Palliser, SK — 2008 Federal Election Results Map

Palliser

Palliser joins the city of Moose Jaw to the part of Regina west of Albert Street and south of the CP main line, with a stretch of grain land and the Trans-Canada Highway between them. Created in 1996 out of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre and Regina—Wascana, it had a reputation for closeness that no other Saskatchewan seat could match: New Democrat Dick Proctor held it from 1997 until 2004, when Conservative Dave Batters unseated him. Batters announced on 1 September 2008 that he would not seek a third term, citing his health, and the seat came open days before the writs were issued.

Candidates

Ray Boughen (Conservative) — Boughen was born at Coronach in 1937 and graduated from Peacock Collegiate in Moose Jaw, returning to the school first as a teacher and then as its principal. He took a degree at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota in 1960 and also studied at the Oregon College of Education, and spent 35 years in education as a counsellor, teacher and administrator before opening a consulting practice in 1993. He was mayor of Moose Jaw from 1994 to 2000, sat as a trustee on the Prairie South School Division board from 2000, and chaired the provincial Commission on Financing Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education, which reported in January 2004. He was recruited as the Conservative candidate after Batters stepped aside.

Don Mitchell (NDP) — Mitchell, a teacher living in Moose Jaw, had been in civic politics since 1972 and was mayor of the city from 1991 to 1994 — the man Boughen succeeded in the chair. His candidacy produced the campaign's central curiosity: two former mayors of Moose Jaw contesting the same seat, each with a following built over decades in the same community.

Cal Johnston (Liberal) — Johnston came to the Regina Police Service as chief in September 1998 after seventeen years of policing in Calgary, and had left the post before seeking the Liberal nomination. He campaigned in the Regina half of the riding on crime prevention and policing costs.

Larissa Shasko (Green Party) — A student from Moose Jaw, Shasko had run for the Greens in Palliser in 2006 and in Moose Jaw Wakamow at the 2007 provincial election, and stood for a seat on the federal party's council in June 2008.

About the Riding

Moose Jaw, a city of roughly 33,000, is the riding's population centre and the source of its distinct character. 15 Wing, home of the NATO Flying Training in Canada programme and of the Snowbirds demonstration squadron, is the city's largest employer and ties it directly to federal defence spending. CP Rail's presence dates to the city's founding; SIAST's Palliser campus trains much of the region's skilled workforce; and Temple Gardens Mineral Spa and the Tunnels of Moose Jaw underpin a tourism sector the city had deliberately cultivated. The Regina portion is residential, sending commuters into the provincial capital's public service and business districts.

Between the two cities lie grain farms, cattle operations and the potash and fertilizer complex at Belle Plaine on the Trans-Canada. Moose Jaw had spent years working against the population stagnation and youth outmigration common to mid-sized prairie cities, with mixed results, and job creation was a live municipal concern well before the autumn market collapse.

The campaign turned on the usual Saskatchewan questions and one that was specific to Palliser. Wheat Board marketing and the Liberal carbon tax dominated the rural polls. Defence procurement and the Afghanistan mission carried extra weight in a city built around an air force base. And with no incumbent on the ballot and two well-known local names atop the Conservative and New Democrat campaigns, Palliser drew far more attention than the province's other seats.