Regina Walsh Acres

Regina Walsh Acres is an urban, mostly residential constituency in northwest Regina, encompassing the Normanview, Regent Park, Sherwood-McCarthy, McCarthy Park, and Walsh Acres neighbourhoods. Saskatchewan Party MLA Warren Steinley held the seat from 2011 until September 2019, when he resigned to run successfully as a federal Conservative candidate in Regina—Lewvan. Premier Scott Moe opted not to call a by-election to fill the vacancy, leaving the riding without an MLA for over a year heading into the 2020 general election. The contest was further complicated when the NDP's original nominee, former cabinet minister Sandra Morin, was removed from the ticket and chose to run as an independent.

Candidates

Derek Meyers (Saskatchewan Party) — Raised on a grain farm near Midale, Saskatchewan, Meyers began his career in the southeast Saskatchewan oilfield before attending NAIT to study television broadcasting. He spent a decade as the sports anchor and sports director for Global News Regina before leaving to run his own video production company and pursue other business ventures.

Kelly Hardy (NDP) — Hardy had worked for 10 years as a labour relations representative with a public-sector union based in the riding. She had also owned and operated a small business. Hardy was nominated as the NDP candidate in September 2020 after the party declined to endorse its original nominee.

Sandra Morin (Independent) — A former NDP cabinet minister under Premier Lorne Calvert, Morin had represented the area from 2003 to 2011. She won a contested NDP nomination in 2019 but was informed in August 2020 that NDP leader Ryan Meili would not endorse her candidacy, citing a confidential vetting process. Morin announced her independent candidacy within 24 hours, taking the support of the NDP constituency association executive and her former campaign team with her.

Ken Grey (Progressive Conservative) also ran, receiving approximately 4% of the vote.

Local Issues

The NDP nomination controversy dominated early coverage of the race. Morin's removal from the NDP ticket and her decision to run as an independent split the centre-left vote in the riding, with Morin's campaign drawing on the loyalty of local party members who had supported her original nomination. The three-way contest between the Saskatchewan Party, the NDP replacement candidate, and the well-known independent created an unusual dynamic in what had historically been a Saskatchewan Party stronghold.

Beyond the nomination drama, residents in the riding's established neighbourhoods raised concerns about infrastructure aging, road maintenance, and access to public services. The absence of an MLA for more than a year following Steinley's resignation left constituents without direct representation on local matters. The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on employment and small businesses also weighed on voters, as did the province-wide debates over healthcare funding and classroom sizes.