Kelvington—Wadena

Kelvington—Wadena is a rural constituency in east-central Saskatchewan whose economy is built on grain farming, cattle ranching, and small-town commerce. Incumbent MLA Hugh Nerlien, who had represented the riding since 2016, announced in May 2024 that he would not stand for re-election, stepping away to spend time with family after two terms in the legislature. Nerlien's exit came just months after he had been acclaimed as the Saskatchewan Party's candidate, necessitating a fresh nomination contest that produced Chris Beaudry as the new standard-bearer in a riding the Saskatchewan Party has held since the late 1990s.

Candidates

Chris Beaudry (Saskatchewan Party) — Beaudry farms near St. Front with his wife Richelle and their three daughters. He served on the coaching staff of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team until the devastating bus crash in April 2018 that killed sixteen people and injured thirteen others. In the years following the tragedy, Beaudry became a public speaker and advocate on mental health, trauma, and grief, addressing audiences across North America. He won a contested Saskatchewan Party nomination, defeating one other candidate to carry the party's banner.

Lorne Schroeder (NDP) — Schroeder is a lifelong organic beef farmer from the Leroy area who has been deeply involved in agricultural governance and community leadership. He served as Reeve of the RM of Leroy, sat on the board of the Farmer Direct Co-op, and chaired the Leroy School Board. Schroeder previously ran as the NDP candidate in Melfort for both the 2018 by-election and the 2020 general election before seeking the nomination in the redrawn Kelvington—Wadena riding.

Clint Gottinger (Saskatchewan United Party) — Gottinger was born in Balcarres and raised in Hudson Bay before settling near Kelvington, where he lives on an acreage two miles from where his father and grandmother grew up. He owns and operates a towing company in the Kelvington area after spending most of his career in the trucking industry.

Local Issues

Healthcare infrastructure dominated the conversation in Kelvington—Wadena during the 2020–2024 term. While the constituency benefited from investments made during the previous term—including the replacement hospital that opened in Kelvington in 2016 and renovations to the Kelvindell Lodge long-term care facility completed in 2017—the broader challenge of staffing rural health facilities persisted and worsened. Emergency room closures at small hospitals across east-central Saskatchewan became a recurring reality as nursing and physician vacancies left the Saskatchewan Health Authority unable to maintain consistent coverage. Residents in communities like Kelvington, Wadena, and Porcupine Plain worried about the reliability of emergency services, particularly given the long distances to Saskatoon or Regina.

The agricultural economy faced a turbulent stretch. Producers contended with volatile grain and cattle prices, elevated fertilizer and fuel costs linked in part to global supply disruptions and the federal carbon tax, and variable weather conditions that affected yields. The Saskatchewan Party's firm opposition to the carbon levy remained a unifying issue in the riding, where virtually every farm operation felt the direct impact on input expenses.

Rural depopulation and service erosion continued to weigh on small towns throughout the constituency. School enrolments declined as young families moved to larger centres, putting pressure on local schools, while businesses in communities like Wadena and Foam Lake faced shrinking customer bases. The push for improved rural broadband connectivity gained urgency as remote work and digital agriculture increasingly required reliable internet access that many parts of the riding still lacked.