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The Saskatchewan Party has a new candidate for Saskatoon Eastview.
Chris Gurette, the current CEO of the Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association (SRHBA), will take the nomination following former candidate Daryl Cooper’s resignation Saturday.
Gurette has been the CEO of the SRHBA since 2016 and has over 15 years of leadership experience in the housing, not-for-profit, health and education fields.
“Elections are not won by simply, an individual alone. There are with teams,” she said during a Sunday morning press conference. “Elections are not won on social media, they’re won on the doorsteps… that’s where I’m going to be spending my time.”
Cooper, the former candidate for the Saskatchewan Party, resigned after now-deleted social media posts and interactions linked to conspiracy group QAnon surfaced online.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe addressed the comments Sunday morning.
“Once we were made aware of the posts, we took the appropriate action. We were made aware on Friday,” he explained.
“I have had just a brief time to look at what exactly QAnon is, and I’d first and foremost that these are not policies or directions that the Saskatchewan Party government supports or in any way, embrace.”
Moe said the posts by Cooper were made after the vetting process, which he described as “thorough.”
“I won’t go into great detail on why, or what the theories are,” he said. “We have a number of different theories that are based in science.”
“It doesn’t have any place in the Saskatchewan Party, I would condemn the views of (QAnon) and we should not be in any way, sharing or promoting these views in the province.”
Moe said if a similar situation is to come up in the future, the party will take appropriate action.
Gurette said she doesn’t share the same views but knows she needs to build the trust of the constituents to secure the seat.
“Those constituents deserve a candidate that’s going to represent those views, and work hard,” she explained.
The SRHBA said it wishes Gurette all the best in her endeavour into politics, according to a Sunday press release.
“Gurette will continue working for the Association at a significantly reduced capacity for the next three weeks to ensure a transition with the team. Should Gurette be successful in her efforts on election night, October 26th, she will be resigning and assisting the Board with the transition to new leadership,” SHRBA’s press release reads.
Gurette will look to retain the seat for the Saskatchewan Party after former MLA Cory Tochor, the current MP for Saskatoon University, stepped away to run in the last federal election.
