolibois. She is currently serving her fifth term as mayor of La Loche and is also the chairperson of New North’s board of directors.
"It is very important that we elect a voice, someone who can speak up for us here in northwest Saskatchewan and not someone who can be just a puppet and a back bencher," said Jolibois.
She was elected as a NDP Member of Parliament for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River in 2015 and lost the seat in the 2019 election.
The Saskatchewan Party candidate, Jim Lemaigre, says he grew up in La Loche and is a member of Clearwater River Dene Nation. He also served as an elected Clearwater band councillor for 18 months.
"I listened to leadership, our volunteer groups, talking about their concerns and issues and I think to bring that forward and have that voice within government, that is what really drew me to put my name forward,” said Lemaigre.
He is currently employed by the province as a program manager for the First Nations and Indigenous Policing Program. He also served as a member of the RCMP for 14 years.
The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is not fielding a candidate in the riding.
“We are in the process of rebuilding and did not want to just parachute a candidate in for the sake of doing it and risk splitting the vote. That would be disrespectful to the voters in Athabasca,” said Liberal Party Leader Jeff Walters.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.