It’s no secret that Canadian politics, on the provincial and federal levels, have become party leader popularity contests. But a single voice is not the way government works, and one federal Liberal candidate in Saskatchewan says he’s willing to take on the task of being the province’s representative in Ottawa.
Jeffrey Walters is running for the Liberal party in the riding of Regina-Wascana, which was represented by Ralph Goodale from 1993 until the 2019 federal election. Since then, all 14 of the province’s seats have been held by the Conservative party. Over this six year period, there hasn’t been a voice for the province in the government of the day.
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Walters wants to fill the current gap.
“(I’m) born and raised in Saskatchewan, so I completely get that our needs aren’t being served from Ottawa,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we have to have some type of representation… things that happen in Regina and Saskatchewan are very different than what happens in, let’s say, Toronto Centre, and so we have to have that voice at the table.”
He explained that for him, it doesn’t matter that he’s running in Regina-Wascana — it’s about Saskatchewan as a whole. And his goal is to advocate for residents no matter where they’re located across the province if they feel underrepresented. He says that’s the responsibility of the job.
Walters has an education in political science and did his PhD dissertation on the Agri-Stability program while in the role of senior program manager at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He chose that avenue for his dissertation with his farm family background in mind.
While he didn’t grow up on the farm, he spent most of his summers on his grandparents’ dairy and is no stranger to realities of farming. Protecting farm families so they can maintain their livelihoods is important to him, and a key focus of his campaign.
“For farm families, and just for the agriculture sector in general, it’s just (about) maintaining it in a world where it’s becoming increasingly chaotic and unstable… no matter how chaotic and unstable things become I will advocate my butt off,” he said.
Other areas of priority for him are economically sustainable natural resource development and the maintenance and improvement of social programs. He explained that he wants people to continue to see the province as a good place to call home, and the province has to take advantage of its strengths.
To make that a reality, Walters recognizes that urban and rural voters have to be equally taken into consideration.
“At the end of the day, we do have a lot of community that transcends urban and rural,” he said. “So, just because I happen to be in an urban seat doesn’t mean that for some reason I’m going to completely ignore rural needs. Because this is Saskatchewan after all.”
Across the province, there is crossover of interests. Walters pointed to the Liberal campaign proposal of increasing funding to increase domestic food processing as a way to benefit both demographics.
Despite his aspirations of following in Goodale’s footsteps, he’s been on an uphill battle in the Conservative stronghold. While many people, whatever their political affiliations, have been welcoming on the campaign trail, Walters’ has experienced his share of discussions and questions on Trump, the tariffs and carbon tax, as well as some “Trudeau bashing.”
But, it didn’t come as any surprise after running for the provincial Liberals in the early 2020s. He called the experience “pretty unsavoury,” with some of the moments being “toxic.” But the involvement was eye-opening and expanded his perceptions on what’s important to Saskatchewanians.
In continuation of this insight, if elected he plans to regularly hold town halls for residents to have the opportunity to ask their questions face-to-face and share what he knows.
“I think that’s been missing from representation, at least here for the last few years, has been access to our MP,” he said.
Walters sees it as a duty of politicians, saying they shouldn’t hide behind phones, websites and emails.
To improve ag policy and programs, someone must be there for Saskatchewan. For Walters, this wouldn’t just be about being present as Saskatchewan’s representative, but to communicate the province’s and producer groups’ needs to Ottawa.
“I just want to do what’s best for Saskatchewan,” he said. “That really should be what it’s about — not my jersey colour, or, historically, what other leaders have done.”
