Regina Lakeview

Regina Lakeview occupies the south side of the city, encompassing established residential neighbourhoods bounded roughly by 13th Avenue to the north, Queen Street and Pasqua Street to the west, 25th Avenue and Albert Street to the south, and Broad Street and Wascana Lake to the east. The riding includes older homes near the lake and newer developments to the south. Carla Beck of the NDP won the seat in 2016, succeeding retiring NDP MLA John Nilson, and entered the 2020 election as one of the party's rising stars. Regina Lakeview had historically leaned NDP, and Beck's strong community presence made her the clear favourite.

Beck won re-election convincingly, reinforcing her position as a leading voice in the NDP caucus and one of the party's strongest performers in the capital city.

Candidates

Carla Beck (NDP) — Beck grew up on a mixed farm near Lang, Saskatchewan, and attended high school in neighbouring Milestone. A registered social worker with over 20 years of experience, she worked at Dales House, the Paul Dojack Centre, and the Regina General Hospital's Women and Children's Team, and served as assistant executive director at a local women's shelter. She was elected as a school board trustee in 2009 for Regina's Subdivision 5 after advocating against a public school restructuring plan, and served two terms on the board before winning the Lakeview seat in 2016. She has volunteered with the Saskatchewan Abilities Council, Camp Easter Seal, the Autism Resource Centre, and the MS Society.

Megan Patterson (Saskatchewan Party) — Patterson won a contested nomination to be the Saskatchewan Party's candidate for Regina Lakeview. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and worked in Toronto for Procter and Gamble before returning to Saskatchewan. She spent eight years at SaskPower as a consultant in renewables and energy efficiency, and her passion for energy policy motivated her entry into politics.

Michael Wright (Green Party) — Wright holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Systems Engineering from the University of Regina and a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de los Andes. He had been a Green Party candidate in Saskatchewan in multiple elections dating back to 2003.

Bruno Sahut (Liberal) received less than 2 percent of the vote. A retired union activist, he was one of only three candidates the Saskatchewan Liberal Party fielded in the 2020 election.

Local Issues

Education was a central issue in Regina Lakeview, where many families had school-age children and the constituency included residents connected to the University of Regina. Saskatchewan's decline in per-student education spending relative to other provinces was a significant concern. School boards in Regina had been forced to make reductions since the 2017 austerity budget, including the elimination of teacher-librarian positions and cuts to support staff. The NDP's promise to invest $125 million in safer schools and smaller class sizes directly addressed these concerns.

Healthcare, elevated to the top of the political agenda by the COVID-19 pandemic, resonated strongly in a riding with a significant population of seniors and healthcare workers. The NDP promised to end short-staffing in primary care, long-term care, and acute care by hiring hundreds of additional medical professionals, while also pledging $50 million for home care for seniors. Beck's background as a social worker gave her credibility on these issues.

The Saskatchewan Party's record on the economy was also debated. The 2017 budget's extension of the provincial sales tax to previously exempt items had created frustration among some voters, while the federal carbon tax remained a divisive issue. The Saskatchewan Party positioned itself as the defender of Saskatchewan's resource economy against federal overreach, while the NDP argued that working families were bearing the brunt of austerity measures while corporations benefited from tax reductions.