Regina Northeast

Regina Northeast covers the Parkridge, Uplands, Glencairn, and Glencairn Village neighbourhoods in the city's east end. The riding had changed hands several times in recent cycles — held by the NDP for decades, won by the Saskatchewan Party in 2011 and 2020, and recaptured by the NDP in a 2018 by-election. The 2024 contest featured two first-time candidates after the outgoing Saskatchewan Party MLA, Gary Grewal, chose not to seek re-election. Grewal's departure came amid a controversy over contracts between the Ministry of Social Services and hotels linked to him, which had received more than $700,000 in government funds during his time in office. The conflict-of-interest commissioner subsequently found that Grewal had breached the Members' Conflict of Interest Act.

Candidates

Jacqueline Roy (NDP) — A middle years school teacher who spent more than a decade as a provincial councillor with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, Roy entered electoral politics for the first time motivated by what she described as the effects of chronic underfunding on students' education, career opportunities, and mental health. Her experience at the bargaining table during critical contract negotiations gave her a detailed understanding of classroom complexity issues that had fuelled the province's teacher job action.

Rahul Singh (Saskatchewan Party) — Originally from New Delhi, Singh moved to Canada to pursue further education and earned an MBA in Finance from Vancouver Island University. He is a territory manager with Parkland Corporation and has held management roles at Coca-Cola, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Home Depot. Active in community service, he has volunteered with the food bank and participated in highway-cleanup initiatives.

Kate Tremblay (Saskatchewan Progress Party) and Anthony Thomas Majore (Green Party) also ran but each received less than 4% of the vote.

Local Issues

The controversy surrounding outgoing MLA Grewal hung over the riding heading into the campaign. His hotels had received $731,000 from the Ministry of Social Services after his 2020 election, and the ethics commissioner's finding that he had breached conflict-of-interest rules raised questions about transparency and accountability within the governing party. The NDP used the case to highlight broader concerns about ethical governance.

Education funding was a natural centrepiece for a campaign in which the NDP candidate was a career teacher. The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation's dispute with the provincial government — which had escalated to provincewide walkouts and withdrawal of extracurricular supervision before both sides agreed to binding arbitration in June 2024 — made classroom conditions and teacher recruitment highly personal issues for residents with children in the riding's schools.

Affordability and healthcare rounded out the top concerns. Regina Northeast's residential neighbourhoods are home to many young families and middle-income households who felt the squeeze of rising grocery, fuel, and utility costs. Access to family physicians remained a challenge, with the province continuing to face a net shortage of primary care providers despite recruitment efforts.