Following the last federal election, Saskatchewan was covered in a wave of blue after all of the 14 seats were claimed by the Conservative Party.

The federal NDP party is hoping that the province will add some orange flavour after the upcoming federal election on September 20.

Tria Donaldson, is the NDP candidate in the federal riding of Regina-Lewvan, and she feels that a change is needed. “I decided to put my name forward because I feel like Regina-Lewvan deserves better representation that what we have now. Fourteen Conservative MP’s across the province who vote against things like climate action and conversion therapy isn’t the Regina that I live in and I think there’s a lot of appetite for change and better representation and I think the NDP is in a really great place in Regina-Lewvan to win back the seat.”

The call for a snap election has been with a lot of criticism, and Donaldson is one of those critics. She has been taking a lot of calls from residents in her constituency saying holding a federal election in the middle of the pandemic is not a good idea. “A lot of folks are worried about going back to school and the fact that we actually don’t know what the back to safety mandates are going to be placed in our schools.” Donaldson added another concern from citizens about the balloting system with the election.

The handling and the recovery will be a key issue for the election, and Donaldson noted that it’s a key concern from the residents in the Regina-Lewvan constituency. “What that looks like in supporting families getting back on their feet, investing in the public services that we saw how poorly managed they were during CO-VID specifically long-term care, which is very near and dear to my heart, I’ve talked to a lot of folks who are extended to Extendicare Parkside in Regina and had families who died or got sick because of the conditions in the long term care facility and I think our federal government needs to be addressing issues like that.”