The Battlefords

The Battlefords riding, encompassing the twin cities of North Battleford and Battleford in northwest Saskatchewan, saw a generational transition in 2020. Two-term incumbent Herb Cox, who had represented the riding for the Saskatchewan Party since 2011 and had served as both Environment Minister and Advanced Education Minister before stepping away from cabinet to undergo cancer treatment, announced he would not seek re-election. His retirement opened the door for a contested nomination within the Saskatchewan Party, ultimately won by Jeremy Cockrill, a young business owner making his first bid for elected office. The NDP, meanwhile, nominated Amber Stewart, a social worker and community advocate who had been campaigning in the riding since 2019.

The Battlefords had long grappled with challenges that set it apart from other Saskatchewan communities -- persistently high crime rates, healthcare infrastructure pressures, and the social and economic divisions between the urban centres and surrounding First Nations communities. The 2020 campaign unfolded against the backdrop of COVID-19, adding pandemic preparedness and long-term care conditions to an already full slate of local concerns.

Candidates

Jeremy Cockrill (Saskatchewan Party) -- Cockrill was raised in Chilliwack, British Columbia, and graduated from Trinity Western University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He played college basketball with the TWU Spartans and later coached youth basketball. He worked in the agriculture and agri-food sectors in British Columbia before moving to North Battleford, where he managed Fortress Windows and Doors.

Amber Stewart (NDP) -- Stewart was a trained social worker with a degree from the University of Regina who worked as executive director of the Battlefords and Area Sexual Assault Centre. A mother of four, she launched her nomination campaign in 2019, citing the need for better local representation. She focused her campaign on cost of living, education funding, and healthcare access.

Harry Zamonsky (Progressive Conservative) -- Zamonsky was a longtime North Battleford business owner who had operated H. Zamonsky Insurance Ltd. and provided rental accommodations in the community for decades.

Joey Reynolds ran for the Green Party but received less than 2% of the vote.

Local Issues

Crime was an unavoidable issue in The Battlefords. Statistics Canada data released during the campaign period showed that North Battleford's Crime Severity Index had reached 437 in 2019 -- the highest score for the community in fifteen years -- with violent crime surging by nearly 47% over the prior year. North Battleford had among the highest crime severity scores of any city in Canada, a distinction that fuelled debate about policing resources, social services, and the root causes of crime in the region.

Healthcare and long-term care dominated much of the local campaign discourse. A Saskatchewan Health Authority report released in 2020 assessed long-term care facilities across the province, identifying ageing infrastructure, staff recruitment challenges, and quality of care concerns. NDP candidate Amber Stewart was vocal in criticizing the state of local care facilities, noting that Battlefords buildings had been on repair and upgrade lists for years without progress. The broader pandemic context raised alarms about the vulnerability of seniors in under-resourced facilities. On a brighter note, the new $407-million Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford had opened in March 2019, replacing the province's aging psychiatric care facility with a modern 284-bed secure facility -- a major investment that was seen as a positive development for the community.