Randy Hoback is the incumbent Member of Parliament for the Prince Albert riding. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Federal Election 2025

‘There’s only one poll that really counts’: Hoback not fazed by changing dynamics of federal politics

Mar 22, 2025 | 12:00 PM

A political science professor at the University of Saskatchewan is analyzing shifts in the impending election as the country navigates through the twists and turns of the trade conflict with the United States.

Daniel Westlake said when the election was about the cost of living and healthcare, the Liberals were in real trouble.

“The fact that not only the Liberal Party leader has changed, but the ballot question has changed and very much seems to be about the relationship with the United States has given the Liberal Party a lot of life, and so that really changed the dynamic of the election,” said Westlake.

With Prime Minister Mark Carney expected to call a federal election on Sunday, recent polling shows the federal Liberals surging past the Conservatives, but MP Randy Hoback isn’t fazed by the poll numbers.

“The reality is there’s only one poll that really counts and that’s the one on election day,” he said. “That’s when people go to the ballot and actually decide who they want to lead this country for the next four years.”

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Hoback was first elected to represent the Prince Albert riding for the Conservatives in 2008 and has been re-elected every election since. He called the current government ‘old and tired.’

“Even though they have a new leader, it is still the same people in the background and they’re old and tired, so it’s time for a change,” he said.

Saskatchewan is a ‘fairly stable place’ in respect to federal elections, according to Westlake. He said the Conservatives have pretty healthy margins in most ridings, but there is one he’ll be keeping a close eye on.

“Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River is essentially the northern half of Saskatchewan. It’s a riding with a large Indigenous population and it’s a riding that over the last couple of decades has been won by the Liberals, the NDP and the Conservatives,” said Westlake. “It’s also interesting because we’ve had a boundary redistribution between the last election and this election and that has moved the boundary of the riding north and there are more Conservatives voters in what used to be the southern portion of the riding.”

What that amounts to, he suggested, was if the last election had been using these boundaries, the Liberals would have won that riding.

“Because a lot of people that voted Conservative last election are now in different ridings.”

A screenshot of the new electoral boundaries for the next federal election are shown in green. The previous boundaries are outlined in black. (Redistribution Federal Electoral Districts)

Boundaries have changed in Hoback’s Prince Albert electoral district too.

“We’ve lost a little bit of the riding on the eastern side. So, Carrot River and Arborfield, for example, are no longer in the riding, but we gained Candle Lake, Big River, Christopher Lake, Waskesiu, Prince Albert National Park and Chitek Lake.”

Hoback is already hitting the road for coffee parties, dinners and other opportunities to shake hands. He’ll be at the Melfort Business Excellence Awards on Saturday and a supper in Choiceland on Sunday.

With a federal election call expected any day, political parties still have several nominations to make for candidates in Saskatchewan.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social