The Souris-Moose Mountain riding has selected its next MP candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada, with Moosmin MLA Steven Bonk winning the election.
That election was held over the weekend, with the three voting locations in Moosomin, Weyburn, and Estevan giving people the choice between Bonk and Torquay mayor Mike Strachan.
Bonk says that he is looking forward to being in the role once the next federal election comes.
"I'm very pleased with the results of course, but I think everything went very smoothly and I want to give a lot of credit to Dr. Robert Kitchen for the great work he's done over the past nine years representing Souris-Moose Mountain. He served with integrity and honesty and yeah, I just wish him all the best in retirement or whatever else comes for him."
"I also want to extend my thanks to Mike Strachan because I know what it's like to put your name forward on a ballot. It's not for the faint of heart and I've known Mike for quite a while and he's also a very good, honorable man, and I also wish him the very best and thank him for the good job that he did in this race."
During the election both Bonk and Strachan were at the locations, giving speeches to members just before voting began.
Bonk says that it was good to hear from local member's concerns.
"It was very nice to see the grassroots members out and about and hearing their concerns firsthand and over the past few weeks I've made 1487 calls to members. So I've had a fairly good idea of the concerns that people are facing in Souris-Moose Mountain, but it was nice to see them face to face, a lot of people I hadn't met in person."
He was able to hear more about people's concerns with those events.
"Everyone seems to share the same concerns," said Bonk. "They're worried about the overburdening federal government that we have now, and they just want some freedom. They want some ability to live their lives the way they see fit and not have the federal government intruding into it."
"I think another thing that people are also quite worried about is just the tax burden that they're facing, whether it be the carbon tax or the new exemption on capital gains, these really affect our area and people are very concerned about this and also the crippling debt that the future generations will have to pay. These would be the main concerns that I heard about."
Bonk says he'll stay as the MLA for Moosomin for the time being, before getting out into the community during election season.
"After that point, I'll focus my efforts solely on the federal campaign and I'll be out and about introducing myself to many people in the riding in different towns, in all areas of the riding, it's a huge riding. It's about the same size as the country of Croatia, so there's going to be a lot of miles, but it's just filled with great people and I just want to get out and make as many personal introductions as I can."
It's great to see so much community support, says Bonk.
"I just want to say thank you to all of the constituents of Souris-Moose Mountain, and particularly the members of the Conservative Party for placing their trust in me. I'll endeavor to do my best to represent them to the best of my ability, and anytime there are any questions or if they have any concerns, please reach out."