Meadow Lake

Meadow Lake is a northwestern Saskatchewan riding centred on the city of Meadow Lake, a community closely tied to the forestry industry and home to a significant First Nations population through the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. Saskatchewan Party MLA Jeremy Harrison had held the seat since 2007, winning it by a razor-thin 36-vote margin in his first election before building comfortable majorities in 2011 and 2016. A former federal Member of Parliament who was first elected to the House of Commons at age 26, Harrison had risen to cabinet as Minister of Trade and Export Development under Premier Scott Moe. He entered the 2020 race as a prominent member of the government seeking a fourth consecutive provincial mandate.

Candidates

Jeremy Harrison (Saskatchewan Party) — Harrison grew up in the Meadow Lake area and graduated from Carpenter High School. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and Canadian history from the University of Alberta, a master's degree in public administration from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, and a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Elected to the House of Commons in 2004 as the Conservative MP for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, he became one of the youngest Canadians to serve in Parliament. After entering provincial politics in 2007, he held numerous cabinet portfolios including Minister of the Economy, Minister of Municipal Affairs, and Minister of Trade and Export Development.

Harmonie King (NDP) — King was born and raised in Meadow Lake and worked as a registered social worker focused on children and youth. A mental health advocate trained in crisis response and suicide prevention strategy, she campaigned on the promise of bringing a fresh perspective and putting the community's social service needs first.

Carol Vandale (Green Party) — Vandale was the Green Party candidate for the Meadow Lake riding. She received a small share of the vote in a riding dominated by the Saskatchewan Party incumbent.

Local Issues

The forestry sector was central to Meadow Lake's economy during the 2016-2020 term. NorSask Forest Products, owned by the Meadow Lake Tribal Council and its nine member First Nations, was a major employer, along with the Meadow Lake OSB Limited Partnership and Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp. A longstanding environmental issue was NorSask's beehive burner—a conical steel incinerator that had been phased out or banned in most of Canada but continued to operate at the Meadow Lake mill, burning approximately 56,000 tonnes of wood waste annually and generating significant air pollution. In 2019, the federal government approved $52.5 million from its green infrastructure program for a bioenergy project intended to replace the burner with cleaner technology.

The broader forestry market experienced upheaval during this period. While COVID-19 initially created market uncertainty in early 2020, demand for lumber, oriented strand board, and other forest products surged by summer as home construction and renovation activity increased, leading to record prices. Saskatchewan's forestry sector saw forest product sales exceed $1.1 billion in 2020, a nearly 30 percent increase over the previous year. For Meadow Lake, this boom offered economic opportunity, though issues of Indigenous economic development, social services, and healthcare access in the surrounding First Nations communities remained ongoing concerns.