Kindersley’s Ken Francis wins Sask. Party nod

Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads

Town of Kindersley Deputy Mayor Ken Francis has won a contested nomination to be the Saskatchewan Party’s candidate for the Kindersley byelection.

A nomination meeting was held on Jan. 8 at the Kindersley Mall in the space formerly occupied by the Home Hardware Building Centre. More than 600 Saskatchewan Party members got out to vote for six candidates, and Francis won after a preferential ballot.

The six candidates vying for the nomination were Francis, a land agent from Kindersley; Joseph Chiliak, a farm labourer from Alsask; Tom Geiger, a funeral home manager from Kindersley; Isabelle Ryde, a farmer from Eston; Jeremy Welter, a farmer from Kerrobert; and Darwin Whitfield, a retired farmer from Coleville. Four of the candidates had experience on municipal councils in the region.

Only Sask. Party members in good standing who live in the Kindersley constituency could vote. The members received their ballots when they registered.

Each of the six candidates was given 10 minutes to speak before members filled out their ballots.

There was also a guest speaker. James Thorsteinson, president of the Sask. Party, spoke to the crowd while the ballots were being counted.

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Two of the party’s caucus members, Ken Cheveldayoff and Jim Reiter, were also in attendance.

Thorsteinson, who lives on a ranch east of Lloydminster, told the crowd a little about himself and his family, and a story about how he became involved with the party. He said former Lloydminster MLA Tim McMillan, a close friend, asked him to get involved while running in a byelection in 2005.

He noted that his friend asked him to become a Sask. Party member and it was the first time he had ever become a member of a political party outside of university. With no knowledge of political party governance, he was soon asked by the newly-elected McMillan to serve as president of the party’s constituency association for Lloydminster. He spoke about preparing for the 2007 election with a new candidate and a new leader.

“Door knocking began in the spring of 2006,” Thorsteinson said. “We needed to introduce people not only to our new candidate, but also to our new leader, a young, charismatic fellow by the name of Brad Wall. Fortunately, the election wasn’t called until the fall of 2007 and we were able to get people familiar with both of them, and even better, people seemed to like them and the rest, we say, is history.”

Thorsteinson said he was telling the story of how he became involved in the party because of the parallels to what is happening in the Kindersley constituency.

The party will have its new candidate in Kindersley and a new leader will be chosen at the end of January.

The party’s president spoke about a difficult budget for the government in 2017-18. He said everyone in the province was affected in some way, but the budget was delivered in a manner that didn’t target any sector unfairly. The party took a hit in the polls after the budget, but the party has rebounded in the polls and Wall, as promised, is leaving the province in better shape than when he became premier, Thorsteinson added.

The preferential ballot had voters rank the candidates in order from their first choice to their sixth choice. Results of the voting were not available to the public.

When Francis won, a huge roar could be heard from his section of supporters.

The candidate gave a brief victory speech.

Francis said due to time restraints, he didn’t get the chance to cover all of his talking points when he spoke to the crowd earlier. He said a well-attended nomination meeting, along with choosing the new candidate for Kindersley, was very important.

The candidate, who hopes to replace Bill Boyd as a Sask. Party MLA for Kindersley, thanked party members for coming out in force to help with the process. He said it was a great turnout and he encouraged members to give themselves credit. He congratulated the other candidates for stepping up.

“No matter how it turned out for us individually, we’re all winners for having stepped up for the betterment of the party and the province,” said Francis, who gave thanks to the other candidates for being part of the process.

He said he’s ecstatic to be part of the Sask. Party and is proud to be part of the renewal of the party, a process that would soon include a new leader and premier. He said now more than ever, the party needs to form a strong government.

Francis said he wanted to thank his family, campaign team and supporters. He pointed out that the process has been good for the party’s membership. The constituency had fewer than 300 party members before the process began and now there are nearly 1,200 members in the constituency.

In an interview, Francis said his campaign to become a town council member in Kindersley was his first taste of the election process, so it was a new experience for him. He noted that with nomination processes, it’s hard for candidates to measure their success against one another, but he put in the time to be successful.

“I had a very passionate team behind me and we really hit it hard the first weeks of the campaign,” Francis said, noting that the main push for him and his team came early in the month of November. “We got 600 people to say they would vote for us.”

He said that his goal was to get half of his supporters out for the meeting and he was able to get the support he needed. The candidate said he has one more hurdle to overcome with a byelection around the corner.

Francis said the whole process is still new to him, so he has a steep learning curve.

He added that he has a strong background in dispute resolution that should help him if he is elected as the next Kindersley MLA.

Dates for the Kindersley byelection have yet to be announced.

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