Leader Profile: Phil Zajac, Buffalo Party

Buffalo Party Leader Phillip Zajac has been an active member of the Estevan community for over a decade, which inspired him to toss his hat in the ring once again this election season.

"I wanted to give something back to my community. The Estevan community has been very good to myself and my family. And when you live in a place like that, it's 'What can I do to help the town?' and politics was the avenue that I thought I could make the most effect and help the people of the community that I live in." Zajac said.

As the Saskatchewan election approaches, Zajac says forming a government is “very difficult,” but he believes this election is a stepping stone to future victory. 

"It's like a sport," Zajac told CTV News. "You know, I played football at university, and hockey, and you don't play to lose, right? You want to play to win."

The Buffalo Party, formerly known as Wexit Saskatchewan, made its debut in the 2020 provincial election by running candidates in 17 out of 61 constituencies in Saskatchewan.

Although the party didn't secure any seats, it finished second in four rural ridings in Saskatchewan's southwest and southeast.

Elected as the party's leader in March 2022 and acclaimed as the Estevan-Big Muddy candidate earlier this year, Zajac seems optimistic about having a member of the party in the legislature this time.

"The message that we send, and as long as we get members in the legislature to present the policy that we have, we will win government the next election for sure. That's our plan. It's an eight-year plan." 

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With this plan in mind, he says the Buffalo Party's platform centers around key issues including healthcare, education, job creation, affordable housing, and taxes.

Another priority for Zajac is keeping rural communities alive and thriving in the province.

"We always talk about, 'How do you get rid of small-town Saskatchewan?' Well, you lose the church, you lose the school, and you lose the hospital. People have to move. So what we want to do is we want to create an industry coming to the small towns in Saskatchewan. We also want to make the medical facilities top-notch for the whole province."

Zajac promises to redirect resources to prioritize rural hospitals and schools.

"We've got an aging population in the province of Saskatchewan, and we need to have medical facilities that are prepared to take care of them all over the province, not just in Regina and Saskatoon," Zajac said.

"We plan on emboldening our rural hospitals, giving the equipment that they need to function at the same level as the hospitals in Regina and Saskatoon." 

Additionally, Zajac hopes to bring back the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, which was shut down in 2017. The party leader sees this as another way to keep small towns connected and healthcare accessible.

"We'll operate it as a business with goals and guidelines. Someone asked me, 'What if it's not profitable?' and I don't care, we're going to run it. Hopefully, it'll be profitable. If it's not, we'll tweak it. Just like a business. But we need a safe way for seniors to get to their doctor's appointments to visit their family,” he said. 

He says with the growing population in the province, Saskatchewan needs to have enough facilities, and he will dedicate more resources to build schools in “strategic locations.”

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When it comes to job creation, Zajac says Buffalo Party has a program to create 7,000-10,000 high-paying jobs through increased oil production, mining, and resource operations.

"One of my plans that I've been traveling and speaking about is increasing oil production to a million barrels a day,” he told CTV News.

Zajac proposes establishing a Ministry of Veterans and Seniors Affairs to address housing concerns for veterans, seniors, and low-income families.

“I think by creating that ministry, it will give the seniors and veterans a voice in the legislature,” he said.

"We'll also implement an advocate system for homelessness and low-income housing."

The Buffalo Party leader vows to remove the PST permanently and end the carbon tax on everything, for everyone in Saskatchewan.

"It [tax] is harming our economy like never before. When people are struggling to pay water bills, pay their bills, removing the carbon tax helps every single person in the province, businesses, and private citizens, immediately," he said.

The Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan is primarily advocating for a referendum on independence for the province. The party’s policies emphasize smaller government, lower taxes, and individualism.

The party has adopted a broad approach to building alliances, inviting other groups to join its ranks.

In September, the Buffalo Party and Progressive Conservative Party started to discuss a merger that could enable a unified party to field a full slate of candidates. However, Zajac says the talks had ended without an agreement.

"We weren't able to come to an agreement. It was a little late,” he said. “But we're always open to talking to anybody." 

While the Saskatchewan Party and NDP have historically proven to receive the most votes in provincial elections, Zajac is passionate about his party bringing something new to the table.

"I think that as a leader, I am a good listener. And I believe in, teamwork as a method of success,” he said. “Collectively, as a group, we're from the farming community. We have teachers, we have health care people. We have business people. We think we've come up with some great ideas.”

-With files from Hallee Mandryk