Saskatoon Riversdale

Saskatoon Riversdale encompasses the historic Riversdale neighbourhood and the southern portion of Pleasant Hill, two of the city's oldest communities on the west bank of the South Saskatchewan River. The riding carries deep political history — it was the home constituency of former premiers Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert, and the NDP held the seat for all but two terms since its creation in 1967, losing it briefly to the Progressive Conservatives in 1982 before Romanow recaptured it in 1986, and then again when the Saskatchewan Party's Marv Friesen won it by just 81 votes in 2020. That razor-thin result made Riversdale a top NDP target for 2024, and Friesen's decision not to seek re-election opened the door for a new contest. The NDP nominated Kim Breckner, a corporate and mining lawyer, while the Saskatchewan Party put forward Olugbenga (Olu) Fakoyejo, a senior financial advisor. The Green Party's provincial leader, Naomi Hunter, also ran in the riding.

Candidates

Kim Breckner (NDP) — Breckner graduated with distinction from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law and built a legal career that moved from private practice to in-house counsel roles at national accounting firm MNP and global mining company BHP, before joining Procido LLP. Her practice areas included corporate law, employment, mining, and renewable energy. Outside the courtroom, she served as the first female president of the Saskatchewan Drag Racing Association. After her election, she was named the NDP's shadow minister for trade and export development.

Olu Fakoyejo (Saskatchewan Party) — Fakoyejo holds bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and works as a senior financial advisor. He won a contested nomination for the Saskatchewan Party, entering the race as a newcomer to provincial politics in a riding the party had narrowly captured four years earlier.

Naomi Hunter (Green Party) — The leader of the Saskatchewan Green Party since 2020, Hunter grew up in northern Saskatchewan near Turtleford and runs a family haskap farm near Prince Albert during the summer months. She also owns and operates a retail store in the Riversdale district, selling custom-made sterling silver jewelry. Running in the riding where her business is located, she received approximately four per cent of the vote.

Local Issues

The Pleasant Hill Village redevelopment, completed in 2024, brought new seniors housing, a health centre, an elementary school, and park space to a neighbourhood that had long struggled with aging infrastructure and underinvestment. The project represented a significant transformation for the southern end of the riding, but residents questioned whether it would be sufficient to address the deeper challenges of poverty and housing instability in the area. The need for public washrooms in Riversdale and Pleasant Hill — a topic debated at Saskatoon city council in May 2024 — illustrated the basic service gaps that persisted even as new development arrived.

The drug crisis hit the riding's west-side neighbourhoods with particular force. Saskatoon's fire department recorded more than 1,200 overdose responses in 2024, and community organizations in Riversdale and Pleasant Hill were on the front lines of a crisis driven by fentanyl, methamphetamine, and an increasingly toxic street supply. Residents called for expanded harm reduction services and treatment capacity, while candidates debated the balance between enforcement and public health approaches.

Breckner's decisive victory restored Riversdale to the NDP column after the party's sole term out of power in the riding since 1986. The result was part of the NDP's near-complete sweep of Saskatoon, which left the Saskatchewan Party holding only one urban seat in the city and none in Regina. For Riversdale, a constituency whose identity is woven into the history of Saskatchewan social democracy, the 2024 outcome represented a return to form.