Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
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Saskatoon broadcaster Kevin Waugh is a step closer from making the jump from the sports desk to Parliament Hill.
“In sports terminology this is called a huge upset,” said Waugh Tuesday morning on Gormley.
On Monday, Waugh ousted longtime Conservative MP and cabinet minister Lynne Yelich, who held the seat for the urban-rural riding of Saskatoon-Blackstrap since 2000.
Yelich was most recently appointed the minister of foreign affairs and consol.
With the redistribution of the federal ridings last year, Waugh said it was the perfect time to make the jump to federal politics to represent the city where he’s spent over 40 years.
“When I saw the new maps of redistribution I knew I had to get involved because it was a Saskatoon only riding (Saskatoon-Grasswood),” Waugh said. “I’ve done so much locally here through so many organizations, I knew we needed a voice in Ottawa from urban Saskatoon.”
While Waugh didn’t officially announce his intention to run until a month ago, everything seemed to come together in the last two to three weeks, with Saskatoon-Silversprings MLA Ken Cheveldayoff announcing he wasn’t running federally.
“It was probably the (rarest) situation I’ve ever experienced, where you have an MLA involved who steps back … and now we’re 90 days from the writ and we have a lot of work to do,” Waugh said, adding when Cheveldayoff stepped back, Waugh was able to capitalize and gain a few more memberships.
With an October federal election looming, Waugh said there’s a lot of work ahead of him.
“There’s 72,000 voters I have to reach out to in the next 90 days,” he said, adding he expects the writ to be dropped Sept. 3.
In a written statement, Yelich said she’s disappointed with the results of the nomination, she remains optimistic about the future of Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative government.
“It has been a privilege to represent the constituents of Blackstrap for nearly 15 years … It has also been an honour to support the work of this strong, conservative government to improve the lives of Canadians,” Yelich wrote.
In victory, Waugh thanks his friends and family for being his biggest supporters in helping him win the nomination.
Joining Waugh on the ballot is NDP’s Scott Bell, Tracy Muggli with the Liberal Party and Mark Bigland-Pritchard representing the Green Party.
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