Regina Lakeview

Regina Lakeview stretches across the south side of the capital, taking in established residential areas near Wascana Lake, the tree-lined streets of Old Lakeview, and portions of Albert Park. NDP leader Carla Beck — the first elected female leader in the Saskatchewan NDP's history — has represented the riding since 2016 and entered the 2024 contest as one of the most recognized political figures in the province. She won re-election with a commanding margin, the largest of any candidate in the capital.

Candidates

Carla Beck (NDP) — Beck was raised on a mixed farm near Lang, Saskatchewan, attended school in Milestone, and holds two degrees from the University of Regina in sociology and social work. Over a career spanning more than 20 years in social work, she served in a range of frontline and leadership roles — working with youth at the Paul Dojack Centre, on the Women and Children's Team at the Regina General Hospital, and as assistant executive director of a local women's shelter. She was elected to the Regina Public School Board in 2009 before winning the Lakeview seat in 2016 and rose to become NDP Deputy Leader and education critic. At the June 2022 leadership convention in Regina, she defeated Kaitlyn Harvey to become party leader, and led the NDP into the 2024 campaign with a platform centred on affordability, healthcare, and education.

Sarah Wright (Saskatchewan Party) — A public relations specialist and breast cancer survivor, Wright was acclaimed as the Saskatchewan Party candidate for Regina Lakeview. She was a vocal advocate for cancer patients and the costs associated with treatment, and this was her first run for elected office.

Victor Teece (Progressive Conservative) and Heather MacNeill (Green Party) also ran but each received less than 3% of the vote.

Local Issues

As the riding of the NDP leader, Regina Lakeview served as a proxy for the provincewide debate over the direction of government. Beck's central campaign message was that Saskatchewan families were struggling with the cost of living after years of Saskatchewan Party governance. The NDP's signature affordability pledge — an immediate six-month suspension of the 15-cent-per-litre provincial gas tax and the removal of the provincial sales tax from ready-to-eat groceries — was crafted to appeal to household budgets across the city.

Healthcare dominated the broader campaign, and the specifics hit close to home in Regina. Surgical wait times had ballooned post-pandemic, the government's reliance on private for-profit clinics to clear backlogs drew criticism, and the NDP promised to recruit hundreds of nurses and doctors to address chronic staffing shortfalls at the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

The teachers' contract dispute also resonated in a riding with deep connections to the education system. Beck, a former school trustee whose early political career was built on education advocacy, aligned closely with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation's calls for caps on class complexity and increased per-student funding. The province's per-student spending had fallen from first in the country in 2015–16 to eighth by 2021–22.