Martensville—Warman

Martensville—Warman sits just north of Saskatoon and encompasses two of Saskatchewan's fastest-growing cities. The riding had been held by Saskatchewan Party MLA Nancy Heppner since a 2007 by-election, following in the footsteps of her father, the late Ben Heppner. Heppner served in cabinet as Minister of Environment and Minister of Highways and Infrastructure before announcing in January 2019 that she would not seek re-election. With the seat open, the 2020 contest brought a new Saskatchewan Party candidate to a riding defined by rapid suburban growth and the pressures that come with it.

Candidates

Terry Jenson (Saskatchewan Party) — Jenson won a contested Saskatchewan Party nomination in September 2019. He had been the publisher of the Clark's Crossing Gazette, a community newspaper serving the Martensville-Warman area, since founding it with his wife Angela in 2008. He served as past-president of the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association and was president of Ad Canada Media Inc. A resident of Warman, Jenson was well known in the community through his newspaper work.

Carla Streeton (NDP) — Streeton grew up in Melfort and had been a prekindergarten and kindergarten teacher in Warman for six years at the time of the election. As a mother of three and a working educator, she campaigned on the impact of government funding cuts on schools, saying she had seen first-hand how reductions had hurt students, parents, and teachers.

Wade Sira (Buffalo Party) — Sira was the interim leader of the Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan during the 2020 election. The party, which had rebranded from Wexit Saskatchewan in July 2020, ran on a platform of greater provincial autonomy from the federal government, opposing public health mandates, and proposing tax cuts. The party fielded seventeen candidates across the province.

Melvin Pylypchuk ran for the Green Party but received minimal support.

Local Issues

The defining issue for Martensville—Warman during the 2016-2020 term was managing extraordinary population growth. In the 2016 federal census, Warman was identified as the fastest-growing municipality in Canada, and both cities continued to expand rapidly. From 2016 to 2021, Warman's population grew by 12.7 percent and Martensville's by 9.3 percent, far outpacing the provincial growth rate of 3.1 percent. This boom brought challenges: residents pressed for expanded healthcare facilities, as neither Warman nor Martensville had a hospital, making them the only cities of their size in the province without one.

Recreation infrastructure also struggled to keep pace with demand. Warman's municipal leaders sought provincial and federal funding for a second ice rink and other recreation facilities to serve the growing population. Education was another pressure point, with the rapid influx of young families straining school capacity. The provincial government's record on education funding became a campaign flashpoint, particularly for the NDP candidate, who argued that classroom cuts were undermining the quality of education in the community's schools.