The newly realigned Kelvington-Wadena constituency left Sask party candidate Chris Beaudry miles to travel to connect with his constituents, but he proved up to the challenge as roughly an hour after the polls closed, the St. Front farmer was declared elected.
“Everyone is pretty excited and happy here,” commented Beaudry from his campaign gathering at the Seniors Centre in Rose Valley shortly after he was declared elected. “There is still a bit of nerves over the overall result of the election, but there were a lot of cheers here a few minutes ago.”
Beaudry was nominated after former MLA Hugh Nerlien decided not to run for reelection. It's Beaudry's first foray into politics, and going into the legislature, he says he's going to take time to learn and absorb the nuances before he goes to work on the concerns that his constituents have talked about.
"I’m new, I don’t fully know what’s going to happen, so I’m going to go in with an open mind. I’m going to go in wanting to learn, but also wanting to share what I heard from the people of Kelvington-Wadena.
Beaudry admits he discovered those concerns were as varied as the communities and people in the constituency
"I’ve heard about the elk issue in towns close to the east side of the constituency to by LeRoy, the highway that the ambulance has to travel to get to Humboldt. I've heard about our hospitals that have to go on bypass and how it puts pressure on the others.”
He says he’s heard from homeowners concerned about asbestos in older dwellings and their challenges in mitigating the problem. Beaudry approaches the challenges know every issue is as important as the next.
Of late, Beaudry has been a public speaker and advocate for mental health, trauma and grief. He helped establish the first online mental health course for students through the Sun West School Division, and he has worked with the Canadian Mental Health Association. Chris was part of the coaching staff for the Humboldt Broncos during the time of the April 6, 2018 tragedy.
Now Beaudry will be entering the Legislature at its next sitting as the Member for his home constituency of Kelvington-Wadena.