Regina Mount Royal

Regina Mount Royal is a new constituency created through the 2022 redistribution from portions of the former Regina Rosemont, Regina Pasqua, and Lumsden-Morse ridings. Despite the fresh boundaries, the race featured a familiar face: veteran NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon, who had represented Regina Rosemont since 2007 and carried much of his old political base into the reconfigured seat. Wotherspoon won handily, extending a streak that now spans five consecutive general elections.

Candidates

Trent Wotherspoon (NDP) — Born and raised in northwest Regina, Wotherspoon studied business administration and earned an education degree at the University of Regina. Before entering the legislature, he taught in Regina Public Schools and designed a nationally recognized program for high-risk youth offenders that improved educational outcomes and reduced recidivism. First elected in 2007, he served as NDP interim leader and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2016 to 2017, and later as the party's deputy leader and finance critic. Voted the Best Regina MLA by readers of the Prairie Dog for eight consecutive years, he is also a longtime volunteer with his local Business Improvement District.

Jaspreet Mander (Saskatchewan Party) — An immigrant who arrived in Canada in 2005 and settled in Regina in 2011, Mander initially worked in construction and long-haul trucking before building his own trucking company. He was acclaimed as the Saskatchewan Party candidate for this new riding.

Regina Demyen (Green Party) — Demyen ran on the provincial Green platform.

Local Issues

As the NDP's finance critic, Wotherspoon spent the 2020–2024 term pressing the government on Saskatchewan's growing provincial debt, the impact of the 2017 austerity budget's tax increases on households, and the management of crown corporations. The affordability squeeze was a dominant theme — rising fuel costs, grocery prices, and property taxes all came up at doorsteps across the riding's mix of established northwest-side neighbourhoods and newer subdivisions.

Healthcare access proved to be a cross-cutting concern. Residents pointed to long waits for family physicians, overburdened walk-in clinics, and the broader staffing crisis that had led to emergency room closures and service reductions across the province. The NDP's promise to recruit hundreds of additional healthcare professionals was a centrepiece of the party platform.

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation's protracted contract dispute coloured the campaign as well. With teachers working without a collective agreement since August 2023 and job action disrupting school schedules earlier in the year, parents in the riding were attentive to both parties' positions on classroom funding and teacher compensation. The riding's mix of young families in growing areas and longtime homeowners in older streets gave these education and affordability concerns particular weight.