Regina Pasqua

Regina Pasqua takes in some of the fastest-growing subdivisions on the city's south and west sides, including the Harbour Landing area, which has seen rapid residential and commercial development over the past decade. The 2024 election was a rematch between incumbent Saskatchewan Party MLA Muhammad Fiaz — who made history in 2016 as the first Muslim elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature — and NDP challenger Bhajan Brar, who had narrowly lost the seat in 2020. This time, Brar prevailed, flipping the constituency in the NDP's sweep of every seat in Regina.

Candidates

Bhajan Brar (NDP) — Born and raised in Punjab, India, Brar immigrated to Canada with his family in 2005. Trained as an engineer, he holds credentials in multiple categories of electrical engineering from both India and Canada and has worked as a journeyperson electrician and a power engineer. A father and grandfather with deep roots in Regina's community organizations, he had been a dedicated volunteer across the city before entering politics. His narrow 2020 defeat motivated a sustained grassroots effort that ultimately delivered the seat four years later. Following his election, he was named the opposition Shadow Minister for Innovation Saskatchewan and the Provincial Capital Commission.

Muhammad Fiaz (Saskatchewan Party) — Born in Pakistan, Fiaz earned a commerce degree before immigrating to Toronto in 1995, where he ran a family jewellery business. He moved to Saskatchewan in 2008 and worked as a road safety consultant for SGI. First elected in 2016, he served two terms as MLA and was active in organizations such as Humanity First and the South Regina Community Soccer Program.

Justin Parnell (Progressive Conservative) — Parnell ran on the PC ticket.

Ekaterina Cabylis (Green Party) and Shannon Chapple (Buffalo Party) also ran but each received less than 2% of the vote.

Local Issues

School infrastructure was the most tangible local issue. Harbour Landing's booming population had long outpaced the availability of classroom space, and a new joint-use elementary school — designed to serve up to 500 public-system students and 350 Catholic-system students, along with 90 new childcare spaces — advanced through procurement in 2024, with site work underway. For families who had spent years busing their children to schools outside the neighbourhood, the project was both a relief and a reminder of how long it had taken.

The riding's significant immigrant population made integration services, credential recognition, and language training recurring campaign themes. Both Brar and Fiaz drew on personal immigration stories to connect with constituents from South Asian, Filipino, and African backgrounds.

Affordability pressures were acute in a constituency where many residents had recently purchased homes in new developments and were contending with rising mortgage rates and property taxes. The NDP's promise to suspend the provincial gas tax and remove the sales tax from ready-to-eat groceries resonated with households whose budgets were stretched, while the Saskatchewan Party pointed to its affordability plan centred on raising personal income tax exemptions and indexing tax brackets to inflation.