As final results roll in from the 2025 federal election, southwest Saskatchewan will remain Conservative after a landslide that left a local independent candidate with nearly double the votes as the previous federal election she'd run in.
Maria Lewans, independent candidate for the Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley, managed to secure over one per cent of the overall votes after running in her third federal election.
Despite receiving the least amount of votes in the riding, she was thrilled to see not only the growth, but also the different perspectives of folks in the district.
When the owner and operator of Lewans Plumbing ran in the 2021 federal election for the Cypress Hills-Grasslands riding, she received 193 votes, which contributed to 0.56 per cent of all votes.
"I think everybody talks about the struggles, but we're not really acknowledging the whole structure of society that contributes to stress, mental health problems, and crime," she said. "If we're not actually changing the way we exist, we're not going to improve our condition.
"We're really failing to acknowledge that our culture is the problem and the way that we're existing."
Lewans is hopeful to see the government systems move away from monetary focuses and shift towards addressing social issues.
She noted that starting from scratch in an honest style may be the best option for moving forward, and that she hopes to elected representative will acknowledge topics such as this.
"I think we're hyper-focused on the monetary system and the economy," the Swift Current resident said. "I think a good indicator of whether your government's doing a good job is how many charities and non-profits you have."
When questioned on her thoughts about the Liberal Party as the minority for Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley riding, Lewans shared that a minority party is a great way to keep some balance and provide checks to the party in power.
"I run as an independent candidate because I don't really think any of these parties deserve to be running a country," she added. "I think sometimes we have to remember that democracy doesn't happen every four years, it happens every day."